Incense and its aromas have been used for spiritual and ceremonial purposes for thousands of years. Incense not only smells nice, but spiritual leaders and healers have used its aromatherapeutic properties to help in healing processes and increase concentration during meditation. Typically, incense either burns on a flat platform, inside a box, or in small cones in a dish (often found in Thailand or South East Asia).
If you're new to using incense, you can make an incense holder by using an extra hand smoking pipe such as a glass spoon pipe, glass Sherlock pipe, or one that keeps the bowl upright while resting on a table and has a hole in the bowl that can snugly fit the end of your incense stick. Just be sure to place your pipe on a surface that's easy to catch the ash (we recommend a rolling tray).
After lighting your incense, gently blow out the flame but careful not to extinguish the orange glowing end. This will allow your incense to burn at a slow and steady pace. The vapour aromas will diffuse throughout your room. Always use incense in a well ventilated area and be sure to keep away from flammable surfaces like curtains or plush furniture.
There are tons of incense scents available to you, each delivering different therapeutic properties just like varieties of tea. Below are five different ways these little burning sticks or cones will improve or enhance your smoking sessions.
1. Keeping the air fresh
If you're trying to mask or clear the air of the product you're smoking, incense can be an effective alternative to spray scents, air fresheners, or even scented candles. Even experienced stoners may resent the lingering smell of weed after smoking, and incense neutralizes these smells. The smell of any smoke is best battled with better smelling smoke with more therapeutic properties. Some scents are stronger, and more intoxicating than others, like Patchouli or Sandalwood. It make take some experimenting to find the incense mix that fits your mood
2. Reducing anxiety
Whenever you experience anxiety after smoking, incense can be an effective solution to combatting this negative side effect. Some scents like Lavender and Rose are known to reduce tension and increase calm feelings. Although Lavender is one of our favourite scents, it can also bring drowsiness as the calming effects can sometimes even feel intoxicating. It is recommended to only use this one before bed time, and keep an incense stash designed for each purpose, otherwise you may create the opposite affect than you're intending.
3. Relieving headaches
If headaches get in the way of enjoying a cannabis smoking session, or if you're even seeking cannabis and THC in order to relieve a headache, pairing with incense can help relieve headache symptoms. Stress induced headaches, which you can feel behind your eyes, are best helped by Lavender and Sandalwood. If your headache is caused by tiredness, citrus scents will be the most envigorating and cleansing. Peppermint and Patchouli are catch-all scents that work well on any types of headaches, but are less directed at certain headaches like the ones mentioned previous. They're great staples in your collection and useful under any circumstance; both have diuretic and muscle relaxing properties than can go beyond just headache relief.
4. Improving creativity and focus
The status quo of smoking weed and cannabis is decreased motivation and focus in many users. Marijuana affects everyone differently, using certain strains for different objectives. For those who struggle from these feelings or for those who have overcome them and are looking to improve, a variety of citrus incense flavours increase your imagination, creativity, and concentration. Specifically, Rose, Jasmine, and Sandalwood can be used for increasing attentiveness and entering meditative states of mind
5. Meditation
Lastly, meditation is one of our favourite practices combining the effects of marijuana, incense, and conscious thought. If you're using incense for the medicinal properties listed above, meditating is the recommend way to introduce the aromatic scents to your body because of the mindful breathing. We recommend reading our blog post on Marijuana and Meditation which shows the benefits and recommended steps when engaging in this practice.
To recap, the scents we recommend purchasing for your incense collection are Patchouli, Sandalwood, Lavender, Peppermint, Rose, Jasmine, and various citrus flavours.
We recommend you only use high quality incense to achieve the best effects if possible. Keep in mind, aromatherapy techniques may be harmful to those with breathing conditions or others with medically diagnosed medical conditions. Always confirm with your doctor before using any products medicinally (like headache relief). To add more depth to your smoking sessions with incense, turn on calming, instrumental music – especially while meditating.