Burning Incense As A Way Of Enhancing Meditation
Burning incense is a great way of preparing yourself and the space you are going to use for meditation.
It is a practice that has been used since ancient times throughout many ancient cultures.
I have always had a passion for various oriental spiritual practices.
I enjoy aikido, tai chi, but also the meditation called zazen.
While aikido and tai chi are practices I go to every weekend, and that I like to practive within a group, zazen is my very personal and most intimate meditation that I like to do both first thing in the morning and last thing at night, before going to bed.
It is at the same time energizing - that is why I do it in the morning, and relaxing - thus suitable for practicing in the evening, before going to sleep.
I believe that meditation is a great way of getting relaxed and focused, calm and serene.
If you are thinking of taking up this wonderful practice in your daily life I do have some suggestions for you, about ways of making the experience more enriching and fulfilling.
These are based on my personal experiences throughout the years.
All you need is a clean, quiet room, where you can be alone for about an hour, or any amount of time you require for your meditation practice.
It is good to take a shower before starting, and also to put on clean clothes, so you're cleansing be felt in the physical form also.
Prepare everything you need, the pillow you will be sitting on is called a "sifu", but before going into meditation there is another thing you must do, that I have found to be a powerful meditation enhancer - burning incense.
While incense comes in a large range of scents, you must pick the ones that have subtle and modest hints to them, as the sweeter ones tend to stray away the mind to different thought associations.
As you may read in the documentation on the internet about incense sticks, the ones that are most used in spiritual practices within ancient traditions and cultures are frankincense, nag champa and sandalwood.
Frankincense is a favorite for meditation practitioners and is also known as one of the gifts that Jesus received upon his birth from the three wise men from the East.
Nag Champa is also a very ancient scent that got very popular in the 60's, associated with the hippie movement - Bob Dylan, an iconic figure of the time used to light Nag Champa incense sticks during his open air concerts.
Sandalwood is made out of the precious wood of the Sandal tree and is a very rare and precious resin.
It is a practice that has been used since ancient times throughout many ancient cultures.
I have always had a passion for various oriental spiritual practices.
I enjoy aikido, tai chi, but also the meditation called zazen.
While aikido and tai chi are practices I go to every weekend, and that I like to practive within a group, zazen is my very personal and most intimate meditation that I like to do both first thing in the morning and last thing at night, before going to bed.
It is at the same time energizing - that is why I do it in the morning, and relaxing - thus suitable for practicing in the evening, before going to sleep.
I believe that meditation is a great way of getting relaxed and focused, calm and serene.
If you are thinking of taking up this wonderful practice in your daily life I do have some suggestions for you, about ways of making the experience more enriching and fulfilling.
These are based on my personal experiences throughout the years.
All you need is a clean, quiet room, where you can be alone for about an hour, or any amount of time you require for your meditation practice.
It is good to take a shower before starting, and also to put on clean clothes, so you're cleansing be felt in the physical form also.
Prepare everything you need, the pillow you will be sitting on is called a "sifu", but before going into meditation there is another thing you must do, that I have found to be a powerful meditation enhancer - burning incense.
While incense comes in a large range of scents, you must pick the ones that have subtle and modest hints to them, as the sweeter ones tend to stray away the mind to different thought associations.
As you may read in the documentation on the internet about incense sticks, the ones that are most used in spiritual practices within ancient traditions and cultures are frankincense, nag champa and sandalwood.
Frankincense is a favorite for meditation practitioners and is also known as one of the gifts that Jesus received upon his birth from the three wise men from the East.
Nag Champa is also a very ancient scent that got very popular in the 60's, associated with the hippie movement - Bob Dylan, an iconic figure of the time used to light Nag Champa incense sticks during his open air concerts.
Sandalwood is made out of the precious wood of the Sandal tree and is a very rare and precious resin.
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