By Galina Pembroke
Look around you. Wherever you are at this moment, millions of colors surround you. Though you are surrounded daily by their expansive rainbow, you likely do not yet realize the power they have over your life. By understanding how their power works, you can use it to help you lead a more fulfilling and exciting life. Wherever there is color, there is possibility.
Mankind has had a rocky romance with color. Thousands of years ago, the ancient Egyptians and Greeks built colored, healing temples, using colored crystals within. Around the same time, the ancient Chinese were recognizing the medicinal nature of color. Though color therapy enjoyed a rise in popularity during the Renaissance, it was widely ignored by science until the publication of Edwin Babbit’s book, Principles of Light and Color, published in 1878. In this groundbreaking book, Babbit lay the foundation for what we now know as chromotherapy (colored light therapy). This involved filtering natural light through tinted glass, and using a funnel to direct the resulting shade to the ailing body part. He prescribed red light for exhaustion and blue light for headaches. Today, doctors routinely use blue light to treat newborns suffering from jaundice. Through recent decades especially, researchers are harnessing the power of colored light to work with Seasonal Affective Disorder, and the related malady of depression.
Modern science is just beginning to understand the full impact of this rainbow-menu on our lifestyle. Dark and light hues been found to influence everything from mood to sleep cycles, simply by activating the hormone melatonin, which we all possess. How does this happen? The moment our eyes take in the light reflected off an object, our brain interprets this luminescence as a color, according to the frequency this light vibrates at. Speedy vibrations of light generate warm hues (red, yellow, orange) while slower frequency fluctuations produce cool shades (green, blue, purple). The light reflected off, say, an orange, rushes headlong from your eye’s retina to its final destination in the pineal gland of your brain. Wham! This gland interprets the reflected frequency and secretes a hormone called melatonin, in inverse proportion to this light. All this happens before you can even blink. Orange’s warm hue reflects rapidly. The result? High-voltage energy.
In another color healing “a powerful fuchsia and silver combination” was used to ease the suffering of a woman with a congenital disorder of the small intestine. Remarkably, after only two sessions with Alijandra, she could eat previously forbidden foods for the first time ever.
On her award-winning website www.colorhealing.com, Alijandra describes color-work as “the fantastic point where science and magic meet.” Describing her unique method of therapy, she observes: “Most people deep within want inner happiness and well-being by being physically, emotionally and spiritually in balance. Color healing works at all these levels by balancing the electromagnetic field of the client. This is turn balances heals and balances the organs and tissues of the physical, while helping soothe and clear emotional issues, clarifying mental processes and aligning the person with his innate spiritual core. My specialty is to facilitate their getting to their balanced healed state. My feeling is that we don’t “heal” people, they heal themselves.”
Kristen Olson, a holistic-therapist at The Phoenician; a five star resort based in Scottsdale, Arizona agrees with Alijandra's philosophy: “ We are not the healer, the healer is God,” Kristen is adept at many different unconventional treatments, from shiatsu to chakras; the seven energy points along the spine. Her work with color involves a great deal more doctor/patient interaction than you will find with conventional practitioners. Kristen heals by steadying her hands above each chakra of her reclining patient. As her hands progress upwards, she channels what she regards as “divine healing.” As Kristen uses this ancient Reiki method (channeling universal energy through healing touch), she asks her client to participate in their healing. This involves the client visualizing the color associated with a particular chakra (see sidebar) in succession, letting that color expand through the area in the shape of a disc, and mentally repeating the positive affirmations repeated by Kristen. Though this type of hands-on treatment sounds like it may stir up butterflies in the tummies of the timid, Kristen insists that this process is almost always accompanied by “a deep feeling of relaxation.”
For someone so knowledgeable and talented, Kristen is surprisingly humble. She credits Leone Rosenberg, her colleague at The Phoenician, as her mentor: “This would not be possible without her.”
The most attractive part about using the spectrum of shades for success, is that anyone can do it. Start by examining the colors you choose to surround yourself with. Depending on your unique personality and situation, the hues you currently choose may or may not be for you.
Bet on intense experiences if you wear red. Because of its fast-vibration fluctuations, viewing red increases your energy level. In fact, according to extensive late 1940 research performed by Russian scientist S.V. Kravok,, red raises the blood pressure and heightens the senses. His theories have since been substantiated by repeated scientific studies. Red light is not helpful, however, if you’re trying to resist the lure of the lottery. Las Vegas is under red light for a reason-: Red’s stimulant effects cause people to gamble more and make riskier bets.
Red’s muted sister-tint, bubble gum pink, is used in many prisons to calm violent prisoners. Director of the American Biosocial Research Center in Tacoma, Washington Dr..Alexander Schauss, Ph.D., was the first to report reduced inmate aggression caused by viewing this gentle hue. He states: “Even if a person tries to be angry or aggressive under the influence of pink, he can’t. The heart muscles just can’t race fast enough.” Since pink reduces hostility, it’s a terrific color to wear when meeting someone whose hostile towards you. Since pink is the most loving of all colors, don’t be surprised if that animosity eventually dissolves into friendship.
Another hot property on the prism of pigments, yellow stimulates the intellect and heightens both concentration and memory. A cheerful color; a dab of this hue is a great pink-me-up. Try yellow at your work station, light yellow candles, or indulge in a glorious, yellow color-bath. Color Bath can be found in a wide spectrum of shades, and at many natural health stores.
Combine red’s passion with yellow’s intellect and voila! Orange. Being an expressive color, wearing orange will help you become more outgoing and less inhibited. Its spontaneous nature also helps unleash your creative capacity.
While warm hues get you worked-up, blue and its chilly counterparts will chill you out. For a better relationship with the sandman, paint your bedroom blue. This soothing shade’s easygoing-vibes are perfect for producing restful sleep. Though super for slumber, blue bruises the appetite. Why? Our hunter-and-gatherer ancestors avoided blue, black, and purple entrees. These were usually poisonous. Even today, most people instinctively find these colors distasteful. Due to this, many weight loss experts recommend dining on a blue plate, or under blue light: Slimming and soothing!
Though blue is the “coolest” color, green also relaxes. For example, sitting in the “green room” has helped many a talk show guest gain poise before going onstage. Currently, green is the most popular color in home decorating. Not surprising perhaps, when you consider it is the most restful for the eye. Adding plants to your environment will aid in this relaxation.
Depending on when and where you use your new knowledge, your experience of color-healing will alternate between subtle and strong. Since much of your personal relationship with color is in your own hands, you need to be especially sensitive to and objective about, the variety of your inner experiences. In the realm of color therapy, you are both patient and doctor. Color is a medicine. The moment you begin to use its power, is the moment you begin to realize your untapped potential.