Benefits of coloring for adults
Coloring is no longer just for kids! In recent years, coloring books have been getting the attention of grown-ups, such as mandala coloring which became a huge trend as it was thought to be a stress-relief method that allowed us to unplug from the digital world. You would probably notice a dedicated section for adult coloring books at book stores and stationery shops which offer more detailed patterns.
Coloring can be your new creative pastime that you’re trying to pick up, but did you know that there’s so much more that you can get out of it? As we take a look at the benefits of coloring for adults, check out https://bitly.com/swansARTYshopee where you can get our newly launched swans ARTY colored pencils!
In a digitalized and super connected world, it’s often hard to separate ourselves from our electronics which will cause us to have a hard time falling asleep at night. Alanna McGinn, pediatric and adult sleep consultant shares that replacing your phones and tablets with coloring activities before bed can help you fall asleep easier at night by relaxing and calming the mind.
Once you build coloring as part of your bedtime routine, it will encourage you to go to sleep at the same time in the long run and hence improve your sleeping quality.
Coloring has also been found to help reduce stress anxiety. Based on research carried out by consulting neuropsychologist and neuroscientist Dr Stan Rodski, who also is an author of adult coloring books, coloring helps adults enter a state of relaxation in such a way that the heart rate and brainwaves start changing, bringing positive neurological responses and lowering brain activity in the amygdala which is the region in the brain responsible for our fight-or-flight response.
When doing activities like coloring which involves repetition, pattern and details, the mind enters a calmer state. Interestingly, a study published in Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association also found that coloring mandalas or geometric patterns lowers stress and anxiety levels more compared to free-form coloring.
When we are concentrating on coloring, there is more focus on observing the structure of the picture, picking a color and completing the task, which will produce a therapeutic effect by replacing negative thoughts with more pleasant images, said Dr Joel Pearson, a brain scientist from the University of New South Wales. He explains this is because coloring tasks activate the same parts of our brain that inhibit anxiety-related images in the mind.
Another interesting fact from the study in the Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, coloring is also able to shut off our inner dialogues to allow us to deeply engage in a task and in return, remove us from a flow of negative thoughts and emotions.
Apart from improving mental health, coloring is also an activity that brings intellectual benefits. In an article published on Huffpost, tele-health counselor Dr. Nikki Martinez states that coloring utilizes parts of the brain that enhance focus and attention, helping boost problem solving and organizational skills. She mentions that coloring detailed pictures activates frontal lobes of the brain which are responsible for higher level activities and functions. Planning more complex color schemes to make an artwork aesthetically pleasing is also work for the mind.
There are more benefits than what meets the eye when it comes to coloring. Get the best out of this therapeutic activity by starting with a new set of swans ARTY colored pencils from https://bitly.com/swansARTYshopee!