Meditative Coloring

According to available research, adult coloring books are great for your mental, emotional and intellectual health. Training your mental focus only on the task at hand can take you into a zen-like state that lessens immediate worries. When coloring intricate patterns, it will take time to complete a visually pleasing design.

If you find that your mind is too restless with too many thoughts that won’t slow down enough, then meditative coloring may help you. Meditative coloring is a good alternative if you want to try to reduce anxiety. Patterns such as mandalas and other geometric shapes are particularly useful at quieting this kind of persistent anxiety. Geometric patterns induce a relaxed state after a certain amount of time spent filling in the lines with color.

Why adult coloring books are good for you

The Common Problem of Anxiety

Daily stress is becoming a more common issue for adults in many different age groups. Anxiety does not just go away when it is ignored. The worst forms of anxiety can turn into more serious psychological troubles, such as phobias, social anxiety, panic attacks, and even agoraphobia. These types of anxiety disorders are becoming more prevalent. Many mental health professionals believe this trend has no signs of slowing down.

Art Therapy

Art therapy is a treatment option for various forms of mental illness and emotional problem; that includes painting, drawing, sculpture or collage-making. A psychologist or psychiatrist trained to treat anxiety disorders typically will combine art therapy with different types of talk therapy. Meditative coloring has been added to art therapy in many cases as a means of helping to manage less severe forms of anxiety. The circular designs of mandalas have high levels of symmetry from every angle, which stimulates areas of the brain that calm down the anxious. If you suffer from constant anxiety and feel you’re not artistically inclined meditative coloring may be for you. Coloring mandalas is a relaxing option before trying other more creative forms of art therapy.

Mandala designs can calm the inner mental chaos that leads to anxiety because the brain makes ordered sense out of the highly structured and symmetrical patterns. This process limits and calms the attention and focuses it away from the sources of anxiety in the patient’s mind. Studies have shown that anxiety sufferers who spend 20 minutes coloring show greater reductions in anxiety than a control group who spent the same 20 minutes doing free-form coloring or drawing.

Many adults who practice meditative coloring report that they feel relaxed and ready to take on new tasks after finishing.

Intricate adult coloring projects are effective at refocusing attention on the task at hand, thus relieving persistent anxiety and stress. Working on coloring intricate designs and patterns is also a great way to spark the creative thought process.