Color Therapy: Making It Work For You

Colour as Energy Nutrition

The benefits of colour therapy were known to the healers long before Hippocrates. These wise men and women knew that certain colours could depress or stimulate. The Aztecs of ancient Mexico would, infact, use irritating colours to torture their enemies.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's scientific works on colour , "Contribution to Optics, Researches into the Elements of a Theory of Colour, and Moral Effect of Colour", which was written in 1810, remains unmatched even today. The Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner took this research forward and declared that life radiates colour. The modern concepts of colour therapy primarily take off from the concepts posited by Steiner .

Colour therapy has been at the forefront of major research in contemporary times too. There have been numerous scientific researches carried out on the healing effects of colour and this therapy is now widely accepted all over the world. .

Using colour to evaluate or affect a person's metabolic functioning is what Colour therapy is all about. It can be practiced by applying coloured light to the eyes , the skin and the various Chakra points in the body. This therapy has proved to be unusually effective in treating SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder. .

Calling colour a form of food. As energy nutrition, it is reasonable to assume that each colour has a different nutritive effect. Generally foods of the same colour have the same nutrients . Red foods like meat and beets are high sources of B Vitamins. Yellow-green foods like lemons and most greens like spinach are rich in Vitamin C. .

"Colour therapy or chromotherapy has numerous applications, while presenting no side effects. Colour is a mild yet powerful form of energy that can be used to restore an individual's daily energy loss.Indeed, colour is a powerful tool if properly applied in health, psychology , nutrition , home décor, sociology, workplace environment and marketing. It is the basic characteristic of our lives and impacts different facets of it, even if we are not conscious of the influence of colour", says Dr Atul Sharma , a Delhi based colour and hypnotherapist.

Chakra Colors and Healing Foods

How Colour Therapy Works?

According to the Director of the Wagner Institute for Color Research in California, Carlton Wagner, the body's endocrine system reacts powerfully to a specific colour because of the neurotransmitters that one inherits from one's parents. For instance, red is exciting to the brain and therefore neurotransmitters stimulate the adrenal glands to pump adrenaline, making the body ready for action.

Applications of Different Colours

Each colour has its unique characteristics and own special way of affecting people. The research on colours is ongoing but the following descriptions are based on latest data. .

RED
Red is associated with power, vitality and excitement. It can stimulate joy, happiness and love. It can be used when vitality is low or blood circulation is poor. It is also the colour that is the most disturbing to mentally sick patients and should never be used around them. It has the slowest vibration of all the visible colours and thus has the quickest effect on emotions. Red also increases appetite.

ORANGE
Many fruits and vegetables are orange or orange-red, making this the colour of nourishment. It is also used as an energizing colour.

YELLOW
Yellow is a joyous primary colour, but it also brings about wisdom, understanding and highest intuitional insight, especially if golden yellow is used.Orangeand yellow create a laxative effect, they tend to stimulate the elimination of body wastes to such an extent that even kidneys are cleansed. It is a therapeutic colour.

GREEN
This nature colour is healing, peaceful, soothing and cool. It's a restful balm to stressed out people.

BLUE
Blue is pain relieving and sedative. It relieves inflammation and infection. It is also the colour of heavenly consciousness, truth, harmony , calmness and hope .

Whereas red stimulates passions, blue soothes and quiets them. Blue is used in the rooms of violent criminals as well as children suffering from attention deficient disorder.

PINK
This colour has powerful sedative effect. TheCaliforniaprison system has installed pink painted ‘sedation cells" for tough and unruly prisoners. When a prisoner breaks the rules, becomes overly aggressive or requires disciplining, he is moved to one of these pink cells for at least thirty minutes. Hostility, aggressiveness and general violence begin decreasing within ten minutes. The sedating and muscle relaxing effects of pink are now being tried by behavioral scientists on geriatrics, adolescents and those in family therapy.

BLACK
If pink soothes, black can lead to depression. KGB, the Russian secret police knew this property of black and psychologically tortured their prisoners by locking them up in a cell painted black to induce depression. Many people find black very depressing. The unconscious associations with this colour are very depressing, like death, dying, terrorism and treachery.

WHITE
This is the colour of purity and goodness. It represents harmony as it blends all rainbow colours. It elevates moodand lifts from depresssion

VIOLET
This lovely colour represents good motives and spiritual aspirations. It is associated with prosperity, wealth and prosperity.It enhances emotions of love and enhances changes in psycho sexual processes.i

There is a special relationship between certain colours and the individual. Why someone prefers and detests a certain shade or tone has to do with both the properties inherent in that colour and the person's energy make-up.

So , if you want to be healthy, stay away from too much red and black. Use blue and green in your living environments. Befriend colours to live long, well and healthy.