5 Reasons Adult Coloring is Good For You
Remember coloring as a kid? Now you can bring that nostalgia back with the very popular craze of adult coloring. It’s time to release your inner artist but also experience these five science-backed benefits.
1. Reduce Anxiety
Studies have shown that coloring can reduce anxiety in adults. Even just 20 minutes can effectively lower your heart rate and decrease feelings of anxiety. It’s a repetitive activity that requires attention to detail. It calms the brain and helps your body relax. As you pay attention to what you are coloring your mind is naturally drawn away from thoughts that may cause you stress. It’s important to note that coloring more intricate designs are more effective than large patterns or a blank page.
2. Calm Your Mind
While focusing on the basic, repetitive motions, coloring engages parts of the cerebral cortex while relaxing the amygdala, the brain’s fear center. Choosing different colors also makes a difference. Blues and greens evoke calm, while reds and oranges are energizing. Some say that you can even reach a meditative state while coloring. This meditative state is reached when you focus on the present and stop focusing on the past and future worries. Your inner dialogue is suspended and negative emotions can be suspended.
3. Improve Brain Function and Focus
Coloring can improve your brain’s ability to function while causing different parts of brain’s cerebral hemispheres to activate. When you choose what colors to use you are activating your creativity. As you color forms or shapes, your logical side is activated. Along with brain function comes focus. Coloring activates your frontal lobe which means your brain is organizing and problem-solving. Studies have shown that this kind of open-ended, unstructured play for adults can actually unleash your creative genius!
4. Improve Motor Skills
Coloring complex designs with small spaces requires you to focus on hand-eye coordination and motor skills. These are skills you do not use when scrolling on your phone. Maintaining manual dexterity is something that we lose with age unless we have a hands-on hobby. Some health professionals even believe coloring can even help delay the onset of dementia!
5. Sleep Better
We all know that the blue light from electronic devices can hinder our sleep by stopping the body’s natural melatonin release. Studies show that using electronic devices before bed not only keep you up longer, but also cause less REM sleep (necessary for rest and memory consolidation). By coloring before bed instead, you not only calm your mind from the busy day, but your body is able to naturally shut down. Don’t we all want to wake up without dark circles under our eyes?
Whether you color just for fun or to relieve stress, there’s no reason you shouldn’t try it. You will be surprised how quickly it can elevate your mood and help you relax. The best adult coloring books have intricate designs of flowers, artwork, mandalas, or animals. You get to choose crayons, colored pencils, or markers. So, the next time you’re feeling overwhelmed give it a try!
Don’t like coloring? That’s OK. Here are some other fun ways to relieve stress.
Check out embroidery journaling, another fun way to relieve stress.