Healing With Color

Chromotherapy, or Color Therapy, is best used along with other natural methods of preserving health such as appropriate diet, adequate rest and relaxation, and exercise. According to practitioners of chromotherapy, the cause of any disease can be traced to the lack of a particular color in the system.

Color therapy is a technique of restoring imbalance by means of applying color to the body. It was a popular method of cure even in ancient times. Some 2,500 years ago, Pythagoras applied color light therapeutically and `color halls' were used for healing in ancient Egypt, China and India.

The pioneer of modern color therapy was Niels Finsen of Denmark. Following the discovery, in 1877, of the bactericidal action of solar ultra-violet energy, Finsen studied the possibility of assisting the healing of wounds with visible light. He subsequently used red light to inhibit the formation of smallpox scars and, in 1896, founded a Light Institute (now the Finsen Institute of Copenhagen) for the phototreatment of tuberculosis. In 1932, Gerrard and Hessay, two Californian psychologists, scientifically established that
blue light has a calming effect, and red light has a stimulating effect on human beings.

Blue and red colors are the two extremes with yellow representing the midpoint.These are also the three principal colors in a rainbow.

Every substance on earth contains color. Even the rays cast on earth by celestial bodies contain color in the form of white light. The rays of the sun contain seven different colors - violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red. These are natural colors which are highly beneficial to the maintenance of health and for healing diseases.

In a study at the New England State Hospital in the United States, 25 members of staff with normal blood pressure had their energy centers bathed in blue light for half an hour. It resulted in universal fall in blood pressure. The blood pressure rose when red light was applied to these same energy centers.

Pay attention to the colors that you're attracted to or wearing. Choose clothing in the colors that will affect your mood and mind according to your needs.
Colors can make us feel warm, cool, comforted, agitated, or powerful.
Also notice any colors that you strongly dislike. Sometimes the colors you dislike can indicate areas where you are rejecting aspects of your personality or where there are blockages.

It's clear to most of us that colors in nature inspire our lives. It's no wonder that 'green' is associated with the environment and sustainability, recycling, and renewable resources. The color Green is the vibration of freshness, healing, and regeneration.

Some possible ways of combining colors for healing work are Rainbow sets, complementary colors opposite each other on the color wheel; red and green, blue and orange, violet and yellow. Equal weight and intensity of complementary colors can really break up blocks.

Analogous, colors next to each other on the color wheel, and combinations like Red, blue, yellow, or orange, green, violet that are equal distance from each other are common combinations.

There are many systems of color healing. Color is of itself vital for healing the aura, the physical body and for deepening meditation and to promote specific effects in the energy field. Color and Spiritual light is used for healing the aura and the physical body, for deepening meditation and to promote specific effects in the energy field.

Everything is energy and energy has frequencies. The frequencies emanate colors, even if you can't see these colors. Light is energy, and what's viewed in the physical world is an interaction of matter and energy.

Each color has a unique frequency, a specific quantity of energy, and a wavelength. You will find yourself drawn to one color more than others. The energy vibration of that color is what you need, at this moment, in order to improve and balance your emotional state. There is a spiritual, rhythmic reason why you are drawn to a particular color or combination of colors.

"Energy follows thought"
Where we put our thoughts is where the energy goes. By concentrating on a particular healing color, the visualization of that color will be projected. If we focus on a color, the energy emanates from our body and begins to change the frequency that resonates with that particular color.

Color is light, which is split into different wavelengths vibrating at different speeds and different frequencies. Objects that absorb all wavelengths and do not reflect light, are black. Objects that reflect all wavelengths are white.
Between black and white lies color. This basic principle is how we experience color.
There are numerous ways to heal and balance with color.
Color can be gazed at. You can get a swatch of colored cloth to look at, or use objects of that color. Just walking in nature and looking at flowers is one way to bring in color.
Colored glass can be lit from behind or the side in a way that intensifies the color. Look at the stained glass windows in church. They are enhancing our mood and spiritual well being while attending church services. Do you think they planned it that way?

Use a tool like a crystal, a prism, or an old compact disk to see the color and focus on it.You can place color as wallpaper on your computer or use a mandala of all the rainbow colors. Create your own mandala for color meditations!

Imagine yourself bathed in radiant colored light, surrounding and permeating your body.
Imagine yourself breathing in colors with each breath; the color being breathed into your body by every pore and going to where needed.

Meditating on a color either in your mind or by keeping your attention focused on something of the color you want to work with can be valuable. Focus your thoughts about a given color or even write them down.

Wrap yourself in a color using cloth; cotton and silk seem to be the preferred fabrics. You can wrap a specific area or your entire body.
Colored gels or filters in front of a lamp or colored light bulbs can be used to focus your chosen colors onto the body and into the surrounding area.

Light colored candles. Choose the colors according to any of the color healing systems you like. Aromatherapy Candles are used in massage or healing rooms, in meditation, to uplift or relax.
Light some candles around your bath, turn down the lights, put some soft music on, and shut the door. There is nothing more healing and relaxing as far as I'm concerned. This is 'my time'.

