Colourful ways to brighten your days
One easy and effective way to change your moody outlook is to brighten up your life with colour. Research has proven how colour therapy, or chromo therapy, is a natural way to lift your spirits. We researched on this topic on ChicagoHealers.com practitioner articles by Karen Erickson about how we can inject more colour into our life. Here's what the natural health expert had to say.
Wear colourful attire
Think about it: Don't you feel more cheery when you wear that yellow sweater than when you put on that gray sweatshirt? According to Erickson, clothing that's bright will instantly put you in a cheerful mood and even make others around you feel merry as they visually absorb your brightness. That means you help cheer up others, too. "During the winter, people tend to wear darker clothing, but the duller the colours you wear, the duller your mood is," says Erickson. "Wear richer, more vibrant colours because wearing lots of black and gray can cause depression."
Paint your home or office
Give your home or workplace an inspiring, lively ambiance with a new coat of bright paint. Vibrant colours such as yellows or oranges will fill a room with excitement and warmth, while dark colours like greys or browns create a boring, monotonous feeling. "People suffering the winter blues or SAD [seasonal affective disorder] can surround themselves with brighter colours to feel happy," Erickson adds. "Yellows and oranges promote joy and laughter and also aid in improving focus. The more surrounded you are with rich colours, the happier you are!" Pastel colours, such as lavender and pinks, can help you manage stress because these soft, soothing colours foster calm feelings.
Be colourful with your food
Eating a rainbow of colours isn't just good for your health; it's good for your mood, too! Erickson recommends eating and smelling foods, oils and spices that are yellow, orange, green and red because of their rewarding health benefits as well as their ability to give you feelings of joy, tranquillity and passion. She points out, "During these winter months, we often resort to comfort foods, such as mashed potatoes, heavy soups and pastas, which are brown and tan-coloured, and not as uplifting as the colourful, fresh foods we eat in the summer months." Stick with the rich-coloured foods in the winter so you feel more joyful and fill your plate with more nutrient-dense foods.
Wear colour therapy glasses
Are you known as the person who wears the tinted-coloured glasses? Literally speaking, it can actually be good for your mood. Lenses with coloured tints allow for light entering your body to be concentrated in one spectrum. Therefore, your mood will enhance according to the colour of your lenses. "Yellow and orange are the best colours for colour therapy glasses, especially for those with SAD," explains Erickson. "The great thing about yellow-tinted glasses is that you can drive with them and still see the red and green signs! Also, yellow is very effective in helping improve focus and learning abilities."
Visualize colours
Even if you can't drastically transform your plain walls into bright displays of colour and you have to wear the same less-than-cheery clothing every day, you can visualize yourself surrounded by a specific colour that will help instil the mood associated with that colour. Erickson strongly suggests that you simply imagine you're lying on a beach on a gorgeous, sunny day with bright trees and colourful plants around you. "The longer you practice this meditation, the more peaceful and cheerful you'll feel!" she adds.
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