{"id":4617,"date":"2012-10-23T16:30:52","date_gmt":"2012-10-23T20:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beginnersheart\/?p=4617"},"modified":"2012-10-23T16:30:52","modified_gmt":"2012-10-23T20:30:52","slug":"listening-to-incense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/2012\/10\/listening-to-incense.html","title":{"rendered":"listening to incense ~"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Sometimes when you’re stressed, what you need to do is two simple (and at least partly practical) things: light a stick of good incense, and clean out a drawer.<\/p>\n

Seriously, it’s that simple. I don’t remember where I heard the term ‘listening to incense,’ but it’s stayed with me. Because that’s what I do: my brain goes still, and I canhear the smoke soothing my fractious nerves. It doesn’t matter what started it. The incense’s calming tone sets it to right.<\/p>\n

Couple that with the satisfaction of creating order from chaos, and it’s a powerful combination. Puts me squarely in the moment, and lets me (literally!) pitch clutter.<\/p>\n

Just try it ~ you’ll be amazed. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes when you’re stressed, what you need to do is two simple (and at least partly practical) things: light a stick of good incense, and clean out a drawer. Seriously, it’s that simple. I don’t remember where I heard the term ‘listening to incense,’ but it’s stayed with me. Because that’s what I do: my…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":398,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[310,256],"tags":[11,1187,262,419,420,1245],"class_list":["post-4617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-being-here-now","category-meditation","tag-beginners-heart","tag-buddhism","tag-buddhist-blogs","tag-incense","tag-listening-to-incense","tag-meditation"],"yoast_head":"\nlistening to incense ~ - Beginner's Heart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sometimes when you're stressed, what you need to do is two simple (and at least partly practical) things: light a stick of good incense, and clean out a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/2012\/10\/listening-to-incense.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"listening to incense ~ - Beginner's Heart\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sometimes when you're stressed, what you need to do is two simple (and at least partly practical) things: light a stick of good incense, and clean out a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/2012\/10\/listening-to-incense.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beginner's Heart\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-10-23T20:30:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beginnersheart\/files\/2012\/10\/incense-smoke.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Britton Gildersleeve\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"listening to incense ~ - Beginner's Heart","description":"Sometimes when you're stressed, what you need to do is two simple (and at least partly practical) things: light a stick of good incense, and clean out a","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/2012\/10\/listening-to-incense.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"listening to incense ~ - 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Years spent living on the margins - in places with exotic names and food shortages - have left her with a visceral response to folks \u2018without,\u2019 as well as a desire to live her Buddhism in an engaged fashion. She\u2019s a writer and a teacher, the former director of a federal non-profit for teachers who write. She believes that if we talk to each other, we can learn to love each other (but she's still learning how). And she believes in tea. 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