Natural Incense: Benefits and How to Burn it
Unfortunately, incense is commonly associated with its negative connotations; it's seen as too harsh, too robust in fragrance, and unhealthy to breathe in... But, what if we told you there may be a solution?
With our ancient, herbal, and fragrance knowledge, we believe that burning naturally sourced substances may be the way to reestablish incense - not only is it better for our body, soul, and mind, natural incense connects us once again to our spiritual and ancient roots!
So what is natural incense? And how does it work?
Read on to learn more...
What is Natural Incense?
Natural is the Burnt Beech way!
We enjoy burning a combination of unique resins, botanicals, and essential oils in an oil warmer - we commonly blend and pair fragrances to assist our mood.
But what makes this 'natural' incense?
Resin
Resin is a naturally sourced material found within the bark trees. There are many different types of resin, each depending on the tree it is extracted from - in rare occasions, some resins are synthetically made. Resins commonly used for natural incense burning are 'aromatic resins', thus meaning they have a significant and robust fragrance to them. They are usually a scented, rock or crystal-like substance, hard in texture, however, breakable.
Some examples of naturally sourced aromatic resins we like to use in our natural incense are Frankincense and Myrrh; both these resins are known for their pleasant aroma and spiritual benefits.
Botanicals
The word Botanical is a word used to describe parts of a plant, commonly dried and used for medicinal, culinary, and aroma purposes. The petals, leaves, stems, bark, dried meat, and seeds of various herbs, fruits, flowers, and spices are all botanicals we like to use.
Essential Oil
Essential oil is the fragrant liquid/oil extracted from various plant life - herbs, flowers, fruits, weeds, spices, resins, and bark are all examples of plant matter from which essential oil is sourced.
Essential oils have many purposes; they are used for culinary, aromatherapy, medicinal, and cosmetic reasons. Each essential oil scent has unique and healing benefits - visit our 'blog page' to learn more.
What are the more harmful types of incense...
Incense sticks, cones, and coils are occasionally made with natural produce, however, nowadays it is common for them to have added chemicals and synthetics. This can be harmful to our lungs and Chakra balance.
8 Benefits of Natural Incense
1. Loving to The Body
All the ingredients used in natural incense are plant-derived, thus meaning they have no added synthetics. Not only does this connect us closer to our ancient roots, but it also allows us to breathe in solely plant energy, without the harshness of added chemicals. We still recommend burning any type of incense in an open space, however, you can burn natural incense more regularly than say sticks, cones, and coils.
2. Pet Friendly (kind of)
Natural incense is often less-harmful to animals and pets than say incense sticks and cones, however, it is important to note there are a lot of scents toxic to animals. For example, cats and dogs don't agree with some citrus, herb or mint-based fragrances.
When incense is burnt too close to them or consistently, your pet may find the incense smoke overwhelming. Dogs especially have a strong sense of smell, so make sure to burn in small quantities and a safe distance away from your pups.
Don't let this put you off though - here are a few of our favourite pet-friendly essential oil scents...
Lavender
Chamomile
Vanilla
Coconut
3. Fresh and True in Scent
Burning natural incense is a completely different ball game from burning incense sticks, sage sticks, cones and coils. Whereas these usually have harsh, scented smoke, with a somewhat unnatural essence, burning resins, essential oils, and botanicals have wild, fresh, and soothing fragrances. They stay true to what they are, for example, if the botanical or essential oil is Lavender, the herbaceous, fresh and earthly notes of the plant remain.
4. Naturally Grounding
Natural incense is derived from plant life and therefore the earth - Inherently, this allows us to connect to earthly energy. By burning natural incense the Root Chakra naturally aligns, thus making us grounded, in abundance, and spiritually clarified.
5. Smells GOOOOD
There are hundreds of resins, essential oils, and botanicals to try out, each with unique, robust fragrances and soul-healing benefits. Whether you like spicy, floral, citrus, herby, fruity, balsamic, earthly, woodsy or minty, we guarantee you will find your favourite combination of scents within natural incense.
