Colouring in is good for you.

Colouring in is good for you.

It has some of the same benefits as meditation, but instead of focusing on your breath or watching your thoughts (both of which I personally find more frustrating than relaxing), you’re focussing on filling lines with colour. Now this is something I can do!

Colouring in gives hands and mind something to occupy themselves with, a point of focus that generally isn’t too taxing - just enough focus to stay within the lines. This is rather nifty, because the pencil and the page and your hand are all right here in the present moment, and when your focus is in the present moment, it’s not stressing about the past or worried about the future.

It’s just here, at the end of your pencil.

Your brain can relax, the part of your mind that’s concerned with survival can soften and let go a little. Many people I invite to make colouring in part of their lives say they find it calming, relaxing, that it gets them out of their heads for a while, helps them feel better when they’re going through a stressful time.

Just through sitting down with some colours and a cheap colouring book.

In the current fast paced world of 20 second videos and bite size attention grabs, it’s also a really nice way to grab some attention back - it can be a good way to improve your concentration and ability to focus more deeply for longer periods of time.

And when you’re done, you have that nice sense of having created something - something now exists that didn’t before, and you made that happen!

So here’s your invitation to get colouring - newsagents and bookstores and cheap department stores usually have a selection of colouring books for around $5, or there are printable sheets for free online with a quick Google search.

Happy colouring!