When you have a few quiet moments, try to remember the last time you picked up crayons to color a fish, a flower, or maybe a coconut palm in a coloring book. It seems like a lifetime ago, doesn't it? Today, as an adult and perhaps a responsible parent, you reach for coloring books, crayons, and paintbrushes, but only when your child has completed his or her quota for the day and you're in a hurry to clean up your house.
Children are happiest when they draw, color or paint. Painting activities open a world of creativity and imagination for the child, but are even more useful for adults. Painting has a therapeutic effect on adults, and more and more adults take painting as a hobby and as a balance to everyday stress.
I'll show you why coloring mandalas can be enriching for adults.
1. it reduces stress and anxiety
Coloring activities are known to reduce stress and anxiety. Coloring calms the amygdala (the anxiety center of the brain) while stimulating the parts of the brain responsible for creativity and logic. Painting is also a form of meditation. According to a 2005 study, coloring geometric patterns or the symmetrical shape of mandalas has a positive effect on meditation and can reduce anxiety. So the next time you doodle, do it with pride - you're doing it for your mental health!
2. it gets your brain working
As mentioned above, coloring activates the parts of the brain responsible for creativity and logic - it is considered a good exercise for the brain. Coloring engages both halves of the brain, which improves fine motor skills. The logical part of your brain deals with choosing colors and patterns, while the creative part of your brain focuses on mixing and matching colors. In this way, the two areas of the cerebral cortex that control fine motor skills and vision are activated. This improves motor skills, vision and coordination.
3. It trains the brain to focus
Whether you're coloring an elephant or a mandala, your brain knows that it must stay (or paint) within the lines of the pattern and not go beyond - this knowledge requires concentration. When you color within the lines of a pattern, your brain learns to focus. According to Leslie Marshall, a licensed clinical counselor, coloring opens the frontal lobe of the brain, the seat of organization and problem solving, and helps the mind focus. So color diligently to stay focused in life.
I have put together a PDF with 21 beautiful mandalas for you to color.
You can download it here for free
4. It makes you more outgoing - an important skill in today's world!
These days, the place where most people are sociable is, unsurprisingly, social media. You may have 759 friends on Facebook and over 500 followers on Instagram, but if someone asked your neighbor's name, many of you would be rather stumped! We know that the habit of asking your neighbor for sugar or an onion has sadly disappeared in the majority these days, but if you want to be social and befriend your neighbor, give them one of your works. Painting can be an effective way to break the ice. Today, many adults (not just artists!) are making coloring their "new" hobby, which is fueling the trend of adult coloring books. You can also host a coloring party and easily overcome the fear of socializing. Even if you suck at coloring, you can still socialize and make friends.
5. It helps you sleep better
Coloring is not directly related to improving sleep quality, but it does contribute to it. By replacing your phone with a coloring book, you can prevent yourself from becoming a night owl.
Every time you try to fall asleep, your smartphone beeps and your sleep is affected. The blue light emitted from cell phone screens and other devices suppresses the production of melatonin (the hormone that regulates the body's sleep cycle), sabotaging your sleep. However, if you replace your cell phone with coloring books, your eyes will be exposed to less blue light and you will gradually notice an improvement in your sleep patterns. Plus, the dark circles under your eyes will diminish!
6. enable you to nurture your inner artist
Do you remember the time when you pursued your hobby and nothing stopped you? With the passage of time and life, you put your hobbies aside and forgot that there are things in life that you have a passion for. What about reviving your passion? If coloring or painting was once your hobby, take it up again. Pick up a coloring book and color in those intricate designs and patterns that seemed like a maze when you were a kid. Daily exploration of your creative talents will nurture them, so buy a coloring book or download mine and improve your skills.
7. It allows you to create your own world
When you start coloring as an adult, you'll probably do it as a hobby and to relieve stress, not to prove to anyone that you're good. Your coloring book is yours and no one gets to judge it - that's the best part! It will be your book and no one will judge you if you color an elephant green or red! The world you create in the coloring book will be yours and so will its inhabitants!
When you paint, you can paint however you want; you have the freedom to be who you are and do what you want.
Image by freepik
The word "mandala" comes from Sanskrit, the sacred language of the Brahmins in India. It means "circle" or, more precisely, "sacred circle.