Colour has a profound affect on most people. Perhaps that’s where sayings associated with colours come from: green with envy, feeling blue, black out, etc. Colours actually affect the body on all levels and can be used to re-balance the body and promote a healthier state. In fact, our ancestors would swear by their miraculous healing powers. From there stems the concept of colour therapy, also known as chromo therapy. A natural therapy process, it uses colour in to rebalance the energy in one’s body.
“Every colour has positive attributes and the opposites of these are challenges. There is nothing such as bad or good energy. Balancing the energies and living life in a better way is what colour therapy aims at,” explains Alka Sodhani, a Sujok colour therapist.
Colour is absorbed through the eyes, skin and the magnetic energy field. The therapy may include use of spectrum lamps, solarised water, crystals and encouragement towards using certain colours for diet, dress and decor.
“We live in colour, it is there everywhere. Wearing, seeing or being exposed to colours whether in the form of a light, pigment or cloth can affect us at various levels. When you surround yourself with colour, you also bring in an opportunity to improve your health,” says Seema Midha, a colour therapist.
We all have a particular favourite colour and our own fashion style. But the choice of our colours also reflect our state of mind besides our fashion sense. “Conscious awareness of the colours you wear can offer insights to a potential change in your life. Red reflects your energetic state of mind while green could reflect that you are balanced and calm,” explians Seema.
Colour therapy also helps in reducing food cravings, combat depression associated to weight loss and create long term solutions for weight loss.
Food Therapy
While redoing your decor to soothe your sense or re-hauling your wardrobe to complement your energies may take some time, for immediate effect, balancing the colours in your food, cutlery and table linen can go a long way. Some colours can excite your senses and entice you to eat more while others could curb your binges.
“Interesting presentation of food is what makes people have food properly. People who are on diet are supposed to eat less food but most of diet food is dull-looking, like oats. It is important to make dietary food interesting by balancing all the colours on your plate. Like having salads,” opines Dr Midha.
“Eat a rainbow every day; building meals and snacks around a kaleidoscope of colour will ensure one an enormous intake of vitamins and minerals to boost one’s immunity, maintain their sugar, lipid and other parameters. This improves one’s overall well being with a good quality of life,” says Dr Deepa Agarwal, consultant nutritionist at Nova Specialty hospital.
Studies into phytochemistry suggests that colours of fruits and vegetables indicate their individual health giving benefits. “It is good to have three different vegetables in a day. Colour of the food only means the nutrient status of the food. Colour therapy in diet need not necessarily be used only for healing but also to maintain balance of vitamins and minerals in the body to stay fit,” informs Jyotsna Raja, a nutritionist.
So, begin colouring your life by changing around a few things, adding some colour and balancing the overall colour palette in your everyday life – diet, dressing, decor etc.