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PRACTICE - EDUCATION - SCIENCE
[KJW #093] The Science of Color and How Color Affects Our Health... How To Use Color To Influence Better Emotional, Social and Spiritual Wellness
Notes: Reflecting On Over Stimulation and The Therapeutic Use Of Color In Applied Cognitive Aging - Holistic Energy Healing and Environmental Gerontology
 Participants during the class with Kathy Ward
at Center Place, Spokane Valley, WA
What is COLOR? Color is a form of "energy" that can be used to reduce stress, decrease blood pressure, raise our energy levels, help us relax, improve concentration, appetite, respiration rate, salivation, social relations, reduce chronic pain and much more...
Our entire body, mind and spirit is an entire energy field. Hidden beneath our physical surface, are levels of emotions, thought patterns and learned beliefs. Imbalances and energy blockages on these levels manifest as emotional discomforts and even physical illnesses. Our body absorbs color through the vibration color gives off. Each color has an effect on every cell in our body through the endocrine system. Color enters our bodies through our skin and through our eyes.
When our eye sees, light from the outside world is focused by the lens onto the retina. There, it is absorbed by pigments in light-sensitive cells, called rods and cones. There are approximately 6 million cones in our retina, and they are sensitive to a wide range of brightness.
This energy is translated into color by the
photoreceptors in the retina, called cones.
When we see the color blue for example, it forms impulses that travel as coded messages along the neurological pathways to our brain where the pineal gland resides. This little gland (a player in the endocrine system) releases hormones that in turn start "the domino effect" of the other glands and a biochemical reaction begins within the body.
The pineal gland does contain a complete map of the visual field of the eyes, and it plays several significant roles in human functioning.
All the organs in the endocrine systems are glands. These glands are unique from other glands because they release chemicals known as hormones into the circulatory system. The hormones they release regulate basic drives and emotions such as sexual urges, anger, joy and sorrow. They perform a variety of functions: promoting growth and development, regulating our day and night cycles, controlling body temperature and help repair tissue to name just a few.
| Goethe (1749-1832) reformulates the topic of color in an entirely new way. Newton had viewed color as a physical problem, involving light striking objects and entering our eyes. Goethe realizes that the sensations of color reaching our brain are also shaped by our perception — by the mechanics of human vision, by the way our brains process information and the effects of color in our physical body.
Goethe seeks to derive laws of color harmony, ways of characterizing physiological colors (how colors affect us) and subjective visual phenomena in general.
| Pink: also known as "watermelon pink," this color is used to calm violent prisoners in jails. Dr. Alexander Schauss, Ph.D., director of the American Institute for Biosocial Research was the first to report the suppression of angry, antagonistic, and anxiety ridden behavior among prisoners: "Even if a person tries to be angry or aggressive in the presence of pink, they can't. The heart muscles can’t race fast enough. It’s a tranquilizing color that saps your energy. Even the color-blind are tranquilized by pink rooms." Morton Walker, The Power of Color, (New York, Avery Publishing Group, 1991), pp. 50-52 Nurturing Our Chakras The word chakra is the Indian Sanskrit word for "spinning wheels". These chakras are our energy stations. They are powerful magnetic and electrical fields and each chakra is in constant motion resonating to different vibrations of color.
The chakras are thought to revitalise the physical body and to be associated with interactions of a physical, emotional and mental nature. They are considered loci of life energy, or prana, (also called shakti, or chi), which is thought to flow among them along pathways called nadis. The function of the chakras is to spin and draw in this Universal Life Force Energy to keep the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health of the body in balance.
The seven basic chakras are:
Sahasrara (crown)
connection with our source
of life energy and love, reduces pain
Afirmation: I KNOW
|  | Ajna (third eye)
intuition, the power of the mind, command, psychic abilities, imagination, wisdom
Affirmation: I SEE
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| Vishuddha (throat)
communication with self and others,
expression of our talents, gift, self
Affirmation: I SPEAK
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| Anahata (heart/lung)
emotional wellness, feelings, understanding of oneself and of others
Affirmation: I LOVE and FORGIVE
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| Manipura (solar plexus)
will power, self-esteem, personality, joy, compassion
Affirmation: I CAN - I ACT
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| Swadhisthana (sacrum)
sexual disposition, thinking, creativity
vitality, clear thinking
Affirmation: I FEEL
|  | Muladhara (root)
basic survival functions, grounding force, general well-being, identity
Affirmation: I AM - I HAVE
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| All chakras influence our glands, organs, muscles, ligaments, veins and all other systems within its energy field. Each chakra also regulates distinct aspects of our personality and mood and this is where our memory is energetically coded. It is important and helpful to nurture energy balance and harmony for better health.