6. Helps Relieve Anxiety and Stress
Incense has been used to relax energy ever since 3300 BCE when it was first discovered. Our ancient ancestors identified the soothing/healing properties within plant life, so they burned it to fumigate spaces and rid negativity and tension. Many places of worship are cleansed with natural incense to create an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity - nowadays, spiritual practitioners use natural incense to assist meditations, yoga sessions, and healings.
7. Natural Insect Repellant
If you are looking for an insect-repelling solution which is safe, effective, and without harsh toxins and chemicals, natural incense is for you. Natural incense scents may smell lovely and fresh to us, but to bugs and pests, they are not so nice. Here are some examples of insect-repelling scents:
| Peppermint | Mosquitos/ Fleas/Flies/Moths/Fruit Flies/Ants/Spiders |
| Rosemary | Mosquitos/Ticks/Fleas/Bees/Wasps/Cockroaches |
| Lemongrass | Mosquitos/Ticks/Fleas/Moths/Ants |
| Tea Tree | Ticks/Ants/Spiders/Bees/Wasps/Bed bugs |
| Lavender | Ticks/Fleas/Flies/Fruit Flies/Ants/Spiders |
| Geranium | Ticks/Mosquitos/Fleas/Flies/Moths/Cockroaches |
8. Chakra Cleansing
Our strongest sense is our sense of smell - with that comes the ability to soothe and nurture our well-being with healing scents. Not only can natural incense help us ease tension, anxiety, stress, sadness, and grief, but it can align our seven energy centres, also known as the Chakras. Our Chakras dictate different aspects of our lives and without them we become unbalanced.
Click the links below to learn more about Chakras and what scents align with them.
Heart Chakra
How to Burn Natural Incense
Burning natural incense is easy once you know what to do; luckily, we are here to give you the total low down. However, first things first, It is important to ensure the safety of you and those around you, so please refer to the safety rules in block below! However, if you're ready let's get burning our natural incense...
Step 1
Place a small, tight-fitting sheet of tinfoil onto the top bowl-like surface of your warmer (ensure it fits nicely without any loose bits hanging).
Make sure you have everything ready to go:
~ 1 Oil warmer.
~ A pourable jug or cup of water.
~ 1 tea light candle.
~ Your natural incense.
~ Long candle lighter or match stick.
Place a small, tight-fitting sheet of tinfoil onto the top bowl-like surface of your warmer (ensure it fits nicely without any loose bits hanging).
Step 3:
Then pour water, from a jug or bottle, into the bowl-like surface. It should make 3/4 of the height. This is an important step as essential oil could be flammable without it. Make sure you pour with care to prevent any spillage.
Step 4:
Carefully add your natural incense to the water. Around 5 - 12 drops of essential oil and a small pinch of botanicals and resin. Ensure you place it in gently to prevent oil from getting into your eyes.
Step 5:
Carefully place an unlit tea light candle into the hole of your oil warmer (this is the surface below where your incense rests).
Step 6:
Light the tea light candle with a long match stick or lighter. Ensure there is nothing on or around your incense which can catch alight.
Step 7:
Enjoy for 10-20 minutes (or until the water has evaporated). Then blow the tea light candle out and leave it to cool for 20 minutes. Do not leave incense unattended.
Safety rules
Here are a few things to consider whilst burning your natural incense...
BEFOREHAND
- Place the oil warmer on a heatproof surface.
- Keep out of reach from animals and children.
- Store your incense in a cool, dry place, away from children and pets.
- Ensure there is nothing on or around your warmer with the potential of setting alight.
- Check for allergies.
BEFORE AND WHILST BURNING INCENSE
- Do not leave incense unattended.
- Be careful of hot oil.
- Do not burn your incense on the floor.
- Burn in a well-ventilated and spacious room.
- Do not burn incense outside.
AFTERCARE OF BURNING INCENSE
- Do not pour water onto a hot or cooling oil warmer.
- Do not throw the tea light candle into the bin straight away.
Bottom Line
We at Burnt Beech believe that connecting to our ancient roots is important. And by burning natural, earthly materials such as resin, essential oil, and botanicals, will provide us true healing connection.
Soon we will be releasing our handmade, Natural Incense Bundles - a combination of an essential oil blend and a bag of botanicals and resins made to complement. We have taken a real passion for creating a new perspective on incense. To learn more on this visit our 'News' page.