Is Colour Therapy the new anti-anxiety “drug”?
Anyone who has visited health retreats Chiva Som in Thailand, Queensland’s The Golden Door or Sydney’s Billabong Retreat has been introduced to colour therapy.
It’s a fancy term for making like a 5 year old, and simply picking up some crayons or coloured pencils and colouring in pretty pictures.
But there’s more to it than that. Experts say it can be the secret to de-stressing, getting in touch with yourself, and letting go, much like yoga or meditation. And the French are claiming it could be the catalyst to putting down our phones, as they predict is about to be the next big thing.
A French grown up colouring-in book, 100 coloriages anti-stresss has sold over 350,000 copies. And given France has the highest consumption of anti-depressants globally, they could be looking for a new drug-free way to chill.
According to addiction facilities and health retreats, research has shown colouring in can be helpful for those recovering from addiction issues, grief, divorce, pregnancy, retirement or any major life event. It is also used to treat anxiety.
It is a helpful way to calm the mind and some even call it a form of meditation. It taps into the child within and helps disconnect from reality and connect with your inner most feelings and thoughts.
So you no longer need an excuse to borrow a child’s pencils, and a quick google search will bring up plenty of printable images of just about anything you can think of, so get colouring now.
(Check out Sydney’s Billabong here: www.billabongretreat.com.au)