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Natural Nag Champa Incense Sticks
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The most popular variety of incense in the world, nag champa incense was first burned in ashrams, monasteries and temples across India and Nepal to aid in spirituality and meditative processes. A typical nag champa incense is delicately floral with a gentle woody heart and earthy base notes, a soothing and relaxing balance.
During the 1960's this incense became very popular in the west, due to all of the young 'hippies' and travellers bringing it back from their trips across Asia. Nag champa incense, as well as patchouli oil, has become synonymous with this period of time. Bob Dylan would often burn massive amounts of nag champa at his concerts.
Although the exact recipe of this incense differs from manufacturer to manufacturer, it always comprises of a base of fruity plumeria flowers and creamy sandalwood oil. Other common ingredients include cardamom, neroli, vanilla and various resins. In the early days, this incense was made exclusively by monks, with each ashrams exact recipe a jealously guarded secret. |
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What's Nag Champa Incense Good For? |
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Creative tasks - Being in the same environment as incense has been linked to heightened creativity. The basis for this is similar to listening to music – providing inspiration and motivation. Aromas are also a very powerful emotional memory trigger which can help to stimulate thoughts and creativeness (Collins, 2012). Nag champa is particularly effective due to its distinctive and balanced fragrance.
Calming down and de-stressing - When we're angry, stressed or upset our brains release stress hormones. These hormones cause inflammation which, in turn, causes the release of inflammatory proteins called cytokines, as well as stress hormones such as cortisol. These can greatly impair cognitive function, almost 'clouding' the natural process. This is a major reason why stressed people can perform much worse than they would normally. The inhalation of particular aromas has been found to be an effective method for reducing the heart rate and soothing nerves. They can also cause certain ion channels in the brain to trigger the creation and release of mood elevating hormones and proteins such as TRPV3 and serotonin, which can drastically reduce the symptoms of stress, anxiety and even depression. Studies show that nag champa is one of the best scents for this. Frankincense and vanilla have also been shown to work well.
Getting things done - Buddhist and Hindu monks have long burned nag champa to help them clear the mind and improve concentration. Increased levels of focus directly correlate with increased productivity. The burning of nag champa has been found to be one of the best scents for this and is ideal for working, studying and similar activities.
Meditation and yoga - As mentioned above, nag champa incense was first burned in ashrams, monasteries and temples across India and Nepal to aid in spirituality and meditative processes. The spiritually uplifting scent of smoldering nag champa remains, to this day, the most widely used incense in the world,
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Our Nag Champa Incense |
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We gather our incense base ingredients, which are made up primarily of pure bamboo charcoal, sandalwood powder and vanilla powder, along with various resins, and we grind them all up together. When the mixture is the right consistency, we carefully pour in the pure champa oil and hand-knead it all together. Then we take our bamboo sticks and gently roll the mixture around them. Sometimes we'll finish the batch off with a gentle dusting of an organic dye for a little colour. The sticks are left to dry and packaged away, ready to be shipped all around the world. We don't use any fancy machines, just very simple tools to bring you an artisanal product, made just how it was hundreds of years ago. |
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