When it comes to incense for sleep, the scents are based on either helping you feel sleepy or helping relax the mind before you head to bed. That’s why you’ll find incense like lavender and chamomile helps decrease the feeling of restlessness while pine incense creates a cozy feeling. While incense for sleep may help someone fall asleep, it doesn’t necessarily treat the root cause of restless sleep.
Here are the eight best incense for sleep. Make sure to always burn through or blow out your incense before bed. For best results, burn incense one to two hours before bed.
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1. Lavender
Lavender incense is by far the most well-known scent (and ingredient) for those looking for help falling asleep. It creates a healing and cleansing aroma, allowing one to feel more drowsy. It’s so potent in fact, that we don’t recommend you use it right before bed, but an hour or two before you’re ready to settle down for the night.
Burn some lavender incense when you feel general restlessness or negative energies every night. It does have a slightly powerful aroma, however, so if scents do tend to trigger negative responses for you, ensure you air out and ventilate the room afterward.
2. Chamomile
Chamomile incense is perfect for those who find their mind racing right before bed. When there’s nothing else to do besides fall asleep, that’s when minds tend to overthink and go on tangents.
You should burn some chamomile incense when you feel lost in your own head before bed. If nothing distracts you when you’re going to sleep, chamomile incense might be the answer for you. Consider doubling up with some chamomile tea for extra potent effects.
3. Pine
Pine incense helps create a cozy and relaxing sleeping area by cleansing the energies in the room. Feeling cozy and safe allows the body and mind to relax and let our guard down to help us sleep at night.
Consider burning pine incense in the fall, winter, or spring for the most optimal results. These cooler seasons help pine incense create a feeling of warmth. Unlike summer, where the last thing you might want to do is feel even warmer.
4. Cedar
Cedar incense is a potent cleansing scent for when there’s an overabundance of negative energies in the air. Too many negative vibes can cause the room to feel suffocating and may give the feeling as if you’re trapped.
Burning cedar incense is common after you’ve received bad news or something negative has happened directly where your sleeping area is. This could be something you read online or maybe you had an argument with someone.
5. Sandalwood
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Sandalwood incense works similarly to cedar incense in terms of cleansing negative energies, but rather than the room, sandalwood focuses on the mind. How negative auras impact us depends on the person and situation. So while one situation causes the room to become filled with negative vibes, another similar event may cause our mind to fill with those negative energies instead.
Start by burning some sandalwood incense when you find yourself upset thinking back on those negative times right before bed. If you’re still feeling off after burning cedar, then you might want to try burning sandalwood afterward for the best results.
6. Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus incense is a freeing incense that people will burn when they feel suffocated and claustrophobic. The feeling of not being able to breathe deeply may cause someone to not have a good night’s sleep or even any sleep in the first place.
If you find yourself taking deep breaths or you’re coming off of sickness, consider burning eucalyptus incense. Keep in mind that eucalyptus does have a very potent scent, so you might need to burn it well before bed or switch out the incense for an essential oil instead.
7. Vanilla
Vanilla incense helps create the feeling of being safe in bed. Our beds are meant to be the place where we can be the most vulnerable at night. But allowing yourself to feel that way is easier said than done.
Throw some vanilla incense on the burner on those nights when your bed or sleeping area doesn’t feel quite right. You might also want to burn vanilla incense when you’re sleeping somewhere new or if someone’s sleeping near you for the first time.
8. Rose
Rose incense is used for those who are having negative dreams at night, ruining their sleep. It’s not uncommon to see people not wanting to sleep because their dreams are often displeasing or upsetting. This can often feel worse than simply not falling asleep, as the dreams can have lasting impressions for hours to weeks at a time.
Before bed, burn rose incense to help increase the chance of positive dreams. These dreams will often revolve around love and romance, but it’s better to watch a rom-com dream rather than a horror one.
FAQ
Is it OK to burn incense at night?
While it’s okay to burn incense at night supervised, incense, or anything currently burning, should never be left without supervision, regardless of time of day. If you’re looking to burn incense to help with sleep, make sure you do it before you’re actually ready to fall asleep. Ideally, burn incense an hour or two before your bedtime.
Can incense sticks make you sleepy?
Yes, incense sticks can make you sleepy by helping calm to the mind and create a cleansing feeling of negative energies. Certain scents, like mentioned above, will have a greater impact on you specifically, based on what you’re dealing with in life at that time.
