The Many Colors of Healing

Color is exploding around us here in Virginia during these fall months. I find myself dreading the rain, because the fall winds and hard rain can force the increasingly tenuous connection between twig and leaf to sever, leaving winter’s barren branches behind. I want to hold onto this gorgeous, healing color as long as possible.

That’s right. Color can be very healing. Each color we see has a particular vibration that can actually affect your mood and your response to the environment around you. Imagine you are preparing for a child’s birthday party. Would you decorate in black and gray and hang nothing but white, black and gray balloons? Surely your answer is no, because these colors don’t feel cheerful. On the other hand, if you are dressing for a funeral, you will most likely not put on your favorite red dress or brightly colored trousers. It would feel disrespectful to those grieving to create a lighthearted atmosphere with your choice of attire. A red dress might feel like an intrusion.

Color can be a mood enhancer or a mood changer.  Would you rather have your body feel like a bouquet of black and gray balloons or a bouquet of colored balloons (your choice of colors)? If you opted for a colored bouquet, as would I, think about why. What colors would you choose? Why? Your choice of color might vary from day to day. Perhaps you would choose a vibrantly colored bouquet to help you feel more cheerful on a gray day. Maybe pastels would feel comforting, soothing and relaxing to you on a Saturday morning.

Because of the effect that color can have on us, I often like to work with it in a variety of ways when meditating. Focusing on a color can help to quiet monkey mind (swinging from thought to thought) during meditation. It’s an appealing visual. It can also help you feel better. It can cheer you up or calm you down. It can energize you or help you sleep. Think of how differently you might respond to orange vs. pastel blue; red vs. lavender.

Here’s a meditation exercise using color that’s great for this time of year:

Close your eyes and think about autumn trees. In particular, visualize the most beautiful tree that you’ve seen this fall, with leaves that are red, orange, dark green, lime green, yellow, siena, brown, or some combination of those colors. Once you’ve identified your leaf color, allow yourself to sit, with your eyes still closed, and imagine yourself becoming this tree with the gorgeous leaves you chose for just a few minutes. Now open your eyes and come up with a couple of adjectives that describe how you felt wearing this beautiful fall leaf headdress. Did you feel energized? Happy? Calm? Peaceful? Vibrant?

Using the color or combination of colors you have chosen for your tree, try the following color meditation exercise for 10 minutes. (Setting a timer helps.) ⏰

Close your eyes and take three slow, deep breaths–in and out–to clear your mind and body. Then, on each inhale, imagine filling up your body with the color that you chose for your tree’s leaves. On exhale, imagine breathing out black or gray smoke. The goal is to fill your body with the benefits of a color that makes you feel good (happy, vibrant, peaceful, etc.) and exhale that which does not resonate with this feeling. For example, you might breathe in a vibrant yellow color that makes you feel energized and happy. As you exhale the black smoke, you might be releasing some sadness or depression, although you do not need to identify the particular emotions contained in the exhaled smoke. It is sufficient that you intend to release (on exhale) those emotions that do not resonate with your color and that may not be in your best and highest good to continue carrying around in your body.

As you continue to breathe this color into your body, the color may change without your conscious direction. For example, you may start the meditation by inhaling a yellow color and suddenly find yourself inhaling blue. Allow this to be so. The new color has shown up to help you in some way. This is a very common occurrence during color meditations.

You may wish to repeat this exercise a number of times, as it can help you on deeper and deeper levels each time. You may also begin thinking about the following as you repeat this meditation:

What color did you start with?
Why are you drawn to this color?
How does it make your body feel?
Did your color change?
If yes, what new color did you inhale?
How does the new color make you feel?
Did the old or new colors have an effect on your physical body? 
Did you feel any emotional response to the colors?

Please reply with questions and feedback.  I’d love to hear from you!

Enjoy the colors of the season, my friends, both inside and out!

Susan 💙💛💚❤️