Will Coloring Books Solve My Problems?
From financial issues to workplace woes, relationships, and family complications, adult life comes with everyday challenges. One minute you are full of life and energy, and the next, you are trying to get your life back together from stress, depression and anxiety.
With the level of unprecedented challenges that come with adult life, coloring books as a therapeutic approach to relieving stress and anxiety may seem too simple to be true. But, the reality is that today, many adults are coloring too, and not just for fun or to get a feeling of what life used to be as a child.
Why Coloring?
Color therapy for adults has been linked with many health benefits, such as helping you achieve wellness, calm, and mindfulness, which are the same benefits that meditation impacts the brain. People are becoming more aware and turning to coloring books and water coloring for therapeutic reasons. No wonder some of these adult coloring books are gaining popularity every day and topping lists of best-selling books.
If there are times, you may have skipped having a good warm bath or treating yourself to a pleasant dinner just because you couldn’t get the voice of your angry boss or a nagging customer out of your head. Then, this might just be the right time to pull out the markers, crayons, and colored pencils.
The Mandala is a popular type of adult coloring books with concentric circles and geometrical patterns. This book, according to Carl Jung, one of the earliest scientists to ever study the therapeutic effects of adult coloring books in the early 20th centuries was found to help several anxiety patients de-stress, become calmer and more focused.
Mood Booster
It is believed that when the mind is made to focus on a creative task such as coloring books and pages, worrisome thoughts and imaginations tend to fade away. As the creative mind recreates, feel-good neurochemicals such as serotonin activate positive feelings of wellness and serenity. This creates the perfect mood you need to be in to effortlessly tackle your everyday problems without letting stress lead you to make irrational decisions.
While you may need multiple tasks to put every part of your brain to use, coloring therapy is a simple, yet effective activity that stimulates every aspect of your brain, something like a total brain workout. While coloring as an adult, you will need to make artistic color choices that will require the creative part of your brain.
Also, for some level of focus, concentration and organization, the frontal lobe is used. To add an aesthetic balance to your art, fine motor skills and problem-solving may be required, and for this, the rational side of your brain is needed.
Coloring books can also serve as the perfect activity that helps you rediscover yourself as an adult while having a productive get away from your rut managing jobs, house works, etc. It is easier to get out of your stressful daily routines and become more relieved, comfortable and relaxed after a long day with coloring. There are amazing adult coloring books online and offline, free coloring apps, and coloring printables that are easy to use in the office, at home or on the go.
At this point, if you still think coloring books is only an activity for keeping kids occupied, then you may want to think again!
