Have you started coloring in the last year now that there are books geared toward grown ups? For the past year, adult coloring books have been a thing, topping Amazon best seller lists. Coloring therapy is believed to reduce stress and anxiety, exercise fine motor skills, train the brain to focus and promotes mindfulness. Psychiatrist Carl Jung prescribed coloring to his patients to help calm and center their minds. To establish effectiveness or simply call it quackery, PSFK joined a local group in Seattle, called kolor nights, to see if coloring helped this writer relax and connect in a new community.
More: Louise Mensch Fails Adult Coloring Book Craze For Mindfulness
1.5 blocks from Amazon’s global headquarters, around the corner from Microsoft, the Center for Disease Control and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, you will find a coloring group hosted every three to four weeks at artisan coffee shop Kakao Cafe.
While the act may be dubbed therapeutic, a simple evening of coloring and conversation is really more of a community and connection engine. When you are coloring and communing over espresso, it’s hard not to talk to people doing the same activity as you. You learn who they are, what they do and what brought them there in the first place. In this case, Seattle is a very dark city in the winter, the chance to come out to a warm, environment is a key draw for most downtown Seattle residents.
The color therapy groups were founded by Heidi Heath, the creator of Haven Paperie. When asked why she started the color therapy group, Health said:
“I had been hearing more and more about how beneficial and therapeutic coloring actually is for adults. My sister-in-law even sent me an article titled ‘5 Reasons to Give Into the Adult Coloring Book Trend,’ saying “You’re onto something, Heidi!” My original idea was to invite a group of girlfriends to a coloring night. I then realized I wanted it to be more than that.”
Heath said that she’d then sheepishly approached Kakao with her idea, worrying they might think she was crazy for suggesting a night where people sit and color at their cafe. Surprisingly, she found they were aware of the coloring craze and were immediately on board. Heath told PSFK, “I am passionate about building community, encouraging quality time and intentional communication with the people in our lives.”
Building off our own experience in the communal coloring experiment, PSFK asked Heidi if she’s seen anything interesting come from the this group, she shared:
“It has been so fun for me to see the different people who show up to color. To encourage community I usually put tables together to make big communal tables. There are people who come solo and join an existing group. We had young male and female coworkers come together after they get off work. Mothers and their adult daughters sit together talking over their colored pencils. I have had girlfriends and a group of women in their 60s come for ladies’ evening out. I get the most giddy seeing grown men sit with colored pencils and create something. I love seeing the different color choices and ways people express themselves on paper. Coloring is an activity anyone can do. It appeals to everyone and there is no right or wrong way to do it”.
In most cities, group activities can be costly. Cooking classes start at $70 per person and cultural events start at around $25 unless you hit them off peak time. Coloring was free and fun—I met nice people and I had a great time learning how all these women came to be a part of the Emerald City. Heath said she’d keep the group going in the new year but she had to gauge the frequencies as there’s now talk of bringing the idea to corporate office. The idea of gathering teams in a conference room for an hour or so to encourage camaraderie, promote creativity, and do something that relieves stress and anxiety seems like a win-win for everyone, in her opinion.
Color therapy is another creative expression manifesting from the mindfulness trend that’s happening across the United States and the world. It’s yet another way to encourage someone to break daily patterns in life by introducing an activity that causes the mind to focus, thus promoting it to avoid the sensation of being on autopilot. As Medical Daily writes, “Like mediation, coloring allows us to switch off our brains from other thoughts and focus on the moment.”
Adult coloring via Shutterstock
This article was written by Macala Wright from PSFK and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
