Coloring as Therapy

Lately, I've been coloring. It sounds childish, I know. And my husband makes fun of me for it, but I don't really care. It's doing really good things for me. It relieves stress and anxiety, it keeps me from mindlessly snacking, its a relatively inexpensive hobby.

Here's an articles from the Huffington Post about it:

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/10/07/colouring-books-for-adults-stress_n_5944298.html

And another one from the Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2015/03/24/coloring-books-for-grown-ups-can-ease-stress-and-calm-the-inner-child/

For me, it allows me to unwind from my day and be calm. It gives me something to do to occupy my mind and my hands. It allows me to be creative in a way that I loved when I was younger. Is it odd to do the same things now that I enjoyed when I was younger? Maybe, but who the hell cares.

I am thrilled to have a hobby that makes me feel better. It's helping big time with my anxiety issues. Sometimes, I color Mandalas. What's a mandala? They are very, very relaxing to me. Some people believe that coloring them and hanging them around you can bring good vibes in. I'm not sure about that, but I do smile when I see mine hanging at my desk. The colors make me feel more cheerful.

1. Mandala (Sanskrit: मण्डल Maṇḍala, 'circle') is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the Universe. The basic form of most mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point.

Sometimes I color other sheets. So far, I've been finding free sheets and printing them off the internet, but I have ordered some books from Amazon. I'll review them when they arrive and let you know what I think. I use a set of Prismacolor colored pencils that I've had for years. They were expensive when I bought them, but the quality is stellar in my opinion. I am considering markers for coloring as well, but haven't ordered any as of yet. 

I am far from a perfect colorist as can be seen above, but it's not about trying to achieve perfection. It's about doing something that brings me joy. So, if you're really stressing out... try breaking out some crayons and do some coloring :)