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Ten Benefits Adults can Gain by Coloring

Coloring pages for adults sound silly, right? Well, think again. More and more adults are engaging with their inner child. They are rediscovering the little-known ways that coloring pages reduce stress in their lives. From lowering blood pressure to boosting memory retention and creativity, coloring books, once relegated to the playroom, are taking the adult world by storm.

What are some of these little-known ways that coloring pages can boost your health and well-being? Glad you asked.

1. Concentration

Is your hectic schedule causing overwhelm? Are you pulled in 20 different directions? The act of coloring can slow your racing thoughts. It forces you to concentrate on a single task with zero responsibilities. This is great practice for solving one problem at a time with greater calm and attention to detail.

Do you know what happens when you learn how to concentrate in the middle of a crazy-busy day? You stop buying into the stress of it and start getting things done.

2. Mindfulness

When you color, you pay attention to your hand movements, your breathing, and your posture. You become more mindful of your physical self at the moment, and you become less aware of your surroundings. As you focus on what you are doing, you stop paying attention to external stress.

People who practice yoga experience this same benefit. It’s a form of meditation that reduces tension throughout the entire body. Coloring lets you reach this meditative state without the need for any pretzel poses.

3. Patience 

We live in a world where we click a button and get instant gratification. Almost anything we want is delivered to our front doors in 24 hours.

The problem? This creates an expectation of “I want what I want when I want it”. 

What happens when you can’t get what you want fast? What happens when you can’t get your 24/7 turnaround fix? You get impatient. You get stressed.

It might surprise you to learn that using coloring pages can help. Coloring makes you slow down, pay attention to details, and plan for the end result. Coloring a picture to completion reminds us that good things often take time, and patience is as rewarding as speed.

4. Play

Who doesn’t like to reconnect with their inner child now and then? Coloring brings out the little kid in everyone. It reminds you that you are more than your adult responsibilities.

Play relieves stress and boosts energy. If you have children in your life, it’s a lot of fun hanging out and coloring together. So if you’ve been feeling uninspired or tired, let the playfulness of coloring give you a pick-me-up. It’s a delightful way to reconnect with your imagination.

5. Creativity

The creative act of coloring gets your brain out of work mode. It’s also a mood enhancer. Playing with colors and pictures allows your mind to engage in free association. You start telling yourself a little story about the picture you are fleshing out. You stop thinking about your To-Do List, and you don’t worry about coloring inside the lines. Remember doing that as a kid?

This is your creativity at work, firing on all cylinders. It gives you the freedom to think outside the box. Or, you can daydream while you color. The activity itself stimulates your thought process in new ways. Creativity through coloring helps adults be better problem solvers because it encourages thinking from a different perspective.

6. Coordination

Did you know that while you color you’re working on your hand-to-eye coordination? Filling in the intricate details of more complex designs takes concentration. You have to pay attention to where you’re placing the tip of the crayon or pencil and how you are filling in the picture. For adults dealing with the stress of physical or cognitive issues, coloring can be a useful part of therapy.

7. Relaxation 

Coloring doesn’t require a lot of physical or emotional energy. This why so many adults find it relaxing. You can sit quietly in your favorite spot and fill in beautiful drawings with colors, with no need to break a sweat. Watching a picture come to life beneath your fingertips is both satisfying and relaxing. It’s a drama-free zone.

8. Blood Pressure 

Engaging in a fun and positive activity like coloring reduces your stress levels. This can help you maintain lower blood pressure levels. Your doctor will thank you.

9. Anxiety 

A lot of people who suffer from anxiety often experience racing thoughts, panic attacks, and feelings of edginess. Coloring a page is a completely panic-free activity. You can focus your attention on the act of creating rather than the act of being tense or fearful. In its simplicity, coloring, like knitting, acts as a calming process and can help ease anxiety symptoms.

10. Sleep

If you make coloring pages a regular habit, you should start to experience several benefits. You complete everyday tasks with better focus, interact with others more mindfully, and incorporate more creativity and play into your life. All this contributes to a better night’s sleep because you aren’t feeling rushed or scattered. Everyone knows that getting enough sleep is crucial to feeling calm, focused, energetic, and happy.

Coloring pages provide a lot of little-known benefits for adults dealing with all kinds of stress in their lives. Take a lesson from your kids, or your inner child. Get out the crayons and the pages of cool pictures and start filling in your life with a lot more color. Your brain and body will love you for it.

Want to bring coloring in to your life?

Check out all the adult coloring supplies available to bring peace to your life.