This spring, revive your energy and gain new motivations by incorporating color into your life. Color therapy, or chromotherapy, is a holistic practice that traces back thousands of years to ancient civilizations and is documented to naturally affect physical, emotional, spiritual and mental well-being, because each color enables the body to heal and balance itself.
Here are some spring-cleaning tips that are meant to detox your space, mind and body.
Eat your greens.
Imagine the color of new life, the color of leaves when they first begin to blossom on trees. Green supports balance and harmony, so incorporate it in all parts of the day. Eat more green foods, such as baby greens, asparagus, avocados, cilantro, celery, parsley and sprouts. Try putting limes in a bath, to liven up drinking water and to freshen proteins like chicken and seafood. Making guacamole with avocado, lime and cilantro for a gathering is an easy way to promote a fresh start and detox with friends.
Dress to impress.
Wearing bright clothing and undergarments will instantly put the wearer and others around them in a cheerful mood. For example, pink is a color that gives off vibes of love; wear it to become more loving of one’s self and others.
Energize with water.
Transform moods with different colored waters. For example, if energy is being sought after, take red-colored paper and place it underneath a clear glass of tap water, or pour water into a red-colored glass. Let the water sit in the sunlight and brighten the room, as light reflects the color. Use different colored paper or glasses for different moods.
Breathe in color.
While meditating, an individual should visualize breathing in color and being surrounded by it to transform moods. For instance, yellow is associated with being able to focus, teach, learn and detox. Spring is the perfect time to start fresh in any aspect of your life, so imagine breathing in yellow and being surrounded by it when seeking focus or if you are in need of a detox. Colors like lavender and pink are also great for meditation, to calm the mind and focus on new endeavors.
Liven up home and office walls with fresh colors.
Painting walls a certain color will instill a particular mood for that room. In spring, go with a lighter color palette; think of the colors of flowers budding, grass growing and a pale, blue sky in the afternoon. Again, spring is about starting fresh, and wanting to feel new and improved.
New accessories, new room.
If changing the wall color is inconvenient, spice a room up with fun-colored pillows, rugs, window treatments, art pieces or plants to recharge energy. Lavender signifies calming and increases senses of spirituality and wisdom, making it the perfect shade of spring purple. Incorporate this color into a room to calm the mind and to gain new insights for starting fresh this spring.
When life gives you lemons….
Freshen up water. Take a bath with lemons and sea salt to revive skin and get a refreshing spring glow. Squeeze lemons into drinking water or eat them to detox bodies and prepare for spring and summer activities.
Get new light bulbs.
Light bulbs with full-spectrum lighting mimic natural sunlight to emit all colors of the rainbow and reduce depression.
Wear color-therapy glasses.
Lenses with colored tints allow for light entering the body to be concentrated in one spectrum. Therefore, mood will enhance according to the color of the lenses.
Consider a color therapist.
Color therapists can determine the most enlightening color for an individual’s mood by providing supervised color-therapy treatments under special colored lights. For example, the Enlightened Healing Center in Orland Park, Illinois, uses red and infrared light therapy to treat inflammation and stimulate new, healthy cell growth.
Karen Erickson is a ChicagoHealers.com practitioner. Chicago Healers (www.ChicagoHealers.com) is the nation’s pioneer prescreened and integrative health care network, offering a comprehensive understanding of each practitioner’s services, approach and philosophy. Its holistic health experts teach and advocate natural and empowered health and life choices through their practices, the media, educational events and website. With close to 200 practitioners and more than 300 treatment services, Chicago Healers has provided nearly 400 free educational events and has been featured in more than 300 TV news programs and print publications.