Coloring is a simple activity that takes you outside of yourself. It happens much in the way that taking a Sunday drive or knitting can relax you. Adult coloring books will help you cultivate mindfulness, attentiveness, and awareness in the present moment.
Adult Coloring Books will change your life by allowing you to:
1. Create Mindfulness
It is well known that mindfulness will help you to reduce stress. Mindfulness is achieved by focusing and being aware of the present moment. During this time, you can acknowledge and accept your thoughts, feelings, and body sensations. By coloring, you can remove yourself from the focal point of your thoughts because you will become immersed in the process of the activity.
2. Turn Off & Take A Time Out
Using adult coloring pages gives you a time out. An adult time out can be one of the most pleasurable experiences ever. Coloring is easy, so it doesn’t require much mental involvement to create something beautiful. But it does require your full concentration.
Source: ShutterstockAs you are coloring, the other things you have on your mind fall away. Bills, disagreements, work, or whatever may be stressing you simply vanish during your adult time out. For kids, time out is like doing jail time, but for adults, it’s a beautiful thing!
3. Combat Anxiety
Anxiety is a common mental condition affecting millions of adults. It can include excessive worry, panic attacks, and even thoughts of dying. Do you experience chills, fever, nausea, or insomnia whenever you are worried about something? Your symptoms may be associated with anxiety. A person who has anxiety will experience extremely high-stress levels at the thought of participating in activities that others consider commonplace.
4. Reduce Stress
The amygdala of the brain needs periodic rest to reduce overall stress. Coloring is an activity that will center you and relax your amygdala. Doctors have been aware of the health benefits associated with coloring dating back to the early 1900s. Psychiatrist, Dr. Carl Jung used to prescribe the practice of coloring to patients suffering from anxiety. To this day, doctors prescribe Mandala coloring to anxiety patients.
5. Increase Brain Development
Coloring is not an activity that only uses the left or right side of the brain. It exercises both hemispheres and offers a full-brain workout.
Source: ShutterstockAdult coloring will exercise the following areas of your brain:
- The creative side of the brain is used to choose color choices and create designs.
- The frontal lobe is used for focusing on organizational ideas and concentration. The rational side of the brain takes care of the problem solving and fine motor skills of coloring.
6. Spark Creativity
If your work involves a high level of creativity, such as content creation, it can occasionally zap you. You may find that your creative juices have left the building. Adult coloring is something that you can do to empty your mind and form new connections of creativity.
7. Bring Back Memories of Childhood
You likely spent hours coloring as a child. It was easy, fun, and distracting. The same is true in adulthood. When you color as an adult, you automatically channel a bit of your childhood self. You begin having the same excitement and unbridled fun that you did as a child.
8. Displace Negative Emotions
Source: ShutterstockIf you worry about your job, your family, bills, or your future, you are not alone. Most adults experience worry, anger, resentment, or fear. Often it can be difficult not to experience these emotions. Adult coloring brings legitimate neurological changes to the brain. Studies revealed changes in heart rate and brain-waves.
9. Improve Mental Focus
Today’s world is increasingly demanding. Coloring teaches you to purposefully put everything else aside. It also provides a greater sense of calmness.
10. Improved Sleep
It is difficult to think of any activity that will improve your life as much as a great night’s sleep. Blue light exposure from electronic devices can disrupt your circadian rhythm and contribute to insomnia. Unfortunately, it is next to impossible for most people to stop using their electronic devices at night. Coloring is relaxing and is a great way to wind down free of electronics. Taking the time to wind down with an adult coloring book can help you sleep.
11. Feel Accomplished
Not everyone is the artistic type, but we all appreciate the feeling we get from completing a creative project. Coloring is a great way to feel that same sense of accomplishment.
12. Improve Your Outlook
While engaged in coloring, the mind seldom diverts or relapses into unfavorable thoughts. This is because it is solely concentrating on picking colors, staying in the lines, and filling the picture patterns with color.
Source: ShutterstockWhen the brain is focused on coloring an image, it replaces all negative thoughts with positive thoughts.
13. Enhance Communication and Social Connections
Due to its many health benefits, adult coloring has gained immense popularity all over the world. Increasingly, this activity is being used as a social group activity. Coloring also helps parents and children connect and spend quality time.
14. Practice Therapeutic Creativity
Art therapy is a hot topic due to its ability to relieve stress. However, it is not a new concept. Using coloring as a creative therapy dates back to a pioneer of modern psychology named Carl Jung. His focus was on the power of drawing and coloring Mandalas.
15. Practice Meditation
Mandalas are abstract geometrical forms. Usually, they are a circle or square that is designed by free forms, objects, or beings. Many ancient cultures, including Buddhism, Australian Aboriginal, Hinduism, and Native American cultures, have used Mandalas as symbols of wholeness, infinity, the universe, or connection to a higher power.
There are many benefits to enhancing your mood, cultivating mindfulness, and reducing stress. However, the process of personal development found with adult coloring, or other artistic activities can be distinct from professional therapy. Creative practitioners and art therapists are available to those seeking that type of remedy while practicing adult coloring is an artistic activity that you can enjoy any time.