Scientists, who have studied color and light extensively, recognize that colors bring about emotional and physical reactions to individuals. Our reactions and attitudes to colors differ from person to person, which makes an interesting study in itself. Our attraction to certain colors may very well signal areas where we are imbalanced. Understanding why certain colors effect us favorably while others bring about negative feelings helps us along our healing journeys.
Colors affect moods and emotions. Color therapy uses this sensitivity to color to identify and correct any imbalances in the body's internal energy patterns that might lead to emotional or physical ill health
Reflecting On Over stimulation and The Therapeutic Use Of Color In Cognitive Aging
| Design of the physical environment is increasingly recognized as an important aid in caring for people with dementia. Environmental Gerontology studies the use of therapeutic color in behavior modification, healing and cognitive aging. For example, what conditions and interventions stimulate cognitive health and better brain performance with age?
We know that all information gets into the brain through the senses – our eyes, ears, mouth, nose and by touch. Receptor cells, if functioning properly, pick up the physical stimulation in the environment and translate it into electrical impulses that travel via the peripheral nervous system to the brain for processing, allowing learning and perception to occur. People with more severe/profound cognitive handicaps often have damage in these receptor cells, therefore, for these individuals, it is difficult for normal stimulation to reach the brain.
Brain function can be activated by visual stimulation. Color perception has an impact on behavior and mood. For persons with dementia the lightness of the color (tint and shade) is an important factor in being able to discriminate between colors. (Wijik 2001). The rationale behind the effectiveness of sensory interventions like color therapy is that they provide the individual with very rich sensory experiences (visual stimulation in the form of bright or colored lights, auditory stimulation that can be soothing sounds or types of music, olfactory information that can be therapeutic aromas, association of objects and their meaning, or things to touch that vary in textures). It is the richness of these sensory experiences that increase the likelihood that multi-sensory stimulating information from the environment will reach the brain. Once information can get into the brain of severely impaired people, opportunities for learning and memory can occur.
Use of color in elder healing communities. Provide high hue and value contrast to the edges of stairs or level changes so persons with dementia can see them.
Use color, shapes and texture as part of orientation cue system, but remember that persons with problems in the visual cortex area of the brain have difficulties distinguishing between colors in the cooler range (blues and greens).
Blue helps reduce over stimulation or insomnia.
Accents of orange in the decor of a dementia unit or visualizing this color can promote enthusiasm and vitality. It works best for people who are autistic, or those who are lethargic.
Floors are an important functional element of orientation for elders, especially with cognitive impairment. Avoid bold patterns with high busy contrast.
Accents of green is though to help with diseases of the heart. The green ray affects both the thymus gland and the heart and is thought to be extremely soothing and relaxing.
Chair seats should contrast with the floor so that people can see where to sit.
Toilets should contrast with both the floor and surrounding walls to make them more visible.
Create smaller spaces that decreases noise and confusion. Warm pastel colors like lavender or blues reduces agitation. Bright colors are distracting and uncomfortable. Painting doors in a color which contrast with the walls can help patients find the door.
A therapist trained in color therapy uses color to balance energy wherever our bodies are lacking, be it physical, emotional, spiritual, or mental. Some of the tools used in color therapy are gemstones, candles, wands, prisms, colored fabrics, bath treatments, and others...
Participants during visualization color meditation and color breathing exercise
Deeper sense of presence and relaxation. To relax is to release = let go, awareness of tension or lack of balance
Color meditation can help us unblock energy, emotional circumstances that are causing pain and dis-ease. Moving the different color lights in a clockwise motion brings in energy to that chakra. This meditation involves utilizing the spinning colors associated with the seven major chakras to cleanse or detox your whole body in a meditative mindful way.
Breathing:
Color breathing is a form of meditation or visualization, in which you imagine yourself inhaling and exhaling colors gravitating away from earth, (keep the mind awake and the body relax). It can be practiced in bed before going to sleep, or when waking in the morning.
Imagine yourself surrounded by intense light of the color you choose. Be aware of the healing properties of the light, welcome it and be grateful for its presence.
 Reflections... Who am I? What do I want to make out of this life?
How can I nurture my whole-person?
What in the universe is better because of me?
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Please send inquiries, requests for programs, speaker and consulting services with WEL, World Elder Land or Kathy J. Ward to connection@kathyjward.com Peace be with you!
Kathy J. Ward, Universal Peace Ambassador, Cercle Universel des Ambassadeurs de la Paix - Geneva Switzerland President of WEL, World Elder Land Holistic Health Practitioner and Consultant President of ERT, Elder Recreation Therapy Therapeutic Recreation Consultant National Assisted Living Administrator Certified Board Member, Activities, Adaptation and Aging Journal Author National Alzheimer's Association Speakers Bureau Love Ambassador - Florida, USA Member of the World Poet Society - Greece Ambassador of Happiness For Elders - Connecticut, USA Cell: (240) 393-5456 |
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