Meditation with incense?

[7thLetter]

Lately I’ve been incorporating the use of different scents into my meditation practice. I bought a diffuser, and I also have been burning incense to go along with my meditation practice. This is something my Dad does with his meditation so I wanted to try it for myself. It definitely has helped me relax during meditation, but is it even healthy to breathe this stuff in?

So yesterday I did my 20 minute meditation with incense. Later, I went biking by the water as part of my weekly routine. At one point, I picked up speed and out of nowhere my gears fell off so I couldn’t pedal or control the bike, plus my mind completely went blank. The direction I headed in went straight for a huge metal sign and I crashed right into it. Luckily I wasn’t hurt but my bike was slightly damaged.

This morning, did my meditation again with incense. It was 20mins of incense smoke going straight up my nose. Couple mins later I could feel a slightly uncomfortable sensation in my nose, brain, and in my lungs. I then googled if it was good to meditate with incense and apparently it’s as bad as inhaling ciggarette smoke. I guess what happened to me on my bike was a pretty good sign not to use it. Going to use my diffuser instead.

Is it safe to breathe this stuff in and do any of you meditate with incense?

 

[Salvijus]

I just take an incense, burn it for a while like 1 min and that's it. I saw that's how very advanced meditators do. They don't leave the incense burning nonstop.

It is said incense purifies the energy space and makes you more receptive.

From my expererince it sure makes a pleasent atmosphere for meditation.

[Colin]

Thank you salvijus, that is a great tip!

I will use that now.

I can add that there is some high-quality Japanese incense that contains very few, and quite pure ingredients, that smell divine. Try shoyeido 

[Colin]

This stuff is heaven in smell form

 

[BuddhaTree]

In the past, I usually burned some incense during my meditations and in fact, they served their purpose. They created a relaxing environment for my daily practice.

However, the success of my meditations wasn't dependent on incense.

I did amazing meditations with and without it.
 

[PsiloPutty]

I burn about 3 sticks of incense a day at home, and I do enjoy picking up a whiff of it while I meditate. I usually seem to smell it when I'm coming "off point" with my breath focus, and the smell wakes me and gets me back on track. 

You don't really think your bike wreck was because of incense do you?   

[Versa]

I personally love incenses and aromas to create a very healthy mental environment, not only for meditation but for everything.
It'd a bad idea however if it distracts you too much or you do it in a completely closed room, as anything derived from combustion is harmful to your health.

[7thLetter]

@PsiloPutty Lol sounds silly but I honestly think it contributed to it in some way, or maybe not. But it did make me feel a bit light-headed after inhaling it for a couple minutes. And obviously one source on Google isn't the best place to get accurate information, but that one source did say it is linked to the development of brain tumors. Not saying its true, I have no idea, a lot of people here seem to use it, but I'm honestly not going to bother to use any of it anymore. Its just so odd that I had to blank out like that out of no where.