How Colour Therapy is used

Colour therapy uses the energy relating to each of the seven spectrum colours being:- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. These spectrum colours are simply light of varying wavelengths, thus each colour has its own particular energy. These energies resonate with the energy of each of the seven main chakras/energy centres of the body. By using these seven colours of the light spectrum, Colour Therapy aims to balance and enhance our body's energy centres/chakras, which can help to stimulate our body's own healing process.

If you imagine the body's chakras as a set of cogs/wheels, (the word chakra is Sanskrit for wheel), they are rather like the workings of a clock or an engine; each cog/wheel needs to move smoothly for the clock/engine to work properly. Thus good health and wellbeing is achieved by a balance of all these energies. The balance of the energy in each of the body’s chakras is very important for health and wellbeing. Colour therapy can help to re-balance and/or stimulate these energies by applying the appropriate colour to the body and therefore re-balance our chakras.

Colour therapy can help to re-balance these 'wheels' by applying the appropriate colour to the body and therefore re-balance our chakras. Listed below is each of the spectrum colours and the chakra which it relates to. Violet has the shortest wavelength and red the longest wavelength. The energy relating to each of these spectrum colours resonates with the energy of each of the seven main chakras of the body.

Red relates to the base chakra, orange the sacral chakra, yellow the solar plexus chakra, green the heart chakra, blue the throat chakra, indigo the brow chakra (sometimes referred to as the third eye) and violet relates to the crown chakra.

Colour is absorbed by the eyes, skin, skull and our ‘magnetic energy field’ or aura. Colour energy affects us on all levels, that is to say, physical, spiritual and emotional. Every cell in the body needs light energy - thus colour energy has widespread effects on the whole body. There are many different ways of giving colour, including; Solarized Water, Light boxes/lamps with colour filters, colour silks and hands on healing using colour.

Colour has many uses

Colours have many uses as they have differing qualities. For example:- red, orange and yellow are warming and energising colours whereas blue, indigo and violet are cooling and calming colours. Green is known to be a balancing colour between the warm and cool colours.

Colour therapy can be shown to help on a physical level, which is perhaps easier to quantify, however there are deeper issues around the colours on the psychological and spiritual levels. Our wellbeing is not, of course, purely a physical issue. That is to say, we are body, mind and spirit and none of these areas function entirely alone; each has an effect upon the other. This is why Colour Therapy can be so helpful since colour addresses all levels of our being.

As a child we associate with colour as part of our first learning processes. These first associations contribute to our consciousness. As we get older we attach many different feelings, memories and meanings to certain colours and this can then become a feature in our subconscious. We can build up prejudices to colours which have happy, sad, or frightening connotations for us.

All life experiences make an impression upon us. Some experiences will be positive and some negative. It is these negative experiences which can manifest themselves physically over time as dis-ease. As an example:- perhaps we have, over the years, been in a situation where we have felt unable, for one reason or another, to speak our mind, or to express our own truth. This can manifest as a problem in the throat chakra. The throat chakra relates in the spiritual aspect to self expression. Thus, if our self expression has been blocked, the energy in this area will not be free flowing and in turn this can lead to a physical manifestation of dis-ease.

Noting strong colour preferences can also be a helpful aid to finding possible problems and working with the appropriate colour/colours to help to dispel negative feelings, free blocks and re-balance the body emotionally, spiritually and, in turn, physically.

Colour Therapy as part of everyday life

Colour Therapy is a totally holistic and non-invasive therapy and, really, colour should be a part of our everyday life, not just something we experience for an hour or two with a therapist. Colour is all around us everywhere. This wonderful planet does not contain all the beautiful colours of the rainbow for no reason. Nothing on this earth is here just by chance; everything in nature is here for a purpose. Colour is no exception. All we need to do is to heighten our awareness of the energy of colour and how it can transform our lives. A professional therapist will help you to do this. The capacity for health and wellbeing is within us all.

Colour therapy is safe to use alone or alongside any other therapy whether orthodox medicine or another complementary therapy and is safe and helpful for adults, children, babies and animals too.

Please be aware that no complementary therapy should be considered as an alternative to professional medical advice where necessary and no properly qualified complementary therapist would suggest that, neither would they suggest that you stop taking your medication etc. If you are taking medication you should consult the prescribing professional before you stop taking it.