You can color Epsom salts to make a colored bath (mix food grade coloring with glycerin), or combine with some favorite waterproof stones, or add some herbs or scented oils.

A bright cloth draped over a sunny window can also provide a color treatment as the light shines on you.

Speaking of Sunlight...

According to Dr. Babbit, a well-known authority on Chromotherapy, explains that sunlight is the principal curative agent in nature and where light cannot enter, disease does.

Chlorosis, anemia, leukemia, emaciation, muscular debility, degeneration of heart and liver, softening of bones, nervousness, physical deformity, and stunted growth are the result of excluding oneself from the beneficial effects of sunlight.

Sunlight plays an important role in the recovery from chronic diseases. Regular use of sunlight can be part of the healing process in almost every affliction. The rays of the sun improve digestion and nutrition, quicken blood and lymph circulation and increase the elimination of impurities through the skin.
Sunlight supplies the body with Vitamin D, which promotes the absorption of calcium in the intestines and transfers it across the cell membranes. This provides strength to the bones and contributes to a healthy nervous system by increasing production of endorphins in the brain.

Sunlight also helps in the prevention of infections resulting from bacteria, molds, and viruses.
Sunlight enhances the immune system by increasing blood white cell counts as well as gamma globulin, which is beneficial in warding off viruses and germs and it enhances the capacity of red blood cells to carry oxygen.

Sunlight also provides resistance power to the skin, by avoiding skin diseases such as psoriasis, eczema, and acne problems. Further, getting sunlight is also correlated with the stimulation of the pineal gland, which produces such vital chemicals as tryptamines.

Chakras are energy stations along the central axis of your being.
Each one is a point at which energy can be expressed in a certain set of actions, attitudes and emotions. Chakras are a map of the soul which you must move along for healing to happen.

The word "Chakra" is Sanskrit for wheel or disk and signifies one of seven basic energy centers in the body. Each of these centers correlates to major nerve ganglia branching from the spinal column.

Chakras can become blocked, therefore the life force energy cannot come through, causing energy imbalances in that chakra and corresponding organs and systems.

Chakras correlate to levels of consciousness, archetypal elements, developmental stages of life, colors, sounds, and body functions.

Be sure to watch the video on Chakra Meditation - Balancing and Healing at the end of this page.

Location: Base of the spine
Color: Red, balance is in relation to the physical, self-preservation, survival, sensory, instinctual, stable, secure, primal, grounded, spontaneous. active, courageous.
Element: Earth
Sense: Smell
Musical Keynote: Middle C (vocalized as an "ooh" sound)
Associated Gland: Adrenal
Controls body solids, such as the spinal column, bones, teeth, and nails. Also the blood, building process of cells, the colon, and rectal area

Location: Below the navel
Color: Orange, balance is sensuality, passion, procreation, vitality, optimism, enthusiasm, hospitable, family oriented, tolerant.
Element: Water
Sense: Taste
Musical Keynote: D above middle C (vocalized as the "o" in "home")
Associated Organs/Systems: Reproductive organs, kidneys, bladder

Location: Above the navel, but below the chest
Color: Yellow, balance is logic, humor, efficiency, organized, warm, radiant, flexible, self aware, self control, personal power.
Element: Fire
Sense: Sight
Musical Keynote: E (vocalized as the "o" sound in "top")
Associated Organs/Systems: Pancreas, liver, stomach, spleen, gall bladder, autonomic nervous system, lower back, muscles

Location: The center of the chest
Color: Green or Pink, the heart, circulatory system, arms, hands. Green balance is openness, compassion, unconditional love, forgiveness, acceptance, contentment, nurturing, generous, harmonious, assertive, heals loss.
Element: Air
Sense: Touch
Musical Keynote: F (vocalized "ah")
Associated Gland: Thymus
Heart, blood circulation, immune system, lower lungs, rib cage, skin, upper back

Location: the throat area
Color: Blue, the throat, thyroid, parathyroid, lungs, mouth. Blue balance is freedom of expression verbally and artistically, integrity, honesty, loyalty, reliability, gentleness, kindness, commitment, endurance.
Element: Ether
Sense: Sound
Musical Keynote: G (vocalized "eh")
Associated Glands: Thyroid
Jaw, neck, throat, voice, airways, upper lungs, arms

Location: Middle of the forehead
Color: Indigo, balance is inspirational, focus, concentration, insight, imagination, devotion, clear thinking, peace of mind.
Element: Light
Musical Keynote: A (vocalized "ee")
Associated Glands: Pituitary, endocrine system, the left brain hemisphere, the left eye, nose, ears, sinuses, and parts of the nervous system

Location: the top of the head
Color: Violet or White, balance is universal love, spiritual motivation & understanding, open to divine wisdom, selfless.
Element: Thought
Musical Keynote: B (vocalized "ohm")
Associated Glands: Pineal
Controls cerebrum, right brain hemisphere, right eye, central nervous system