Had a stressful week? Busy at work, no clear or peaceful end in sight? Maybe the kids have been a little needier than normal, the dog won’t stop barking and the house – well it is just one thing after another. So how do you unwind? G&T? Chocolate? Takeaway? Whatever your guilty pleasure I am sure it is valid – but have you thought about colouring?
I know what you’re thinking – colouring? Really? Have we gone mad?
How is colouring going to relieve my stress and help me unwind?
We promise, we haven’t done you dirty or are trying to mislead you, in fact you can still participate in all of your guilty pleasures, maybe just add colouring alongside.
Just take a look at the ways colouring can help you to unwind.
5 ways colouring can help you to unwind
- Helps to reduce anxiety and depression – colouring is a great form of escapism. It helps to relieve depression and anxiety by presenting a form of escapism from your everyday stresses. Even if only for a short while, you will be focusing your attention on something else, colouring in the lines, choosing which colours will be more aesthetically pleasing and in those moments your breathing will be normal, allowing you to forget what was causing you to become anxious in the first place.
- Promotes mindfulness – colouring induces the same state as meditating. Allowing your mind to become less restless and more rested. Colouring can improve cognitive abilities by sharpening your focus and attention, allowing for better concentration and an increased awareness. Colouring can also provide the workout your brain deserves, increasing your organisational abilities along with decision-making and problem-solving.
- Helps to process your emotions - by drawing the attention away from yourself and focusing it on something much smaller and more enjoyable, you are able to process built up emotions in manageable steps. Colouring is a great way to facilitate emotional healing – a way to let bottled up negative emotions out, in a safe and calming environment.
- Can be a welcomed distraction – colouring can distract you from problems, stresses, and anxieties by relaxing the ‘fear centre’ of the brain. To put it into perspective a 2006 study, proved colouring reduced the physical and emotional stresses of cancer patients during their treatments. If that isn’t a welcomed distraction then we do not know what is.
- Helps you to sleep – do you struggle to quiet your mind? Ever feel like there are a million and one things racing round your head and you do not know which of them to tackle first? Do you often lay awake at night reflecting? Well, colouring before bed could be the answer you are looking for. Colouring can help quiet those unwanted voices and provide the calm you need to get a good night sleep.
For more on how colouring can help you to unwind and improve anxiety, why not have a read of Forbes article ‘Feeling Anxious? Scientists Recommend Coloring’ – which you can access here
Did you know that as amazing as colouring is for helping you to unwind, there are also some incredible benefits to colouring for children.
Benefits of colouring for children
Although colouring is extremely beneficial for all ages, we find it mesmerising that colouring can help children in so many areas.
Did you know that colouring for children can do the following:
- Develop fine motor skills
- Encourage colour recognition
- Helps with concentration
- Encourages imagination
- Encourages children to develop their own voice
- Boosts their confidence
- Assists with language development
- Boosts self-esteem
- Helps them to relax
- Process feelings, frustrations and emotions
- Encourages visual perceptual skills
- Increases hand strength
- Increases hand-eye coordination
- Encourages focus on boundaries, structure and social awareness
- Encourages self-expression
- Improves focus
The bottom line
Colouring can offer an exceptional palette of benefits for both adults and children. Although colouring will not evaporate all your worries away, it is a great way to relax and forget about your stresses and circumstances, for a short while.
We love colouring to unwind at BirdKids and have so many fabulous colouring products available, including a giant colouring tablecloth – yep, you heard us right.
Want to see more, take a look here
