Using Coloring Books To Balance Your Stress
Benefits of Coloring for Mental Health
When you were a child, you probably enjoyed using crayons and a coloring book, and today, you can also enjoy this activity by using adult coloring pages. There are multiple mental health benefits from coloring therapy, so you should participate in this activity as much as possible.
Eliminating Your Mental Stress
Mental stress is detrimental for your health, and it can lead to physical problems. If you have constant stress, then you can develop high blood pressure or digestive issues. Rather than using food or alcohol to relieve your stress after a difficult workday, keep an assortment of coloring pages and beautiful crayons ready at home.
Relieving Your Depression
If you feel depressed, then coloring therapy can lift your mood. When you are feeling sad, you can choose brightly colored crayons and coloring pages that have a positive or happy theme. Use crayon colors such as yellow, orange or red to stimulate the emotional center of your brain while you create artwork such as flowers. While coloring, concentrate on positive thoughts and say positive affirmations to yourself.
Preventing Dementia Conditions
When you are worried about developing dementia, use adult coloring books and an assortment of crayons or color pencils to create gorgeous artwork. You can find adult coloring books and pages that will stimulate the synapses in your brain so that you won’t develop Alzheimer’s disease. It is easy to take coloring pages and crayons with you to other locations such as when you are visiting your grandchildren.
Reducing Your Anxiety Levels
If you suffer from anxiety, then find adult coloring books that focus on mindfulness so that you can feel better. The best crayon colors to reduce anxiety include shades of blue or pale pink. These soothing colors can help you to feel calmer, and you will notice that your breathing becomes slower while your symptoms of digestive stress decline when you use an adult coloring book.
Stimulating Your Own Creativity
After using adult coloring pages for a few weeks, you may notice that you are more creative. In addition to coloring with crayons, you might want to write poetry, play the piano or paint on a canvas. When it has been many years since you enjoyed creating any type of art, coloring with crayons can stimulate the part of your brain that is creative.
Where Can You Find Coloring Pages for Adults?
You can find coloring pages and books for adults at local or online stores. In addition, it is possible to download and print coloring pages on a computer and printer so that you can find a wide assortment of artwork themes.
Color Therapy: The Psychology of Color
The way we see and perceive color each day greatly impacts our lives, though it does so on a mostly subconscious level. Understanding color psychology and how colors can be useful to help relieve anxiety and stress is a way to make the most out of the atmospheres you surround yourself in each day.
Why Colors Impact Us Emotionally
Seeing various colors can evoke emotion in us due to connections with real-life experience as well as how we feel a color is interpreted. While some colors are bright or dark by nature, others are muted or paler in comparison, allowing for drastically different interpretations.
Color Psychology in Marketing
Color psychology is one of the most common tricks used in marketing in order to encourage shoppers to make purchases or to remember brands and advertisements a brand is currently running. The color green is often used with companies that are trying to promote sales or work with money (such as banks or financial apps). The color green helps to encourage shopping while also putting trust in the brand, relating the color itself to money.
In many corporate situations, businesses choose to go with the color blue, as it symbolizes trustworthiness and professionalism. Because of the neutrality and trustworthiness associated with the color blue and businesses, companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and even Reddit have all defaulted to using the color blue to draw in new users while keeping the attention of current ones.
Peaceful and Calming Colors
Peaceful and calming colors are also found in advertising and marketing along with plenty of pampering and soothing products on the market. Popular peaceful and calming colors include pale and light blues and greens, along with deeper muted versions of the colors. Blue and green often symbolize serenity and a sheer sense of calmness, ideal for office or bedroom settings where the goal is to either remain focused or relaxed.
Coloring Books for Adults
Once you have a basic understanding of color psychology and how colors impact your mood, consider coloring books for adults to help alleviate stress and worry while allowing you to relax and unwind. Adult coloring books are great ways to integrate soothing colors while calming the mind and reducing the amount of anxiety you feel at any given time. Additionally, coloring books are affordable on most budgets and provide plenty of opportunity to get creative in your downtime.
Becoming more familiar with colors and how they typically make us feel is a great way to rearrange decor in the home or change up an entire wardrobe. Surrounding yourself with the right colors and including additional positive external influences such as an adult coloring book is a way to relieve anxiety and stress while allowing you to remain relaxed, focused, and at peace.
