FREE INCENSE BATH

Surprisingly, my mum agreed to climb up the hill to to the Tung Wah Cave Temple yesterday afternoon.  They were having an early celebration for the birthday of the Goddess Kuan Yin and we wanted to offer our respects.  
When we reached the one hundred and fifty-ninth step, we were greeted by a battalion of burning joss-sticks.  The smoke was overpowering.  Luckily my mum wasn't too affected by the smoke while we were there.
In her case, the smoke from the incense would do her a lot of good as incense smoke is reputed to be a method of purifying ones aura of any negative energies.  The Chinese believe that incense smoke helps to purify the surroundings and at the same time bring forth an assembly of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Gods, demons and the like.  The Taoists also believe that the burning of incense sticks is a way of communicating with the deities and spirits.  It is said that when people hold a stick of incense in prayer before an image of a god their soul becomes transparent and the god knows what they are thinking. In ancient times, the Chinese believed that the cleansing action of fire fended off evil and that fragrant scents attracted good spirits. From then on, it was believed that smoke from incense carried the wishes of the supplicant to heaven.
So sometimes it is worth ones while to go and stand near giant burning joss-sticks during religious festivals in temple.  This is a free incense smoke bath that would help to rid one of negative Chi and also supernatural beings.
So if you find that things around you are simply not working out and everything seems to be falling apart, then go and get an incense bath.