The Effects of Nag Champa

If you've ever walked into a import gift store, yoga studio or the home of a well-traveled friend and appreciated the exotic aroma in the air, you may already have experienced the benefits of Nag Champa. This well-known incense uses a bouquet of flowers and resins which many of its fans say creates an olfactory replica of traveling to India. For connoisseurs of incense, Nag Champa is the standard by which other scents are judged.

Nag Champa blends several rich scents including sandalwood and halmaddi, a resin native to the Indian subcontinent. The combination of scents gives the area where Nag Champa is burned a scent instantly recognizable to incense fans, one redolent of the gardens and markets of India. When people wish to cover another, less desirable odor, such as sweat, Nag Champa provides a more exotic alternative to the air freshening products of western corporations. Nag Champa's scent lingers longer than many other incenses, continuing to perfume the air hours after the last stick or cone has expired.

Sandalwood, one of the principle ingredients in Nag Champa, offers many aromatherapy benefits. It creates a calming effect, dispelling stress and thus opening access to deeper meditative states. The combination of masking sweat odors and aiding in relaxation makes Nag Champa very popular in many yoga studios where students move vigorously in addition to practicing meditation.

A state of relaxation is conducive to amorous activities as well as inner peace. The sandalwood scent prominent in Nag Champa also frequently appears in both men's and women's personal fragrances because of its ability to evoke a state of arousal. In fact, sandalwood's medicinal uses include treating impotence. Sandalwood shares similarities with androsterone, an armpit secretion which signals sexual arousal.

Although best known for in incense form, Nag Champa is also found in soaps and other body products containing the same popular combination of essences. When applied on the skin, sandalwood offers antiseptic, fungicidal and insect-repelling benefits. It also has anti-inflammatory qualities, making it useful against acne and eczema. Sandalwood stimulates the immune system and promotes healthy functioning of liver and kidneys.