Each colour has its own wavelength and energy. The energy relating to each of the seven spectrum colours—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet—resonates with the energy of each of the seven main energy centres/chakras of the body. The use of colour energy for health and wellbeing can be traced back thousands of years to the ancient cultures of Egypt, China and India.

Multidimensional effect

Colour is absorbed by the eyes, skin and our ‘magnetic energy field’ or aura.

Visually, we pick up colours with the sensors in the retina of the eye called rods and cones. The message is passed to the optic nerve and then to the brain. The pituitary and pineal glands in the brain respond to messages from cells all over the body about quantity and colour quality of light shining on to the body and produce hormones that stimulate other glands in the body.

If we cannot see or are ‘colour blind’, the colour rays will be received through the skin and, powerfully, through our energy field. It has been shown that those who cannot see, can differentiate between various colours using touch or simply being open to the energies around them.

The energy of colour affects us on all levels, that is to say, physical, psychological and emotional.

There are deeper issues around the colours on the psychological and emotional levels and thus our moods are affected by colour. Our wellbeing is not purely a physical issue; our moods and psychological issues play a large part in our health and wellbeing.

Using colour

We can easily utilise colour in our everyday life. After all, colour is all around us. We only have to look at nature to see the wonderful free resource of colour at our disposal. All we need to do is to heighten our awareness of the energy of colour and how it can make a difference to our lives. A professional therapist will help you to do this, but there are ways to help ourselves and using appropriate colours in the home can be a great start.

Our moods and psychological issues play a large part in our health and wellbeing

Let’s look at the qualities of the individual colours of the spectrum

Red

Red is the most warming and energising of the colours. It is associated with the fight or flight reaction, as it stimulates the adrenal glands. It also increases blood flow and blood pressure. This colour relates to basic survival issues, security, inner strength and courage.

This colour is generally recommended for activity areas. But, it needs to be used wisely as it makes a space look smaller and can be claustrophobic or oppressive. However, if used well, red and its variations can make a space feel warm and cosy. This colour is not recommended for rooms where there may be a level of stress – i.e. offices.

Orange

Orange is the next most warming colour and is associated with creativity and relates to the abdominal area including the reproductive organs and large intestine. It is used to alleviate depression as it is uplifting and encourages independence, sociability and joy.

Just like the colour red, orange is also recommended for activity areas. Play rooms, dining rooms, kitchens, etc can have a dash or orange. Orange has the ability to stimulate creativity and is therefore used in studios to increase energy, fun and sociability.

Yellow

Yellow is associated with the ego and self confidence; it relates to the solar plexus area including the stomach and liver. It is helps promote logical thought and can be a useful aid to concentration and study. Often thought of as “the sunshine colour” it is also warming and uplifting.

Since yellow is a warm and mentally activating colour, it is suitable for a sunny welcome in entrance halls. Using shades of yellow in the study room helps one in their studies as it aids concentration. This colour is not ideal for bedrooms as it stimulates the mind and can keep your mind active at night.

Green

Green is associated with love and self love and relates to the heart area and thymus gland, which is important for the immune system. It is a balancing colour as it helps to encourage our body’s normal processes like breathing, blood flow and cell behaviour. Psychologically, it helps us to open our hearts to love and empathy.

Green can be used in any room as it balances and harmonises the energy. However, it does not stimulate activity. This colour is ideal for a garden room as it brings the outside in.

Blue

Blue is associated with self expression, communication and truth, relating to the throat area and the thyroid gland. It is calming and cooling and helps to promote tranquillity. It also helps to slow down over-activity in the body as well as the mind.

This colour can be used for any room where we want to promote peace and calm. Since this is a cooling colour, a north facing room will feel colder if decorated predominantly in blue. It is a good colour for a bedroom, but if the room is facing north, think about bringing in warmer colours with art work or curtains etc.

Indigo

Indigo is associated with the brow, forehead area relating to the head and the eyes, ears and sinuses and the pituitary gland. It relates to self responsibility—acknowledging that we are responsible for our own life. Indigo helps us to see the bigger picture and to trust our intuition. It is very cooling and calming.

Like blue, indigo is also a cooling colour and must be used for areas of calm like bedrooms or areas of contemplation. This colour can also be used for study rooms as it helps to focus the mind and help intuition.

Violet

Violet is associated with the top of the head, the crown, and relates to the pineal gland. It helps us to acknowledge that we are more than just a body, by connecting to our higher self/soul/spirit and heightens our sensitivity to energies. It is the most calming of all colours and helps to soothe the nervous system.

Since violet calms and soothes the nervous system, this is the classic colour to use in bedrooms of insomniacs, meditation rooms and therapy rooms.

