Colour healing color therapy

Colour healing - When the sun shines, colours come alive, our hearts fill with joy and life feels good, we cannot help but respond to the colours that make up our world. Colour has been used for healing since the beginning of time, it is well documented that in ancient civilisations such as Greece and Egypt they used colour in their temples of healing. The Chinese and the chaldeans also used colour and the mystics if India associated colours with the charkas.

Colour healing can influence our bodies, moods, feelings, charkas and our energy bodies. By becoming aware of these effects we can harness the power of colour and actively use it to enhance our health. By focusing on the colours that will bring us balance and harmony, physically and spiritually.


Colour Perception

To see colour is a complex process, colour is not a pigment or tangible and nor is it solid. Essentially colour is a frequency carried in a waveform just like heat or sound. It is a component of light that is radiated by the sun and is a form of energy. Like individual notes of music each colour vibrates along its own specific wavelength – change the frequency and you change the colour. The process of seeing colour all takes place in the brain.

Objects do not possess inherent colours of their own, what we see is the colour the object reflects away from itself. When a ray of sunlight hits grass, it absorbs all the rays of the spectrum except green. Our eyes are specially adapted to receive messages about light and colour; it is directed to receptors in our retina called rods and cones. These receptors collect the information and then its transmitted to our brain via the optic nerve. There are around 7 million cones in the human eye, which have the capacity to pick out and differentiate between approximately 10 million different shades of colour.

Becoming aware of the effects of colour means that you can make use of its positive benefits to lift your spirits and unlock your creative imagination. We all perceive colours differently. In part this is due to our physiological make-up and the way our bodies responds to the light as it enters our eyes and stimulates the pituitary gland (controls hormones). Our perception of colour is also shaped by our own thoughts, memories and experiences. Favourite colours resonate with our own wavelength and tend to be the most prominent in our auras.


RED
Red is the colour of life the symbol of fire and masculinity and in Feng Shui brings the most luck. It is associated with growth, joy, passion, love and virtues. It is also used to ward off evil forces. Red has a long wavelength and has an immediacy that cannot be ignored. Red calls attention to itself it arouses the senses quickens the pulse and excites the emotions. Red is acknowledged universally as the symbol of danger. Red represents the physical and material realms stimulating passionate responses and feelings of lust. Red brings out our most extroverted impulses and encourages us to abandon our inhibitions and throw caution to the wind. Caution is required with Red it has a very strong energy and should not be used on hyperactive and very emotional people. Do not use Red on people with high blood pressure or in any condition where inflammation has occurred. PINK is a softer more subtle expression of Red it is gentle yet uplifting. It is a useful colour to help tone up the circulation it makes the body feel warm, it gently lifts ones spirits when you are down or depressed. Pink is the colour of rejuvenation and encourages youthful vigour well into old age.



ORANGE
Orange represents social activity and supports joyful “togetherness” and generates constructive and creative energy. It promotes a casual and relaxed atmosphere, even in dark areas. People who “go with the flow” are generally attracted to orange. Orange possesses similar powers of energy and enthusiasm as Red but without being forceful or brash. Orange is a powerful morale-booster, use it to enliven and revitalise your jaded spirits. Orange encourages sociability and releases our channels of communication bringing forth freedom of expression. It also has some of the influence of yellow and aids concentration and stimulates the development of ideas. Orange aids memory and helps create clear thinking helping you to take advantage of opportunities that are presented to you. In Feng Shui the Chinese advocate the keeping of goldfish to enhance the wealth of the household, orange has a long association with prosperity and well-being. Orange has the power to blend the spiritual with the sexual, an inspirational colour that broadens the mind and brings people together. Too much orange can over stimulate the mucous linings and have an adverse effect on the thyroid gland.



YELLOW
Yellow is a ‘pick me up’ a colour that animates, enlivens, energises and is a ray of sunshine on dull mornings. Yellow symbolises control, wisdom, intelligence and tolerance. It is the colour of knowledge and all the cerebral processes it stimulates mental activity and encourages rational thinking. Creative and imaginative an inspirational colour for enquiring minds. Yellow also encourages detachment from our emotions, giving us strength to distance ourselves in order to view our situation from a new and more logical perspective. Yellow then gives us the courage to let go of that which we no longer need. It has a collective effect and simultaneously stimulates spiritual energy. Too much yellow can over-stimulate, so avoid when feverish or heart problems are suspected. It is also ageing for the skin and may cause dizziness.



