An Introduction to Colour Therapy – by Julia Gill


Colour healing was part of the ancient wisdom practised in Egypt, Greece, China, India and Tibet. It was also part of the Mayan culture and the shamanic wisdom of the North American Indians. By rebalancing and revitalising the body's energies, treatments with colour can support other therapies.


The spectrum of energies that shine from the sun includes the range we see as light. No one sees colours in quite the same way, we tend to think of colour as physical phenomenon which is experienced by our sense of sight alone, but colour is a vibrational energy which is active at all levels of our being; mental, emotional, physical and spiritual, as a form of energy and like other vibrational energies (sound/smell) it can evoke memories and strong feelings. Colour is absorbed through our eyes (to pituitary gland effecting our whole body and hormone production – very close to limbic system where memories are stored), through our skin (clothes/décor/surroundings), through the food we eat and even through our sense of smell….. (perfumes/oils etc) People with restricted vision are equally receptive to these energies. Each colour of the rainbow has its own individual characteristics, vibration and effects.


Messages in colour We make non-verbal statements about ourselves, or our mood, with the colours we choose to wear, and the colours all around us can affect our feelings and emotions. By describing people as ‘seeing red’, being ‘green with envy’, ‘purple with rage’ or feeling a bit ‘blue’, we are using very common colour associations.


The physical responses to colours Although there are always exceptions, as a general rule the red end of the spectrum tends to make us tense, while the blue end of the spectrum tends to relax us. While we are in a red environment blood pressure increases, while blue places relax us and so help to lower blood pressure and we feel cooler.


The mental responses to colours Colour effects our perceptions. A red room can seem smaller than a blue one, for example.


The emotional responses to colour In general, red and orange excite us, green relaxes and balances us and while blue and purple makes us feel calmer.


Colour and physiology Colour penetrates deep into our bodies on every level of our being. Experiments on plants, which need light in order to make carbohydrates, show that exposing them only to red or green light, for example, radically alters the quality of their growth. When mustard and cress seeds were exposed to only red light, the developing plants were stunted with small foliage, and had a bitter taste. Exposure to only green light produced weak plants. In contrast, under blue light the seeds produced well developed plants, which grew quite slowly, and had a sweet flavour.


Of all the colours, red and blue light have the most marked effect on the physiology of the human body. Red light increases muscular activity, blood pressure, respiratory and heart rate. Blue has the opposite effect, relaxing the body, and can help insomnia sufferers.


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