Reasons Why Coloring Is Good For Adults

The activity of coloring is something that tends to be associated with children. As people grow older, they put their colored pencils and crayons away and instead use other more adult-like writing implements like highlighters and pens. However, coloring actually provides adults with some important benefits, especially when it comes to dealing with stress.

The practice of coloring generates quietness and wellness and stimulates the parts of the brain that are associated with creativity, the senses, and motor skills. Publishers, in fact, have been launching coloring books lately that are specifically designed for adults. This trend is alive and well in both North America and Europe. In this article, we will be discussing six reasons why coloring is as beneficial for adults as it is for children.

1You Can Color Anywhere

Just think of all of the times that you were at the DMV or airport and had nothing to do. All of the time that we spend waiting can appear to go on without an end. Cell phones, of course, can be the answer to bringing our boredom to an end, but following a long, hard day at work, most likely, you want something calmer to do, especially with the 24-hour news cycle these days. That is where it comes in handy to have an adult coloring book.

You can't take all your hobbies everywhere, but coloring is one pastime that happens to be easily portable. A majority of coloring enthusiasts take their coloring books with them to places like coffee shops, the park, or when traveling. Companies that make adult coloring books are also catching on to people's desire to want to color while on the go. There are colored pencil sets that are available that come in travel cases. That is a great way to keep it organized and provide an easy way to pack all of your coloring supplies whenever you are getting ready to be on the go.

2It Helps Block Out Negative Intrusive Thoughts

When you concentrate on coloring an object, it can help to facilitate replacing negative images and thoughts with ones that are pleasant. You need to look at the size and shape and look at all of the edges and choose a color. That occupies the same parts of your brain that help to stop anxiety-related mental images from occurring also.

Coloring helps to temporarily prevent the inner dialogues of colorist from continuing to occur. The tasks enable them to engage deeply in an activity that takes them out of their negative emotions and thoughts that can dominate their lives at times. It also enables you to be mindful as well as to stop you from worrying about your future. Rather than worrying about things too far in advance or about the decisions that were made in the past, mindfulness helps you stay in the present and stay committed to it.

3Reduced Brain Activity

A majority of us just know that we love to color. Taking our favorite coloring tools out and filling in an abstract design helps us to focus on the specific activity in front of us. Whether we color alone or with friends, it provides us with a great sense of relief and allows us to take a break from the issues of life. However, from a psychological standpoint, what goes on in our bodies that let us reach that peaceful state?

Coloring works to relax the brain; whenever your thoughts are focused on a basic activity, your brain has a tendency to relax. During these quiet times, you aren't disturbed with your own thoughts. Life's difficulties vanish from your awareness, and your brain and body both find that to be rewarding. Coloring is an activity that requires attention to detail and repetition; you can focus on the specific activity instead of your worries. When you relax, the activity inside of the amygdala is lowered by the brain, which is responsible for your fight-or-flight response to stress.

4A Relieving Meditative State

Many people claim that coloring is a type of meditation. Whenever you meditate, it results in your brain entering into a relaxed state by focusing on the "now" and blocking out all of the nonstop thinking that you experience. This results in you reaching a state of calm, and your brain is relieved from all of life's daily stresses.

A relaxing mindset is elicited by coloring, which is similar to what you can achieve via meditation. Coloring, like meditation, enables you to switch your brain off from other thoughts so that you can focus on the here and now. Tasks that have predictive results, like knitting or coloring, can be very relaxing.

5Reduced Anxiety And Stress

It can be seen everywhere - in news stories, Amazon reviews, on Facebook, and many other places. Coloring book customers and companies claim that coloring helps to reduce anxiety and stress levels. That might appear to be a cheap gimmick at first glance in order to take advantage of coloring enthusiasts. However, it has been proven that coloring geometric patterns or mandalas helps to reduce anxiety and stress levels.

The structure and complexity of designs are what helps to draw in the user to a meditative-like state, which helps to reduce their anxiety. That is the difference between adult coloring books and ones that are for kids. Often, adult coloring books are very complex in ways that would be overwhelming for children. However, that is exactly what adults, who have more brain activity, need in order to really lose themselves in the task at hand.

6Anybody Can Do It

The great thing about coloring is no certain skill level needs to be obtained in order to be an expert at it. By the time you have become an adult, you know how to color in between the lines. Even if you haven't ever finished coloring a page or used a colored pencil, it can still be a very enjoyable experience since you don't have anything to lose.

It can be difficult to screw coloring up, and even if you happen to do that, there are no real consequences associated with it. This results in adult coloring be a great pastime instead of a difficult test of your creative capabilities. Also, a majority of colorists talk about seeing their finished creations as being one of the main reasons why they love to color so much. Finishing a coloring page, whether you've been coloring since you were a child, or it is a new hobby for you, provides a great sense of accomplishment. You can feel instant gratification and continue the wave of positivity that elicits even more happiness.

At times, all you need is a general overview to get started on learning something new or refreshing your memory on something you were familiar with already. In this article, we have taken a look at the benefits that coloring provides to adults. You have learned that anybody can do it, and it can be done anywhere! We also talked about how coloring helps to reduce negative thoughts and unwanted brain activity.

Now that you have all of this information, you should not have any problems understanding how the use of adult coloring books can benefit you. However, remember that we provided you with a general overview. We didn't address more specific studies on whether or not coloring should be viewed as adult therapy, so if you still aren't sure about whether you should try out coloring, then seek out additional information.

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