Colour Therapy
But the little boy said…There are so many colors in the rainbow. So many colors in the morning sun. So many colors in the flower and I see every one.
I love this song by Harry Chapin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWV3fJB2Mfw). It reminds us that we all see the world in such a different way and we respond to what we see in different ways. March is Colour Therapy Month and it reminds me that soon, the snow will leave us and the amazing colours of spring will surface. These colours make me smile, they pick me up and they put the world back into perspective. Colour Therapy or Color Therapy is one of my relaxation strategies.
Research has found that colour does impact our mood. Colour therapy itself, is an energy healing method that has been used for thousands of years. It is based on our bodies being made of up of energy and hence light energy can be used to heal and relax the body.
The Benefits of Colour Therapy
One method used is by using a torch with 11 different colours of quartz glass rods. This coloured light is applied to the skin on specific points or zones, similar to those on the acupuncture meridians. The frequency of each colour carries a particular healing message, which the cells absorb. This method has been used with some success on fatigue, insomnia, colic and minor infections.
As far back as Avicenna (980-1037) there were views on the importance of colour. He wrote that “Color is an observable symptom of disease” and also developed a chart that related color to the temperature and physical condition of the body. His view was that red moved the blood, blue or white cooled it, and yellow reduced muscular pain and inflammation.
Beverly’s Hot Tips For How To Build Resilience and Celebrate Colour Therapy Month:
- Deep breathing and visualization are powerful strategies that can calm and heal us. You may want to vary this by using Colour Breathing. http://www.colourtherapyhealing.com/colour_therapy/colour_breathing.php While breathing in and out, the participant visualizes the various colours of the rainbow filling their body and then being released. Red, orange and yellow come up from the ground through the body, to the top and leave through the ground. Green is visualized coming in horizontally from the world to fill your body and then leaves out the back, while blue and violet come in from the head, to the toes and back out to the sky.
- Solarized water can be sipped or bathed in to add energy, calm the mind or regulate your digestion. http://www.colourtherapyhealing.com/colour_therapy/solarized_water.php
- Coloured Glasses can be worn for therapy. Violet for calming, blue for pain relief and healing, green eases stress and lowers blood pressure, yellow for alertness and concentration, orange for digestion and cramping, red to help warm and increase energy
- To decrease your appetite, eat off a blue plate.
Top 10 favourites from the Colour Therapy Month website:
- Paint a room in your house.
- Eat a salad that contains all 7 colors of the rainbow.
- Buy a new, colorful outfit.
- Bake a batch of rainbow cupcakes or cookies.
- Take a color therapy bath.
- Treat yourself to a colorful mani-pedi.
- Mix and drink your favorite colorful cocktail or fruit smoothie.
- Create a flower display of all the 7 rainbow colors.
- Listen to colorful music.
- Blow bubbles…and enjoy the rainbows.
Contact Beverly about hosting a workshop for your teams on building resiliency and supporting a positive mental health. Learn strategies to encourage an engaging, safe working environment!
If you have some strategies to share – comment on this posting!
Additional Resources:
Relaxation Day Article
National Relaxation Day – August 15