One of the great joys of life for most of us is our ability to see the world in technicolor — the human eye is able to distinguish approximately 3 million colors. With that capability, we use color to make a statement, create a mood, establish hierarchy, differentiate teams, denote levels of accomplishment, designate your tribe, rally the troops and even warn off or attract someone. Colors are even instrumental in helping promote healing.
Before we go any further, let’s define the word “healing” because it actually includes different types and levels of personal health. First, healing is individual to each person, meaning no two people will heal in the same manner via the same methods. Secondly, healing is relative in that what is healing for one person may not be healing for another person. Third, healing involves not just our physical bodies, but also our mental and emotional beings.
Finally, and this is the hardest one to accept, healing never really ends, especially emotionally. Just when you think you’ve healed or resolved an issue, you’ll be served another challenge concerning that issue. It’s like peeling an onion — there is always another layer to address. Each layer we resolve takes us more deeply into the core of that issue and ourselves. Color can help with that.
Just as we have seven chakras, energy centers in our bodies, we also have colors associated with those chakras.
· Base chakra – red = protection, grounding, survival, nourishment from the earth, trust
· Sacral – orange = emotions, creativity, sexuality
· Navel/Solar plexus – yellow = mental activity, intellect personal power, willpower, wisdom
· Heart – green = love, relationships, integration, compassion
· Third eye – deep indigo = intuition, inner wisdom, awareness
· Crown – purple-white/white = universal connection, spirituality, consciousness
Did you know that for businessmen and politicians to come across as powerful and confident that they’re advised to wear a navy-blue jacket, white shirt, and bright red tie? Not only does it convey power and confidence, but it also, at least in America, says that you’re patriotic.
Ever notice that many spiritual leaders wear white? They do because it denotes oneness with the universal power, as well as purity. Buddhist monks wear orange because it represents fire, which to them is the symbol of truth. Judges wear black robes to signify that justice is blind.
So, we use color to convey a position or concept. But colors also evoke emotional responses. We use red and purple to convey love on St. Valentine’s Day. We wear black to convey mourning or resistance to social conventions, bright colors to show that we’re happy, excited, creative or feeling our oats. Some people wear green to attract money, others wear dull colors because they’re feeling somber, listless, depressed, suppressed, or bored with life.
When it comes to healing, colors are associated with specific energetic properties and they can be worn, you can surround yourself with a specific color, soak in a tub of colored water, wear colored glasses, be bathed in a specific-colored light associated with your issue or ailment, or just visualize yourself filled with and surrounded by a certain color. As an example, it’s believed that wearing red can address issues of high blood pressure, paralysis, exhaustion, and rheumatism. Working with the color red is said to be like giving yourself an energy boost.
There’s a reason why we’re attracted to certain colors. Generally, it’s because of how those colors make us feel. Depending on our mood, agendas, circumstances, or needs, we’ll most likely choose to wear colors that are in alignment with how we’re feeling or how we want to be perceived by others. Vice versa, you’ll decide not to wear certain colors for the same reasons.
A significant component of healing is based on what you’re consistently thinking and what you’re feeling. Just wearing a specific color is not going to address the core of your issue unless you are confronting the underlying emotions, as well as the behaviors and habits associated with the issue. And, as was said earlier, healing is ongoing as you peel away the layers and discover more about yourself.
However you use color and for what purposes, focus on how the color makes you feel and what you’d like other people to know about you. Being able to live and move through our world feeling good about yourself is paramount — and how you feel about yourself will radiate out into the world around you. That’s also a significant aspect of healing.
Choose to be the light, love, peace, and joy you want to see in the world. Let color uplift not only you but all those with whom you come into contact. Amending the Skittles commercial, “Be the rainbow.”●