Since yellow is a warm and mentally activating colour, it is suitable for a sunny welcome in entrance halls

A few more tips

• Using red socks and gloves during winters will keep your feet and hands warmer than any other colour.
• If you suffer from insomnia, use violet coloured bedding or pillow. You could cover the pillow with a violet silk or cotton scarf. You could also place something violet on your bedside table to concentrate on for a few minutes before turning out the light.
• Yellow is an energising colour which helps to stimulate the mind and to encourage logical thought. It helps to promotes creation of ideas. Place something yellow on your desk like a flower, small lamp with a yellow shade or wear yellow if you wish to enhance these abilities.
• Green is calming and comforting; it is helpful for relieving trauma. Shades of green wrapped around the body can be a useful aid to for shock. Green is generally a helpful colour to aid the body’s own healing processes.

This was first published in the July 2015 issue of Complete Wellbeing.

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The chakras or energy centres

If you can imagine the chakras/energy centres as a set of cogs/wheels, they are rather like the workings of a clock or an engine; each cog/wheel needs to move smoothly for the clock/engine to work properly. Thus, balance of the energy in each of the body’s chakras is very important for health and wellbeing. Chakra colour therapy can help to re-balance and/or stimulate these energies.

The seven rainbow colours—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet—resonate with the base, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, brow and crown chakras respectively, and the organs and glands therein. Colour energy can be used to energise or balance our chakras and act as a catalyst for the body’s own healing process.

Take, for example, a situation where you have been unable, for one reason or another, to speak your mind or express your needs and feelings. This can manifest as a problem in the throat chakra. The throat chakra relates to self expression. Thus, if your self expression has been blocked, the energy in this area will not be free flowing and in turn lead to a physical manifestation of disease.

Who can use chakra colour therapy

Chakra colour therapy helps on a physical level, which is perhaps easier to quantify. However, there are deeper issues around colours on the psychological and spiritual levels. Besides helping us enhance physical wellbeing, colour therapy can help us with emotional, mental and spiritual issues. It is a natural, holistic and non-invasive therapy that has no side-effects, and can be used on adults, children, infants and even animals. It can also be used along with any other medication — whether conventional or complementary.

How different colours work in chakra colour therapy

The colour red

RED is energising and warming, raises blood pressure and blood flow. Problems which can be helped with red include those related to poor circulation, kidney stones, diarrhoea, piles, colitis, problems with hips, legs and feet. Red relates to self-awareness and security issues.

The colour orange

ORANGE is warming and energising, helps clear phlegm and is a great antidote for depression. Problems which can be helped with orange include pre-menstrual syndrome, uterine fibroids, irritable bowel syndrome, prostatic disease and depression. Orange relates to self respect.

The colour yellow

YELLOW is uplifting and cleansing, and can be used for problems associated with the liver, spleen, stomach, small intestine and the pancreas. Problems include diabetes, pancreatitis, liver disease, peptic ulcer and gallstones. It is also helpful for breaking down calcification in arthritic joints and for cataracts. Yellow relates to self-worth.

The colour green

GREEN is balancing and harmonising, and it encourages normal cell behaviour. It is helpful for many problems including any relating to the immune system, heart, breasts and cancer. It is also a good “first aid” colour for trauma — physical or emotional. Green relates to love, for self and others.

The colour blue

BLUE is cooling and calming, helps to lower blood pressure and has antiseptic qualities. It can help problems such as thyroid complications, sore throat, asthma, bronchitis, mouth ulcers, teething in babies and tonsillitis. Blue relates to self expression — the ability to speak our own truth.

The colour indigo

INDIGO is cooling, calming and a great pain killer. It also has strong antiseptic qualities. It can help problems relating to the eyes, lower head and sinuses including tension headache, migraine, visual defects, glaucoma, catarrh, sinus problems and some ear problems. Indigo relates to self responsibility and intuition.

The colour violet

VIOLET is very calming and has antiseptic and anti-fungal qualities. It helps to quieten the mind and is helpful for many mental problems including epilepsy, senile dementia, Alzheimer’s and also helps with confusion and dizziness. It is helpful for insomnia. Violet relates to spiritual awareness.

Chakra colour therapy in everyday life

Colour is a part of our everyday life. There are many different ways of using colour to heal. Solarised water, light boxes/lamps with colour filters, colour silks and hands-on healing using colour are just some of the ways.

Contraindications

There are no known contraindications but one should always treat red with caution. This colour raises blood pressure and blood flow; therefore it should be not be used by someone with high blood pressure.

This is not to say that the person suffering from high blood pressure cannot wear/use red, but he/she should be aware of its powerful energy.

A professional colour therapist would always take comprehensive notes on the patient’s health before giving a treatment.

Important: Please be aware that no complementary therapy should be considered as an alternative to professional medical advice. If you are taking medication, you should first consult the prescribing professional before you stop taking it.

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