Following Caz’s post from InvisiblyMe a couple of weeks ago on Adult Colouring book I was reminded of when the craze first came out almost three years ago when I first posted about it, though not in this blog and I thought I’d share the benefits of colouring in from an OT point of view which you probably never thought about and also share another one of my picks. Colouring in is is not just for children although if you are a child or have a child it is a great tool for developing fine motor skills prior to writing and colour recognition. Growing up with both of my grandparents as artists, art has always been something which relaxes me and I think this is such a wonderful therapy.
Whether you love it or hate it.
- It allows you to wind down and relax, especially if you choose a cool colour palette, encourages creativity and each individual movement of the pencil as you colour can be calming. Does anyone else find the sound of a freshly sharpened pencil against a clean whit paper relaxing?
- If you don’t think about it too much, although if you’re a bit of a perfectionist like me, colouring in can be quiete tedious, it allows you to focus on the present moment because focusing on the page you are colouring in and the patterns distracts you from other thoughts and promotes concentration.
- Colouring in reduces stress and anxiety by allowing the amygdala and hypothalamus to relax. The amygdala is the part in your brain responsible for regulating emotions and the feeling of fear and the stress response.
- It strengthens hand muscles and fine motor skills.
- It utilities both the left and right hemispheres of the brain. This is particularly good for people living with neurological conditions as you can use colouring in to re-train the brain.
- It brings us back to memories of our childhood. Remember the smell of a fresh pack of crayons or sitting in your prep classroom not having to worry of anything?
- You can do it on your own or with friends. The next time you have an opportunity to catch up with your friends and you don’t feel like doing something to high key, why not sit back with a warm cup of tea pr chocolate, or if it’s summer a nice cold milkshake or ice drink (with ice cream of course) and colour in. If like me you don’t have many friends don’t worry, you can do it on your own. You can even carry one along with you.
- You don’t have to be good at art to enjoy them and once finished them you can use them to decorate a room to brighten it up or tear them out and stick them onto your books etc.
So I did say I’d share my picks which are not already mentioned and here they are.
- Colour Me Inspired by Kristina Webb
It contains positive quotes for each day as well as tear out cards you can colour in and give out to people. Although I can’t seem to find the one I found in the shops three years ago which was a diary for the year with a different picture and positive quote for every day. Speaking of diary’s stay tuned for an upcoming post on the best diary’s for 2019.
You can purchase via this link on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Adult-Coloring-Journal-Inspirational-Quotes/dp/B01E63HED2
- I often find myself in the art and craft aisles of $2 shops and so another awesome little colouring book I came across is The Little Book of Colouring In Bloom. Peace in Your Pocket. It’s the perfect pocket size travel colouring in book, making it ideal to carry around with you and has quotes in them like “Smiles can make even the darkest days look brighter. Be generous with them and “Today and every day, do one small thing that makes you happy, and your happiness will grow every day.”
- Jess Volinkski Notebook Doodles
The reason I like this series of colouring in books is because of the quotes. I am a POSITIVE person and I find the quotes in these pages to be uplifting when I’m having a bad day, my favourite one being the one in the picture, Colourful Inspirations. It contains quotes like “Your wings already exist, all you have to do is fly” and “We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The tip is knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” – Ray Bradbury I know you will like this one Alyssa.
- Birds by Ben Kwok
If you’re a bird lover like me then this one is for you. It contains quotes about birds, flying and wings like “What if I fall. Oh but darling what if I fly”– Erin Hanson, “ If you want to fly you have to give up everything that weighs you down” and You won’t know your limitations until you soar high and give it a try.” -Virkrmn
- And finally Good Vibes Colouring Book by Thaneeya McArdle which I am not allowed to put a picture of in my blog due to Copyright.
Now I’m not sure how to add a poll to my post so for anyone reading this you’ll have to add your answers to the bottom of the page but I’d love to know how many of you have already been doing adult colouring in and find it therapeutic and what are your thoughts on this?
And what other things do you like to do to relax?
I hope you are able to colour your way through the day.
This one is so interesting, sounds brilliant! As for the poll, I had some trouble doing this myself for today’s post I did on migraines. I got the plug in ‘Yop Poll’, so you activate that, create the polls (took a little figuring out), then insert the code into the post where you want the poll to go.
