嬰兒半夜不安穏，點香有用嗎？ Can incense help calm down fretful infants in the midnight?

      

點香可以營造一個穩定安祥的場域，嬰兒對能量是很敏感的，只是他們不善於表達。當身體不舒服、餓了、尿布濕了、或是受到負面磁場干擾時，他們就會用自己的情緒語言---哭鬧--來表示。

Burning incense can help create a stable and peaceful field. Infants are very sensitive to energy, but they cannot express themselves well. As a result, they show their emotions by crying when feeling uncomfortable, hungry, wet in the diaper, or disturbed by negative energy field.

  

以民間信仰來說，小孩子頭頂的天靈蓋未關，很容易沖煞到或嚇到。有時，白天帶孩子到人多之處，如超市、菜市場、公共場所、醫院、搭飛機等，傍晚或夜間孩子就會特別哭鬧不停、或睡不安穩、一直踢被、突然驚嚇醒來。在身體上則會出現吐奶、眼神渙散、臉色發青、愛哭鬧、拉肚子等現象，很多父母或老一輩的照顧者，看到這樣的症狀，都會說孩子沖煞到，要帶去收驚。

It is believed that children are vulnerable to negative energy before their fontanels are closed. Consequently, if adults bring them to crowded places, such as supermarkets, hospitals, airports, and so on, the kids may become exceptionally restless and fretful in the evening or at night. It is likely that they cannot sleep well and that they are easy to wake up in scare. Physically, they may throw up milk, look absent-minded or blue in the face, cry all the time, or suffer from diarrhea. In such a case, many seniors may assume that the kids are interfered by negative energy and should seek some solutions to calm down the kids as soon as possible.

遇到這種情形，可點一盤天然的香品，先將室內淨化一下，輕輕抱著孩子，安撫他，當孩子聞到香氣時，大都很快就會安定下來。嗅覺是最原始的感覺系統，嬰兒的視覺尚未成熟時，依賴嗅覺來認識母親的味道，進而感覺到安全感。由於嗅覺和大腦深層邊緣系統相關，對情緒與安全感的聯結有極為密切的關聯性。

Under such circumstances, it is advised that the adults should burn some natural incense to purify the space while hugging and consoling the kids. As soon as the kids smell the fragrance of the incense, they can quickly calm down, simply because they rely on their sense of smell to connect to their moms before their vision is good enough. Their sense of smell gives them a sense of security. In fact, our sense of smell has a lot to do with our emotions and sense of security.

               

天然香是用多種珍貴中藥材製成的，有些藥材本身具有寧心安神、減緩驚悸的功效，當嬰兒受到外界磁場干擾時，透過藥香的作用，可以恢復嬰幼兒的身心安定與情緒穩定。孩子感覺到溫暖、穩定與安全時，就會睡得特別安穩。

 On the other hand, natural incense is comprised of many kinds of precious herbs, some of which have the properties to calm down or ease our mind. This is exactly why we can resort to medicinal incense to help calm down the body and mind of a restless baby. As soon as the baby feels warm, stable, and safe again, he or she will sleep safe and sound.

  

  

由於嬰兒呼吸道比較窄，而且嬰兒體質容易過敏，除了考慮空間大小及通風與否，建議在距離嬰兒2公尺以上適度薰香。有些父母對香的品質與來源很信任，還會用香在孩子的身體周圍先逆時針繞三圈、順時針繞三圈，再放在尾底骨熏香2-3秒〈從嬰兒背面，避免直接煙嗆〉，淨化孩子身上的負面能量。孩子就會慢慢放鬆、安靜下來。

Relatively, the airway of infants is narrower than that of adults, and infants tend to suffer from allergy. Thus, when burning incense, we have to pay attention to ventilation and keep the incense about two meters away from the infants. Some parents even trust the origin and quality of the incense, and would smoke their babies in clockwise circles three times and likewise in the counterclockwise direction. Finally, they would even smoke the last sacrum of the infants for two or three seconds. It is advised that we should smoke the infants on their backs for fear that the infants may choke on smoke. This is done to chase away the infants’ negative energy and thus the infants can gradually relax and calm down.

根據筆者好友分享，有些平日不點香、孩子很難帶、容易煩躁不安的媽媽，發現香具有安神定魄的妙用之後，也都會在孩子半夜不安穩時，用香氣來安撫孩子情緒。

According to the feedbacks from some parents, burning incense really helps calm down fretful and uneasy kids. Therefore, those parents also burn incense to soothe the restless kids in the midnight in case they do not sleep well.