It’s always nice to connect with your inner child (or so psychiatrists keep saying). For the most part children are filled with innocence and joy, so it makes sense to do some childlike things so that we may feel some of that innocence and joy and connect with our inner child as well, and what is more child-like than colouring books? What’s that, you feel embarrassed buying children’s colouring books for yourself? Well you could always lie and say its for someone else (your own kid(s), your niece/nephew, a friend’s kid) but if that still bothers you then you’ll happy to know that there is another option, you can get ‘adult’ colouring books.
Truth be told I was a bit surprised and a bit sceptical when I first found out about this. I was at the mall walking around a bookstore keeping an eye out for anything interesting when I came across the first adult colouring book I had ever seen. I remember thinking, “This isn’t going to catch on, colouring books are fine for children but how many adults will want to do it?” A lot, as it turned out.
The thing is, I underestimated the power of a colouring book being therapeutic and well, relaxing. Cnn.com wrote an article about it, titled, “Why adult coloring books are good for you,” the article talks about how adult colouring books have become so popular and of course how they are beneficial for our mental health.
It talks about how people felt relaxed while colouring mandalas, the therapeutic qualities of colouring and how colouring is a bit like meditation since it helps us turn our brains off and focus on the task at hand. It also mentions how this should be treated more like a hobby to help unwind and not as a way to treat serious mental health problems; not to say that people with serious mental health problems wouldn’t benefit from it, just that it probably won’t be enough by itself.
In another article from theatlantic.com titled, “The Zen of Adult Coloring Books,” the author Julie Beck talks about her experience with adult colouring books. She, like me, didn’t really believe in it at first, but then she got her own colouring book and began using and now she praises it to high heaven. She talks about how she enjoys certain patterns over others and how the colouring is more like meditation rather than connecting with your inner child.
Now, I haven’t really tried it out for myself, but I plan to in the near future. If you feel like trying this out for yourself then there are many ways you get started. You can go to a nearby bookstore and buy a colouring book from them if they have it, or you can go online and order a copy , or you could download individual images from the internet and then print them out for yourself.
Whether you are colouring to get in touch with your inner child or using it as an alternative to meditation, sit back, relax and have fun!
Alternative Yoga 