How Coloring Can Reduce Stress
Do you find yourself feeling stressed and tense, to the point that you feel you’re going to burst? Pull out a coloring book, seriously. What might have once seemed like a leisure activity for elementary school-aged children has now become one of the hottest trends in terms of stress reduction. Here are some ways that coloring can help reduce stress in your life.
1. Mindfulness
If you’ve looked into cures for stress, you’ve likely read about or practiced meditation. In a mindfulness meditation practice, you work to alleviate stress by sitting in quiet solitude, observing your breath. By focusing on your breath, you can reduce the power of thoughts.
Similarly, coloring gives you something to focus clearly on. As you bring the colored pencil across the page, you can feel like there is nothing else in the world that matters at this moment. You might be aware of your concerns outside of this practice, but you can put them on hold. Instead, your focus can be on the moment and your process.
2. Concentration
You can’t color mindlessly. If you’re trying to color while watching TV or talking on the phone, you’re not going to be able to focus on it and your work will suffer. In order to get the most out of your coloring book, you need to get rid of distractions.
Put your phone on silent and turn off the TV. Set a timer for about 20 minutes and just color. Focus on the page (or pages) you’re working with and just notice the sensations. Pay attention to the color of the colored pencils and how they feel on the paper. When the timer ends, you might feel motivated to keep going. If you do, listen to it. This shows that you’ve gotten in the zone. You might soon find that coloring is your go-to method when it comes to reducing stress.
3. Creativity
Many people find that their creative endeavors help them feel less stressed. After a long day, some people like to pick up their instrument or write some poetry. You can make coloring a form of expression. It doesn’t matter that you didn’t create the images you’re coloring. The additions you’re making via the coloring can make for an incredible display of creativity.
Before coloring, evaluate your mood and how you would like to reflect that mood on the page. You might be feeling tense and want to use calming colors like light blue or gray. You might also be feeling angry and want to use aggressive colors like red to get your rage out. Additionally, you might not be sure how you’re feeling and use an assortment of colors.
5 Coloring Books for Adults
Adult coloring books have been a popular item for several years. Teens and adults enjoy using their creativity to choose the colors and bring the scenes to life. Users enjoy using different types of art supplies, like colored pencils or markers. Coloring helps to relieve stress and anxiety by drawing the mind’s focus away from repetitive, intrusive thoughts. For dedicated hobbyists, the benefits of coloring are similar to those of meditation.
Secret Garden by Johanna Basford
This is one of the first adult coloring books to become part of the phenomenon. Basford’s botanical designs are intricate and provide hours of coloring enjoyment. The book has been printed on thicker stock so that it can be used with ink, watercolor, or marker as well as the traditional colored pencils. Some sections are left blank so that the artist can add his or her own details. Basford has also released a variety of other books like Lost Ocean and Enchanted Forest.
The Anatomy Coloring Book by Wynn Kapit
This is an early example of an adult coloring book, and it remains popular today. This coloring book is highly educational, teaching artists the names of all the bones in the body and the major systems as well. Teens and older children may find this book especially fascinating.
Adult Coloring Book: Stress Relieving Animal Designs by Dan Morris
This book has a variety of animal designs ranging in complexity from beginner to expert level. Dolphins, cats, butterflies, and elephants are some of the charming characters included. The animals are on a clear background, meaning that the artist can put all of his or her design work into the featured creature. The paper is thick enough for gel pens to be used with ease.
Coloring Book for Adults: Amazing Swirls by Happy Coloring, Elena Bogdanovych
This volume features swirling designs of various levels of complexity. None of the designs are so complex that a beginner could not enjoy them. The figures are mostly floral, although there are some animal pages. This book is printed on one side of the paper so the artist does not need to worry about bleed-through.
Creative Haven Owls Coloring Book by Marjorie Sarnat
This coloring book features owl designs with other graphical elements. This book is less realistic than some others and provides a flight of fancy for the artist. Themes include royalty, peace, kites, and totem poles. This book is from the Dover series Creative Haven, which features dozens of themes and topics. The pictures are printed on one side and perforated for easy removal.