Need Some Stress Relief? Try Coloring!

 

Because people are staying home more; activities to keep people active and engaged is sometimes a challenge.  Coloring has been an enjoyable pastime for children for many years; but what we are finding out is that adults also like coloring and it is an excellent de-stressor and boredom reliever. 

Coloring books have been an accepted form of entertainment for children for all these years,  but it wasn’t until 2015 that coloring books for adults became accepted and popular….and popular they are.  The genre has exploded onto the creative scene.   It’s unknown why people though that coloring was only for children. Perhaps it is because it was thought that as grown-ups we needed to leave childish things behind, and coloring was one of those things we enjoyed as children but as we grew up, we could no longer enjoy such trivial things as entertainment; it had to be something more sophisticated.

 But If sophistication is what was needed for adults to color, then we got it. There are so many choices now in what are called “adult” coloring books and pages. Some of these books are immensely intricate, beautiful, challenging, more than enough to hold the attention and creative urge. Now you only need to look as close as your nearest supermarket or department store isle, and there are a multitude of relatively inexpensive coloring books for us grown-ups coloring aficionados.  Online, I found hundreds (I’m sure there are thousands) of sources with free coloring pages to download, for adults and children, as I previously listed some when I talked about mandalas to color.

A mandala I colored 

                                                 

So If you have not colored in a book since you were a child, feel free to break out those coloring books and Crayons!  You may find it relaxing and soothing to the psyche.  Right now there are many  coloring books geared towards  adults, some very artsy, many that can be downloaded and printed. Oh yeah, also buy yourself a new box of crayons (164 count, so many colors!)  Namaste-Rev. Marie.

Some helpful links:

https://www.colorit.com/blogs/news/85320388-amazing-benefits-of-coloring-for-adults

https://www.medicaldaily.com/therapeutic-science-adult-coloring-books-how-childhood-pastime-helps-

https://www.cnet.com/health/relaxing-activities-to-help-you-cope-with-coronavirus-stress/