Burning incense in your home offers various benefits, including reducing anxiety and scenting your home.
But as much as this cultural practice is essential in contemporary living, care needs to be taken to ensure safety during the practice.
Let us learn from this guide whether burning incense in the bathroom is safe and other things.
So, Is It Safe to Burn Incense in the Bathroom?
Yes. You can burn incense in your bathroom. The best incense for the bathroom includes eucalyptus, yerba santa, and lavender, giving your bathroom a spa-like experience.
Although incense has a sweet smell, the smoke can irritate you when it’s too much. So make sure there is enough airflow when burning incense. If you are alone in the house, you can open your door to allow more air circulation.
It’s also worth mentioning that if your bathroom is very small, it is not advisable to burn incense in it. Remember that smoke needs room to disperse, which can be hard if the space is small.
See Also: Is It Safe to Have Candles Burning with Windows and Doors Closed?
What is Incense Made from?
The precise materials used when making incense products depend on the manufacturer.
Most manufacturers use powders from cinnamon, fennel, licorice root, Chinese rhubarb, and magnolia bark.
Fragrance can be obtained from resins, essential oils, or musk.
These days, manufacturers use synthetic musk as real ones are expensive. The most common synthetic used is sandalwood. Then, they create the incense’s adhesive part using the bark of a tree.
As far as the ingredients are concerned, incense sticks are generally safe unless one is addicted to essential oils.
But, when burning the incense, there is no real cause for concern for the materials inside.
See Also: Should You Place Candles on Window Sills?
What Are the Benefits of Burning Incense?
People burn incense for various reasons. Let us go through some of them:
1. Meditation
Many places use incense for deep focus and heightened senses when meditating.
Some cultures burned several lengths of incense to measure the passing of time. For this practice, most people use Lotus and Sandalwood.
2. To Reduce Stress and Anxiety
Burning incense with some chilled-out music can help you relax and unwind.
You can also choose to run a bath and use incense sticks instead of candles for that relaxing feeling. Opt for soft fragrances that will enhance this time.
That way, you can give yourself some time and space to escape the daily pressures of the world.
When you are relaxed, you have less stress and less anxiety. Burning incense encourages your mind to stop worrying and focus on the moment.
Pick Sandlewood for this purpose.
But you can also find Lavender and Rosemary suitable choices.
3. Increase Sexual Desire
Some fragrances can light up your bedroom activities by helping you get into the mood.
Various sellers have romance fragrances like vanilla, rose, and jasmine, perfect for this purpose.
You can also use cinnamon to add passion to your love-making moments.
4. Offers Medicinal Benefits
The sweet aromas from incense sticks can also be therapeutic. Research says that they increase the serotonin levels in the brain.
Therefore, instead of taking prescription drugs with many side effects, you can use incense sticks to improve your mood.
Higher levels of serotonin stabilize your mood, which helps in better digestion, sleeping, and eating. They also help regulate anxiety, reducing headaches and depression.
As a result, it benefits your overall health.
How to Burn Incense Sticks Safely?
Although the materials used in making incense sticks are generally safe, you need to take proper care when burning to enjoy this practice.
Burning incense sticks isn’t hard, but be careful not to harm yourself. Here are the steps to follow when burning your sticks:
- Step 1: Hold your incense stick at the thick end. This is where you will light it up.
- Step 2: Light your match and hold the flame to the coated end of the stick. Wait for a while for the stick to catch fire.
- Step 3: Let the flame burn for 10-15 seconds. The flame will tap off on its own, but you can blow it out if you are not patient. Please avoid burning a stick for a long time to avoid wasting it.
- Step 4: Now that your stick is well-lit, put it in your incense holder. Then, secure it by putting the holder on a plate to catch the ashes as the stick burns.
How Should You Light an Incense Stick?
Please use a flameproof burner specifically meant for holding an incense stick.
Also, place your burning incense on heat-resistant surfaces far from flammable items like papers and curtains, and remember to use incense ash catchers.
Ash from the burning stick can discolor your furniture.
Lastly, only burn your incense if the room is well-ventilated. Don’t light it in a closed room or inside your cupboard.
What Not to Do When Burning Incense
Don’t throw away your sticks if it’s not entirely extinguished.
Even if you toss it carefully in a bin, it can trigger fire if the stick is still burning.
Additionally, keep the sticks far from children and pets. They can be burnt when they touch them accidentally.
If you have breathing disorders like asthma, it’s best to avoid burning incense.
But consult with a physician first on whether it’s safe. Also, remember that some sticks can alter your mind due to their herbal content.
So, always confirm the effects of the sticks before burning them.
Why Burning Incense May Be Bad for You
Burning incense may have some adverse effects. However, the extent of these effects and in what concentrations they occur is not well known.
Incense produces smoke that contains chemical fumes and particulate matter when it is burned. These two substances are said to harm human health.
According to some studies, burning incense is a regular practice in many residential homes, along with burning candles and wood and smoking cigarettes.
This practice doesn’t seem to have any significant effects in the short term.
However, regularly inhaling particulate matter is said to cause various respiratory problems like lung cancer. But, we must mention that there is no evidence for now that burning incense can cause cancer.
Some researchers also believe that the fumes from incense can be potential health risks.
Remember that burning incense produces volatile organic compounds, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide.
These compounds can lead to respiratory problems like coughing and wheezing. They can also cause headaches, allergies, and eye irritation.
Final Thoughts
Burning incense offers various health benefits. And you can burn it in any room, including the bathroom.
But please ensure that the space is well-ventilated to allow air circulation and the smoke to escape.