Do you have a power color? If you know me, you know mines red. When I want to feel my best I'll always wear something that's red and when I don't want to be seen you can catch me in all black. But colors provide much more benefit than our attire.
A few examples:
In Japan they line the train platforms with blue lights in an attempt to decrease suicide rates at train stations (84% suicide reduction rate in 10 years post implemenation). Blue evokes calmness/serenity.
In the U.S. our school buses are yellow. Yellow sits in the very middle between red and green on the color wheel eliciting both our red and green photoreceptors or "cones" increasing the amount of sensory information to the brain. Thus, a yellow school bus becomes the most attention grabbing object on the road. Safety.
Japanese and U.S. currency. Very unique in the sense that all of the bills are a hue of green. Most countries have different colors for different bill amounts. It's stated that green evokes stability, abundance, rest, and security. Funny when they say money can't buy happiness when all of the words just listed are synonyms for it. Also interesting correlation since these two countries are known for being workaholics.
Colors and the impacts they have on the body:
Now to the juicy stuff, how can we use colors to help optimize our well being internally? Welcome Syntonic Phototherapy, also known as light therapy. What this entails is sitting in front of a lamp with a specific colored bulb for 5-20 minutes a day. Light therapy works by stimulating the visual system and altering the biochemistry of the brain to improve the balance of the autonomic system (something we can not control) between the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest).
Basically, if our visual system is allowing the increased absorption of certain colors and depressing others we are driving ourselves to live in a continued sympathetic system. Which leads to: increased heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, stress, anxiety, decreased digestion etc. These all then lead to our symptoms: headaches, fatigue, pain, aging, decline in cognitive function. I could keep going!
How to know if you need it?
This is the fun part! The test is so easy. Go look in the mirror, take a flashlight and shine it in one of your eyes briefly until it contracts. Remove the light and count how many seconds it takes for your eyes to dilate back to normal. If your autonomic system is functioning properly your eyes should stay constricted for roughly 10 seconds. If you are < 5 seconds you would greatly benefit from light therapy!
I AM NOT AN OPTOMETRIST
Let me caveat this entire email with the statement above! I am not an optometrist, but I work very closely with some amazing ones. I don't know what hues of color to prescribe and for what length duration; that's way out of the scope of my practice. However, I know the benefits and the resources to find a provider near you. Listed here: https://csovision.org/find-a-practitioner/ is the provider page of all licensed Light Therapy optometrists in and outside the U.S.
In Conclusion...
Colors are really cool. Hopefully you enjoyed this one and if anything you take from it that your environment, and the colors you willingly put in it, can have large effects on your emotional and physical wellbeing. Hate work or a certain room in your house? Go taste the rainbow and find your missing color. If you take the light therapy suggestion reach out, would love to hear your results!
Best,
Taylor Boryca
Freely Moving CEO |
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