Colouring, art and crafting are certainly very popular especially among the chronic illness ‘community’ as a form of expression and relaxation. You’ve pointed out some great benefits! 🙂
Caz
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Hey there! I keep trying to email you back but the email address you provided keeps sending my messages back and saying that “address not found” for some reason. Do you have another email address I can respond to?
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Thank you for connecting our posts… I like how your love for art beams through your comment to me and through this post. I share your interest for “a freshly sharpened pencil touching a white piece of paper!” 😉 Thanks again Nicole!
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I absolutely love to color, but lately with the way my hands are feeling I am not able to do it as much! I already have 3-4 adult coloring books, one is inspirational quotes and the others are butterflies because I LOVE butterflies! Thank you for sharing this great post!!! Coloring is really very relaxing!!
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I love butterflies too. They are so beautiful, especially their wings and delicate and they are one of my favourite things to paint. 🙂
Butterflies are a symbol of hope.
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I believe that butterflies have many special meanings. After my grandfather passed away, I swear to you I would see the same butterfly when I was at lunch. I thought it was my grandfather letting me know everything was going to be okay and he was safe.
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Thank you for your comment. Butterflies are a symbol of people’s souls and that’s a lovely thing to feel your Grandfather’s presence sending you a little message as a butterfly to let you know he is OK. I like to paint butterflies too. 🙂
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I love colouring! And this one with the quotes looks amazing. x I recently bought one, which I’m very excited about, that’s a magical forest, and at the end you can turn the pages into a 3d scene! 🙂 It is for children, but I think it looks amazing. xxx
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Glad to hear you like colouring. I actually create my own adult colour in pages if you have any suggestions. The magical forest one sounds amazing how you can make it 3D. Art really has many benefits which I will be posting about on Monday so stay tuned for that.
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Oh wow! I would love to see some of the ones you have created! Do you have any photos/links to them? 🙂 xxx
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At the moment I only have children’s designs on my computer, although some of them are suitable for both children and adults but I am trying to figure out how to post a pdf or jpeg up so you can download them to print out and colour in. I’ve been asked to create a lavender one.
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That would be an amazing idea! And children’s designs are always the best. 🙂 I am playing around with the theme so my site isn’t looking amazing but you should now be able to see it. 🙂 xxx
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I love colouring too 💕
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In July we had a colour in Crafternoon. I actually have a new website which is all about art and you can see some photos from the colour in Crafternoon on there https://all-hearts.org if you want to follow me there.
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Reblogged this on Survivors Blog Here and commented:
Great post on Adult Coloring. The trend has inspired many awesome color books. Have a great weekend. M
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Thank you for reblogging. I hope you like my suggestions. I actually make my own adult colour ins which I hope to have downloadable copies available to purchase on my new website soon. Stay tuned.
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I LOVE colouring! I dont like adult books however, they are to overwhelming for my brain fog and I almsot lost my hand and arm in a car accident 25 years ago (17) so the use of it is not 100%
I love printing simpler pictures to colour but love it all the same.
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I actually make my own colour ins and they are not adult ones, they are children’s ones which will be available to purchase and download hopefully soon. I am sorry to hear about your brain fog. I experience this too and that’s why I find I can’t usually spend too long concentrating on colouring in.
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I’m not sure I have an artistic bone in me. I certainly can’t draw. But I saw some interesting watercolor paintings on Pinterest and it’s got me wondering what I could possibly do. I’ve done well with grease or oil pencils before too.
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Doesn’t matter how good you are. All that matters is that you’re having fun and that you’ve tried something new out I guess. Not everyone is gifted in the arts. Have you checked out my new all-hearts.org website?
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No ma’am but I will take a look!
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Great post! To appreciate your creative posts, I’ve nominated you for Liebster Award, congratulations!
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Thank you very much for your nomination. I might not have a chance to get around to actually doing it until after Christmas and New Year but I really appreciate you nominating me for it. I actually blog under AllheART now and I just sent you an invite to follow.
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Take your time and enjoy your holidays! 🙂
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Thank you. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!
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