Remember the days of trying with all your might to color in the lines? The satisfaction of a clean colored picture made you feel like the best 4th grader in class. Fortunately for us college folk, there’s such a thing as “adult coloring books” and believe it or not, 30 minutes of coloring each day can have significant benefits on your health.
Keep reading if you want to know why you should get one of these before midterms week…
1. Stimulation of the Brain
Coloring stimulates brain areas related to the senses and creativity. Stimulating the brain acts as a form of exercise which helps brain growth and recognition.
2. Creative Freedom
By concentrating on the task of completing the picture and allowing yourself to have creative freedom, your mind and body naturally go into a state of relaxation.
3. Therapy
Sometimes we don’t want to vent our feelings to anyone. We could feel embarrassed or ashamed by the way we feel. Using adult coloring books is a form of art therapy and using them gives you complete privacy of the way you feel. There’s no judgement when it comes to coloring.
4. Freedom of Expression
No rules, no guidelines, you are completely free
There’s no such thing as a right or wrong way to color. In a world where we are surrounded by rules and guidelines, it can be refreshing to know that your little coloring book doesn’t come with any of that nonsense.
5. Stress-free activity
By engaging in a stress-free activity, you relax the amygdala – the fear center of the brain – and you allow yourself to be fear free of midterms.
6. Step-by-Step Process
The process of picking out a book, the perfect coloring pencils, and deciding which picture to start first, is a step-by-step process. Step-by-step processes help improve brain function by allowing yourself to think and complete a task at hand. Once completed, you move on to the next task leaving you with a sense of satisfaction.
7. Coloring is the new Medication
Doctors have suggested coloring to patients with depression, anxiety, mental illness, and eating disorders. For all the benefits listed above and below and for the fact that it steers away from any harmful medications.
8. Coloring Helps us be Social
Any form of art can help us be social. People gather to paint, draw, and do crafts. It’s an activity that you can do with other people and there’s a very little chance that any drama will occur. There will be no color pencil stabbing, I promise.
9. Helps Fine Motor Skills and Vision
Coloring requires both hemispheres of the brain to work together and communicate! The activities of choosing colors, mixing and matching colors, and choosing which shape to begin coloring, all involve motor skills. We often do not notice details, the intricate designs on each page force you to observe and notice detail.
10. Nostalgia
Coloring will bring you back to the toddler days. Remembering the excitement and joy you felt as a child could give you the boost you need to face a current challenge or just feel better. When dealing with important life transitions, in our case, graduating college and finding jobs, nostalgia helps us relate to past experiences and relate them to present day. By doing this, you will be able to put a greater meaning to your life during those challenging times.
11. Color Psychology
Believe it or not, colors have psychological properties. For example, red is a physical color. Red represents power, courage, and strength. Red can also represent negativity, anger, or defiance. Depending on your mood, you will decide what the color represents and this could have an influence on how you feel after. If you feel angry and pick up red, you may feel that you have the sense of power to use the color in anyway you choose. Before you felt angry, but after you felt powerful. Sounds silly, but just think of how it feels when you watch a sunset or sunrise. All the colors give you a sense of warmth or comfort.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n9BzzWy4zY
12. There’s a Book for Everybody
Since their explosion in popularity, publishers have released hundreds of design options. Apart from the generic mandala designs, some have themes like fashion, animals, bugs, flowers, and holidays. It’s impossible not to find one to your liking. There’s even different prices options so your student budget doesn’t have to hurt.
13. IT’S FUN!
Do I need to give an explanation?
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These books are basically all over the shelves and filing up best selling displays all over the country. Below are links to some options.
Click Here: Secret Garden
Click Here: Fun & Funky
Click Here: Animal Designs
Click Here: Mandalas
Click Here: Winter Magic