The 6 Awesome Benefits of Coloring Books for Adults
Coloring books for adults have exploded in popularity– not only are they a good stress buster, but they have some other great benefits as well!
The Truths Behind Adult Coloring Books…
The majority of coloring books we see in stores are child-based, and this seems to form a common misconception that coloring books are made solely for children. Recently, there has been a rise in the demand for adult coloring books, even though it’s something that’s been around for ages.
In this article, we are going deep into researched benefits of adult coloring books and whether it can help you change your mind about the way you relax.
So, let’s start with the purpose of Adult Coloring Books
Adult Coloring books are designed to help you relieve stress from what may have been a hectic day. It is a way of relaxing that keeps you away from technology, away from any screens and lets you shut yourself out from the rest of the world. If you have children, when they are asleep is the perfect time to have some “me” time – this is something a lot of people deprive themselves of.
Undoubtedly, the best part about adult coloring books is the fact that they don’t just need to be used as a de-stressor. Coloring books are a perfect hobby that you can commit to. If you’re the type of person that has a busy schedule and doesn’t have time to start up something like going to the gym or going for a run, it is perfect for self-development. It’s almost like a form of meditation, and you can completely be yourself by unleashing your creativity.
However, you don’t have to be a parent to reap the benefits. You don’t even need a busy schedule.
That’s the perfect thing about them. Even if you lead a life without a busy schedule, you may have worries about a big decision in life or even the smallest decision, using an adult coloring book (check out our favorite one here) allows you to be lost in your thoughts and may even help to come to a decision faster!
Fun Fact: Coloring books originated from the early 1900s and were used for advertisement of products such as coffee and pianos, rather than a leisure activity.
The Types of Coloring Books
This is something that particularly interested us. A coloring book is just a coloring book…surely they must be all the same?
Well, no actually there is so much variety when it comes to coloring books that it becomes almost impossible to know which book to buy! You don’t need to buy a standard coloring book that has random shapes that have no meaning to you – it’s completely up to personal preference.
T
he first thing you have to think about before purchasing is how long do you really want to spend in front of one of these books. If you want to make it into a long routine you do every day for 3+ hours then we would recommend a coloring book that is full of intricate, tiny vectors of all different sizes that are easy to get lost in.
There are different types of themes, and you can buy coloring books that range from architecture, science and history to animal coloring books. The list is endless! This means that if you’re the type of person that would like to do it perhaps before bed or even for a few minutes when you wake up in the morning, you can do something that would make you laugh or even think deeply about interesting discoveries.
Also, a great factor is that you can also choose ones that are half completed for you! Therefore, if you aren’t feeling creative, you can use the guidelines given to work out how you complete your section.
There are so many books to choose from; the world is your oyster!
The Benefits of Adult Coloring Books
Many people come home, and their idea of relaxation is watching television to wind down after a busy day. The idea of changing this routine to sitting at a desk and coloring in a book may sound fairly peculiar – however, there are so many underlying benefits that a lot of people don’t know about!
The purpose of this article is to remove the stigma that comes with coloring books
Benefit One: Increases coordination and analytical skills
Scientists have proved that by coloring vectors, we activate our analytical hemisphere of the brain and when using different colors, we become more creative. By coloring frequently, there are alterations in the cerebral cortex and the frontal lobes of the brain that help our coordination and motor functioning skills. There have been many psychologists that have associated coloring with creativity and how using a coloring book can actually open your mind to new analytical thoughts.
Benefit Two: Clinically proven to reduce anxiety
One of the most common mental health disorders is anxiety – sometimes people get caught up in worries about self-actualization and the rate of anxiety is growing faster than ever before.
Adult coloring books are used as a form of therapy to distract a person with anxiety from their worries about themselves and puts them into a relaxation mode. By using an adult coloring book, a person can transform their negative thoughts onto the page and can rediscover themselves. Research has proven that coloring books for adults can be a form of therapy for people with anxiety to escape their worries of the world.
It’s not just anxiety though, there are also claims for other mental health disorders.
Adult coloring books can also help other mental illnesses such as depression and even mild forms of schizophrenia. This is because it can help a person distinguish between rational and non-rational thoughts.
Benefit Three: Helps to significantly reduce symptoms of Cancer
Adult coloring books can be used as an art therapy for women with cancer and is proven to reduce symptoms such as emotional distress during treatment. It can distract a person with cancer from their illness and help them to focus on something positive that relaxes them.
Research has shown that one hour of therapy can allow adult cancer sufferers to feel comforted and wanted to continue because they felt as if it relieved them of their worries. A therapist in the University of Philadelphia has argued that a person feels overwhelmed by cancer. Adult coloring books helps people with cancer to find themselves again and do something that keeps the creative spark alive within them.
Benefit Four: May act as private counseling for childhood trauma/ loss of a loved one
Freud, a famous psychologist, argued that childhood is one of the reasons why people have mental health disorders because a person’s childhood can shape the future. Therefore, adult coloring books are a reason to think back to your past, if you have great childhood memories then you can remember what made you the person you are today and be thankful for those days.
However, if you look back and your childhood was hard, then adult coloring books can help you to face your fears. Psychologists have found that when a person faces their fears and thinks back to things of the past that is worrying them, it is only then that they can get over it. Therefore, by remembering the past and remembering the negatives, you are setting your mind free and can move on with your life as a fresh, new you.
It can also help with the loss of a loved one, if you can think back to the good times with them, then it will help you to remember the positive in your life and as you are coloring you can remember times of happiness in the midst of all the stress of everyday hassles.
Benefit Five: Can reduce levels of cortisol and prevent colds
We all know that coloring books are made to prevent anxiety – however one thing many people don’t know is that anxiety is linked to levels of cortisol. When we become stressed, levels of cortisol are released from the activation of the adrenal cortex in our brains. This can lead to the suppression of the immune system and can cause levels of white blood cells to be reduced – making us more prone to illness.
Therefore, if we are stressed then it is good to find some release – which is exactly the purpose of adult coloring books.
Benefit Six: Claims to prevent Alzheimers and improves memory
There are claims that adult coloring books can prevent memory loss – there isn’t any solid evidence to support this claim, however the argument does seem reasonable. However, what is proven is that most of us learn through colors and images. By coloring in, the brain becomes better at visualizing images in the head, and when given a question in real life, it becomes easier to visualize the answer. So, a person that is struggling with memory will color in a particular image and remember about the past and then will associate the image with that memory, which they will then never forget.
Ultimately, it is important to remember that adult coloring books won’t cure Anxiety, Cancer or Alzheimers, however coloring books can help, if approached with the right mindset. It’s like meditation, you can’t go into a meditative state without an open mind believing it will work. The point of adult coloring books is to put yourself first, for those minutes, hours or days that you spend coloring because that is your time to forget about the rest of the world and discover you.
We implore you to give this a go because this could undoubtedly change the way you view the world!
