Burning incense reduces anxiety, depression


Filed Under Beat Anxiety, Overcome Depression | Aug 7, MDT 12:36 pm

Incense helps reduce anxiety, depressionThis is an interesting study from a few months back; apparently, burning frankincense activates ion channels in the brain which help alleviate depression and anxiety.

Burning incense is a common religious practice in many parts of the world, and this study provides some insight into how the practice might actually rally our spirits in a physical sense. It also provides us with one more technique for improving the quality of our lives.

From the article comes this quote which is particularly revealing:

“We found that incensole acetate, a Boswellia resin constituent, when tested in mice lowers anxiety and causes antidepressive-like behavior. Apparently, most present day worshipers assume that incense burning has only a symbolic meaning.”

I think it’s safe to say that many religious rituals carry some kind of physical benefit to those who practice them. From an evolutionary perspective, it’s unlikely that people would continue behaving in certain ways, generation after generation, unless those behaviors conferred some kind of survival benefit on to those who did them.

There’s a fair amount of research which points towards the health benefits of certain religious rituals, such as prayer and meditation. Now we can add burning incense to the mix. For those of us of a more secular bent, we can still benefit from these practices without having to invest them with a specific ideology.

In time, scientists will develop a new class of drugs based on the properties of frankincense, but for now, burning regular incense remains an affordable and healthy way of raising spirits — one that doesn’t require a prescription.

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