Color Psychology - How colors affect our moods and emotions

Saturday, January 08, 2011 by: Elizabeth Walling
Tags: color, psychology, health news

(NewsTarget) Ever have a particular color that you are always drawn to? Then perhaps you`ve experienced just a hint of how colors affect our emotions. While it is important to surround yourself with color that feels good to you, color practitioners who use colors to heal and restore find there are some rules about how specific colors affect your health and well being.

This is an ancient practice that goes back to ancient Egypt, Greece and India, and it is still practiced widely in China, today. In Ayurvedic medicine, for instance, the color red is a grounding hue that stands for survival. Yellow, on the other hand, is the color for power and ego.

Not all authorities are sold on the idea of color therapy for medicinal purposes, yet others swear by it. Color is used by businesses to influence your mood and length of stay or impulse to buy. In fact, color is subtly used to manipulate and control us, as consumers, all the time. Green, ironically the color of money, is said to be a color that sells. The color blue is known for eliciting trust. Red, however, may trigger passionate feelings of anger.

In our personal lives, colors can be used to influence our emotions and the feelings of those around us. Colors can be combined to enhance specific perceptions (this is called the Chevreul effect, after the great painter).

Try these color psychology tricks to see how they affect you:

- Shades of blue can be very calming. A blue room, perhaps a bathroom where you relax in the tub, can enhance feeling of calm and well being.

- On the other hand, blue is also said to be the least appetizing color. A blue plate may cause you to eat less.

- Brown is a color of the earth that gives you feelings of strength. Brown clothing or furniture may give you a feeling of being connected to nature.

- The color purple is connected to wisdom and royalty. It`s also an exotic color rarely found in nature. Things that are purple attract attention and even suggest authority.

- Green, a symbol of nature and fertility, has been shown to increase reading speed and memory. Reading something written on green paper may improve your comprehension of it.

Further Reading:

http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandp...

http://freshome.com/2007/04/17/room-color-an...

http://www.bhg.com/decorating/color/color-af...

About the author

Elizabeth Walling is a freelance writer specializing in health and family nutrition. She is a strong believer in natural living as a way to improve health and prevent modern disease. She enjoys thinking outside of the box and challenging common myths about health and wellness. You can visit her blog to learn more:
www.livingthenourishedlife.com/2009/10/welco...