GREEN
Green has diverse interpretations, on one hand the colour symbolises equilibrium, harmony and peace. Like Red, Green is also a colour of growth, regeneration and renewal; it promotes healing, reduces worry and disperses calm. Green is a universal balancer harmonising with all colours, falling in between yellow and blue on the spectrum green brings the joy of yellow and the serenity of blue. Green combines hope with intellect and enthusiasm with pragmatism. Green is the mid point on the spectrum and is an oasis of peace and tranquillity soothing spirits and calming emotions. It stimulates the desire to travel and also jealousy! Superstitious people consider green unlucky because of its association with fairies. An overabundance of green can lead to stagnation and a tendency to arthritis.



BLUE
Blue is at the ‘cool’ end of the spectrum, it connects us with the mystical side of ourselves. Blue signifies spirituality, carefulness, and consideration for others, caring, belief, steadfastness, loyalty, trustworthiness and solidarity. Blue asks us to look inside ourselves and raises our consciousness and assists us in our meditations. Blue “cools down” and calms, and helps create a harmonious atmosphere. The calming vibration of blue relaxes the muscles, quietens the mind and sends us to sleep. Too much blue tires the spirit and depresses the soul; it is deeply introspective turning your thoughts inwards and inclining you to brood.



INDIGO
Indigo is associated with dreams and the unconscious mind it leads us to awareness and understanding. Indigo symbolises youth, the growth of awareness and the promise of tomorrow. With indigo we can tap into boundless knowledge and connect with the collective unconscious. Indigo is associated with heightened psychic powers and advanced spiritual perception. Meditating with indigo will awaken our intuitive processes and sharpen our abilities to make clear and informed decisions. Indigo also has reflected qualities that prompt us to expand our minds and to take in wider issues. Indigo also encourages us to shed what we no longer need ridding ourselves of the physical and emotional baggage that is holding back our progress along our chosen path. Indigo symbolises our strength that we need to conquer our weaknesses, to break free and move on. Too much indigo can induce self absorption and over-sentimentality, and is not recommended in cases of depression.



PURPLE
Purple is the colour of philosophers and dreamers, orators, poets and visionaries. It signifies high ideals, loyalty, truth and love. It is a higher expression of spirituality, uniting intelligence and understanding. It is rich, regal and voluptuously sensual, purple is also the colour of the higher mind and evokes intuition and spirituality, letting us stretch our wings and fly towards a new horizon. The colour heightens creative expression and transporting us into a fantasy world filled with wonder. It brings together passion and intellect, dreams and reality, vision and experience anchoring us into the here and now. LILAC and LAVENDER have the power to release our memories and gently take us back to a time of grace and gentility. MAGENTA evokes the emotions of adolescence, lofty ideals and early independence. MAGENTA also allows us to experiment with who we are and gives us courage to be flexible and discover our own identity. MAUVE has added blue, which contributes to aid our worldly experience and recognition of all that is divine. On the negative side too much purple can lead you to be pompous arrogant and over inflate your ego.



COLOUR HEALING
The organs of the body each vibrate at a different frequency, when one of our organs is out of balance it is possible to ‘retune’ it by absorbing into the body the energy of the corresponding colour. Determining which colour is required, where the bodies energies are out and how to apply the colour to correct the imbalances is central to colour healing. Understanding the aura and chakra systems is one of the first steps to detecting where the body’s energies are out of balance. There are a variety of different colour therapies that can then be used singly or in combination.



THE AURA
All living things emit a certain amount of electricity which surrounds the body in an electromagnetic field know as the aura. The aura reflects our health, character, mental activity and emotional state. It also shows disease - often long before the onset of symptoms. Close to the skin is the etheric aura, which is a pale narrow band that outlines the body and is usually no more than half an inch wide. It looks like milky smoke clinging to the body.

The main aura is banded around the body like thick coloured hoops of light dropped over the body. These colours emanate from the chakra’s. Energy is drawn up from the planet through the feet and fed into the chakra’s, like a plant does with water. Each chakra is a transformer that generates energy of a different type and colour. The strength, activity and colour tone of each chakra depends on the person's character, personality, emotional state, life style and physical condition. Together they generate the dominant hue of the aura.

The size of the auric rings, how far the aura extends outwards, the number of different colours that it contains, as well as the tone, quality and intensity of the colours are all significant. When we are confident, contented, physically fit and enjoying good health, the energy we give out is strong. Therefore the colours we radiate in our auras will be vibrant and bright and our aura will project far beyond the physical body. When we are ill or unhappy our energies are lessened, the colours are diminished and the aura can be punctured or indented. Dark or murky area’s in the aura may be a sign of, hidden anger, disharmony, negative emotions or blocked energy, which if left unresolved could potentially lead to disease. The aura is also photosensitive and expands to many times its normal size in sunlight. The aura also absorbs energy from other energy sources around us, like sunlight and ozone, plants, animals and other people.



