“It smells like hippie in here. Are you smoking weed?” This is how my husband greeted me a few days ago when he got home from work.
I probably don’t have to tell you that I had been burning incense in the house–and, no, it wasn’t because I was trying to cover up the smell of weed.
There are all kinds of misunderstandings about incense. As my husband so eloquently pointed out, some people associate the smell with the hippie movement. Nothing quite conjures up memories or experiences quite like the sense of smell. Think of the smell of freshly cut grass in the summer or the sweet smell of cookies baking at Grandma’s house.
For many yoga students who have practiced in a studio that burns incense, the smell immediately brings to mind feelings of calmness and focus that they associate with yoga class. For me incense = yoga class = happy place. The second I light one of those sticks I come into the present moment. It’s almost instantaneous.
The folks at myInsens, a new incense company geared toward yoga practitioners, want to help you recreate that feeling as often as possible. The smell is light, not overwhelming like some incense, and I love that their hand-rolled incense is fair traded and gives back to the villagers that make it. I could spend lots of time trying to describe the product to you, but you really have to try it for yourself!
myInsens has agreed to give one lucky reader a single individual box of incense in the scent of his/her choice! All you have to do is COMMENT below before December 13 and answer the question:
What scent always reminds you of a memory for you or brings you into the present moment?
I’ll randomly choose a winner and post it in the comments on December 14!
Martha says
My mother's perfume, L'eau de Givenchy, takes me back to my youth.
Mel Navarro says
Coconut's passion, by Victoria's Secret. It's pretty weird, but this body mist smells like Vainilla to me, and it will always remind me of my boyfriend's bedroom. We are both gamers, and I am a yogi too, so, he once said to me while doing yoga together: (he was close to my head doing warrior 2 pose behind me) "Your hair smells delicious, that smell reminds me of you so badly… makes me so happy to remember you by little things like that.."
he's so sweet :3
Hui says
I'm not even sure what type of scent this is… but the scent of incense in Chinese temples. We used to go with my grandma all the time before she passed away. It reminds me of her, and of my culture.
Not sure if this giveaway is international, I'm from down under, but wanted to share my thoughts anyway!
Danielle Villano says
What a wonderful company and a great write-up! As a writing student, I'm frequently told to think about scents as a way to conjure up moments. A scent that will always be important to me is the scent of fresh laundry – it reminds me of home, and spending time with my mother!
Best,
Danielle
thereaderscommute@gmail.com
Victoria says
I don't know what the name of it is, but there's a particular cologne that my first high school boyfriend wore, and now whenever I smell it on someone walking by I'm transported back to those high school days…makes me thing about how different things are now…not in a bad way, just different.
Olympia B says
The smell of Jasmine. It reminds me my childhood when I was visiting my grandparents' house. They had a huge jasmine at the entrance of the house (it was a mall house with a large garden filled with all kinds of trees and flowers). During summer nights the jasmine smell was so vivid that got imprinted in my memory. It creates feelings of safety, protection, clamness and love to me.
Jen Shaver says
Lavender. It reminds me of the time I had a migraine and my mother put a twig of fresh lavender by my head. Worked.
Meredith LeBlanc says
Sandalwood, hands down. I remember as child my Mom and her Mom had beautiful sandalwood fans, in fact my Mom still has them. I remember just loving their beauty so much and the beauty of these women. Today, I will only burn sandalwood or nag champa.
Ola Sowa says
It's Amma's rose. I wish I could get my hands on it again.
Colleen Watson says
Patchouli does it for me. It has an instantaneous calming effect for me, puts me right into a meditative state of mind.
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SpoiledYogi says
Congrats Danielle! You are the winner!!
Please email me at spoiledyogi@gmail.com with your mailing address and which scent you'd like and I'll make sure your incense gets out to you!
Happy Holidays!
love supra says
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