Destressing with Coloring

Last year, sometime, I discovered -- or rediscovered -- coloring. I had been hearing that adult coloring was all the rage, and I decided it was about time to check it out. I went online and downloaded a ton of designs to color. Then I went to the craft store and bought different coloring pencils and fine-lined markers to color. I was excited.

Before coloring became the rage, I had to ask a little one if I could color with them, and then it was usually a picture of their liking -- basically a Disney or Comic Hero book, but I could color. And usually, the pictures were fairly basic.

But, with adult coloring, the designs are intricate and I could let my imagination go with color!

The above picture is the first one I colored from www.coloring-pages-adult.com, a free site to download your coloring scenes. There are quite a few of free online adult coloring pages when you google free adult coloring pages. Another one is www.art-is-fun.com.

What happened while I was coloring was I was transported back to the days of my childhood when days were easy and carefree. Then, as I colored, my mind went blank from the endless chatter of thoughts, and I was able to focus on the skills. My mind relaxed from all thoughts, and before I knew it, I was feeling relaxed and so into the moment. It felt good.

Without telling anyone about my new hobby, I received this coloring book from my niece for my birthday. How did she know?


I looked inside the pages and started coloring.










My shoulders relaxed and they did not reach toward my ears any longer. I was truly relaxing as my mind cleared from thought as I produced beautiful colors on the pages.

Research also says that coloring helps with fine-motor skills and vision. There were examples of people with multiple sclerosis who shook horribly but with time was able to quiet the mind and relax the body to finish a colored page. Other people with chronic pain including fibromyalgia believe that coloring helps them.

But, don't forget, hunching over a page for an extended time will cause wrist and back problems as well as neck problems, so I advise not to do it for hours on end. I have a lap board that I put my coloring book on and then I wear a compression glove for my hand and wrist (feels great when you have arthritis) and then, simply enjoy as I watch TV for the evening.

Mandalas are symmetrical patterns, and they say that as you work on one of these patterns (originally from India), you go into a meditative state -- or maybe I should say a quietness of the mind -- which reduces stress as we become more mindful of what we are doing.

I can believe that. Any repetitive activity will give our mind quietness which then proceeds to focus which then proceeds to destressing as we clear our mind from our everyday thoughts.



I think I will go color.


I will be back on Wednesday...after writing on Miswords on Tuesday. Once again, if you are interested in idioms and the sometimes strange meanings of our words check out
www.miswordsdotcom.wordpress.com on Tuesdays and Fridays. The other days, I am here.

Until then...have a good day...