LEARNING TO SEE THE AURA
Like many skills it is possible to learn to see the aura, you need to persevere, the reason most people fail to see the aura is they give up too quickly, it takes time and practice like any new skill. Its very difficult to get a clear view of the aura through clothing, the auric colours of the clothes react with the persons aura, causing interference that blocks and change the aura. Even neutral coloured clothes dim the aura making it difficult to see. Making the human aura not a good training ground for the beginner. The other thing that usually happens as your volunteer sits and waits, you subconsciously start to worry about what they are thinking of you. Are they getting bored or impatient? Do they think you foolish, a failure, or both? This then causes tension, which negates the subtle energy and calm mental state needed to see the aura, making it impossible. To see the aura you have to be able to relax and concentrate, at the same time. There is a trick to focusing the eyes in a special way that activates the third eye.

You also need soft light to train in, not dim or harsh light, if you have a pet then when they’re sleeping, practice on your pet. If not get a book and cover it in blue or red crepe paper, stand the book upright on a table several feet from you. With a neutral background behind it, light tan, soft grey, off white or even a black board is good. Experiment with different backgrounds till you find the right one for you. I use blue and red papers as the aura from these are the brightest and easiest to see. Blue has a Yellow aura and Red has a Green aura. The brightness and tone of the colour varies with the shade of colour used.

Close your eyes, begin to breathe slowly and rhythmically, taking each breath deep down into your abdomen. Feel the tension ease away, drop your shoulders and relax your muscles. When you are relaxed look at the book or your pet, focus your eyes either to the side or a foot or two behind it. Hold and get used to that focus but don't strain your eyes or tense your forehead. Concentrate! You need a gentle, steady un-focus, just like daydreaming. It is important that your eyes are really relaxed and dreamy while you hold the un-focus. If you need to close your eyes and rest them every so often and then try again. Some people find looking through half closed eyes more successful.

Eventually with practice things start to happen you will see a pale milky aura coming from the object or pet, keep looking and you will see the colours of the aura start building up from the object. Don't change focus and look directly at it or the aura will disappear. If you have trouble seeing the aura again after the first attempt, have a rest. This is a common problem and just means your eyes are tired.

The reason for the strange un-focus is you are using the rods and cones in the outer field of vision, which are many times more sensitive to movement and subtle energy fields than the focused area is. Have you ever seen a movement, out of the corner of your eye, only to turn and see nothing there? What you have probably seen is an aura building up from some coloured object and your eyes have detected the movement.

Once you have completed the first exercise, experiment with other books covered in different colours. Try using two at a time, and see how the colours affect each other. Try using a pot plant or a bunch of fresh flowers and study their aura, you will also see a more distinct etheric band and a shimmering optical effect around them this shimmering is the life force of the plants.

Next try observing your own aura, you can do this inside or outside in the full sun, hold your bare arm out and study it against the sky. Alternatively, lie down and look at your bare legs, and remember grass will have its own aura that will blend with your aura. When you feel proficient try it with a person, remember to relax and stay calm, and get them to remove some of their clothing and study their bare skin area against a neutral background.



THE CHAKRAS

The word chakra comes from the Sanskrit meaning ‘wheel’ or ‘disc’ they are traditionally depicted as lotus flowers. Each chakra vibrates at different frequencies corresponding to the colours of the rainbow. There are seven major chakras these are positioned with the stems of each lotus flower metaphysically embedded into the spinal column from the coccyx to the crown. Each chakra corresponds to specific physical, mental and spiritual functions and regulating the energy required to keep the mind, body and spirit in harmony.

In a healthy body where the chakras are in balance the energy will flow freely around the system, through the chakras and along the meridians. Physical problems, emotional traumas and stresses of every day life can all effect the delicate balance and the chakras maybe come blocked, depleted or overload, when this happens ill health follows. Each chakra is associated with a particular part of the anatomy, any imbalances in the energy flow through the chakras will manifest as problems in the related area. Also our emotions, creative impulses, spiritual feelings and intuitive understanding are similarly affected by the condition of the chakras.



COLOUR AND THE CHAKRAS

Each chakra is linked to a colour whose vibrational frequency matches its own resonance. When a blockage or imbalance of energy occurs the frequency of the chakra is affected. This can be restored by stimulating the chakra with the corresponding colour through visualisation, crystals using appropriate coloured clothing or by using coloured light.
 

ACTIVATING THE CHAKRAS

Colour can be used to heal the whole system or to activate individual chakras. By stimulating a particular chakra you can affect the organ, gland or parts of the body associated with that chakra. For example someone suffering from a sore throat would require blue for his or her throat chakra. They might wear blue clothing, visualise a ray of clear blue light entering their throat chakra or wear a piece of lapis lazuli round their neck. In cases where a chakra is overloaded there will be an excess of energy from the centre, resulting in some form of hyperactivity. Activating the chakra with its own colour will only exacerbate the condition further so what is required is to tone the chakra, using its related complementary colour.