Colour for Health, Wealth & Wisdom

Get more out of life NOW -- Colour yourself happier, healthier, more energetic.

Colour therapy: it's the newest branch of alternative medicine.

And now colour doctors claim you can practice it yourself to heal body and soul.

Here's how...

The other day Janet woke up with a sore throat. "I felt lousy," said the 55 year-old lawyer from Quebec. Nevertheless, Janet went to work, dressed in a blue suit and a matching blue and orange scarf. By afternoon, she felt much better. "Maybe it was all the orange juice I drank that day," she says. But colour therapist -- alternative medicine practitioners who use colour to promote wellness, would say it was actually the colour Janet wore that eased the pain. "Blue is healing to the throat," explains Jollean McFarlen, winning decorator and colour psychologist and colour psychologist MIACT (registered colour researcher/therapist, London, England).

Jollean is a noted researcher into the link between colours and health. Like many of her colleagues, Jollean believes that "colour is one of the most powerful healing agents on earth." Although the idea may be far-fetched, colour has been used as a healing agent in Europe for many years. Different hues have been shown to ease pain, increase energy, lift spirits and combat illness.

"Even some medical doctors in England and Europe are using colour therapy in addition to practicing traditional medicine. Say Jollean, "I was going through a very fearful time in my life

(bills, moving, etc.) which was creating a lot of swelling in my legs. After visiting the doctor, he took x-rays and noticed a blood clot. I realized that I was in serious trouble. I started rubbing red oil on my legs, breathing deeply and visualizing alternating colours of red and blue/green (aqua calms nerves.) I wore red slacks, red socks, red runners with tops containing aqua, red and white. I did this for two days. Waiting patiently on the operating table, still wearing my red runners, the doctor looked at me strangely and remarked, "the blood clot has disappeared." Dr. Chan was surprised. I was relieved! I explained what I did and he replied, "if it works, what can I say."

Interestingly, a few days later, I landed a large contract that took care of all the bills and moving expenses. I now live near my grandson, the greatest healer of all. He loves colour, especially red!

HOW COLOUR WORKS -- it is a well-known fact that we react to different colours in accordance with the associations that we have with them.. For example, studies have shown that people tend to feel more cheerful in a room with yellow/orange walls because the colour reminds them of sunny, carefree days.

Colour therapists, however, base their work on the scientific fact that each colour produces its own unique wavelength of electromagnetic energy. When this energy is absorbed into the body through the skin and eyes -- and even when the colours are visualized in our brains -- it can have a potent effect on our heart rate, blood pressure and metabolism, says London Colour Therapist, Pauline Wills, author of Colour Therapy.

A rainbow of benefits

"Specific colour therapies date back hundreds -- even thousands -- of years," says Jollean. Ancient and medieval healers knew about the power of colour and used it very effectively. These days, practitioners are using colour to treat illnesses. In England, colour therapists fight illnesses and disorders by bathing the affected parts of the body in coloured light. The light penetrates the body much like an x-ray -- and the results are amazing.

Red helps the reproductive and sexual organs Orange heals the digestive system Green heals the heart and chest Blue makes the throat and neck feel better White heals the brain and head

But you don't need coloured lights to get these healing effects. I have been using large pieces of silk fabric or scarves successfully for twenty years. Wearing a white scarf when you have a headache or a red shirt (remember me with red pants & runners and my results with the blood clot) when you have cramps or menopause, can help take the edge off the pain

Help combat stress and depression

I like to use coloured meditation and breathing to ease mental fatigue and counteract the headaches, stomach disorders and neck pain that result from stress and depression. For two or three minutes each day, patients visualize the healing colours associated with the area of the body most effected by the stress or depression. (I've fought depression for many years this way.)

Which colours are the best overall de-stressors?

For years, scientists have known that the colour blue lowers heart rate and blood pressure, and just recently, researchers at the American Institute of Bio-social Research in Tacoma found that pink has the same effect. (Those are colours that I suggest for people that have problems sleeping.)

Boost your mood

"Studies have shown that orange is an anti-depressant. When people look at it, they feel uplifted. I had one clients who was very depressed. She has a demanding and controlling husband and teenagers. One day when everyone was gone fishing, she painted one large, long wall orange in her kitchen. It shocked everyone, but it saved her life. After a few weeks, everyone enjoyed the wonderful colour energy. She added orange accessories and brought life everywhere. "

So the next time that you need a lift, place a bowl of bright, juicy oranges in view or light an orange candle and enjoy its glow.

Use your colours as an expression of you.

What makes you feel restful, energized, confidant and creative. Colour can become a tool in transforming our lives for empowerment and happiness.

"Shum" blessings, joyous colours, Jollean.

By Jollean Mc Farlen