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Using color as an aid in healing is not based on any well-developed science. Indeed, most medical professionals are rightly skeptical of claims about color therapy (also known as chromatherapy and colorology), and it should never be used as a substitute for sound medical advice. |
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Color is simply energy—energy made visible. As human beings, it's the only energy we can actually see.
The familiar spectrum of the different light wavelengths (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet) is visible when we see a rainbow, or when we view the colors created as light is refracted through a prism.
Dr. Max Lüscher, a Swiss professor of psychology and the inventor of the Lüscher Color Test, felt the significance of color originated in prehistory, when human lives were completely governed by day and night, light and dark.
Day brings bright, warm colors, with action, activity and an increase in metabolic rate. Night brings cool, dark hues, with rest, inaction and slowing down.
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In the late 1950s, the color researcher Robert Gerard took this a step further.
He noted that in human beings, both psychological and physical activity appear to increase as the wavelength of the light increases.
In other words, reds, oranges and yellows are just naturally more stimulating to us than greens, blues and purples.
He felt the color blue could be a supplementary therapy—for
example as a tranquilizer and relaxant in anxious
individuals and as a way of reducing blood pressure
in the treatment of hypertension.
Later research tends to support his conclusions.
In an experiment where prisoners were randomly assigned to either red, yellow, blue or green wings, those in the blue and green wings were less inclined to violence than those in red and yellow wings.
Pink has also been found to have a tranquilizing and calming effect within minutes of exposure. It seems to suppress hostile, aggressive, and anxious behavior.
Further tests show that blood pressure, pulse, and respiration rates tend to increase most under yellow light, moderately under orange, and less under red. They decrease most under black, moderately under blue, and minimally under green.
Color also appears to affect our response to food.
For example, in fast food restaurants the décor is often designed around appetite-promoting colors, such as reds and oranges—a belief that also surfaces in traditional wisdom.
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Traditional color wisdom—reaching as far back as ancient Egyptian times—offers similar conclusions, though based on a very different, non-scientific approach.
In classical Indian philosophy, for example, the seven colors of the rainbow are associated with the seven chakras (or energy centers) of the body.
Each chakra is related to a specific body function
and has specific effects. |
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Here's an outline of Indian beliefs about these effects,
and what rooms decorated in each of these colors might
look like.
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Ultimately, perhaps the best advice we can offer about colors is not a piece of ancient wisdom, nor is it scientifically proven.
It's simply this:
Live with colors you love. They will make you happy.
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Try the ColorSmart™ by BEHR interactive program to experiment with thousands of different color combinations and see how they look in actual room settings.
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