Keesha Bowers When we look at the world around us we can visibly see color and how it affects us everywhere. Whatever we look upon and see through our eyes will go through our optical nerve, and sends signals to each area of the brain, which, then sends signals to our body to react to what our eyes see. The colors of everything our eyes come in contact with influences our temperament, body movement, language and thoughts. Basically our whole life involves the way we see, feel and react to different colors.
Now, imagine yourself as you begin your day from the viewpoint of only looking at the colors your eye perceives as you start your day. You may open your eyes to first seeing your soft blue pillow, sage green blankets and even the white ceiling. Then, you turn over to see a golden lamp and warm wood flooring as you slide your feet out of bed to start the process of standing fully to meet your day. With each blink, a new color appears and you take it all in. If you find soft color like these in your waking space, you may feel relaxed and soft and start your day off in a good way. If too many bright, bold colors surround you as you wake, you may feel energized, but could also feel anxious, tense or scattered. My point is that we are sensual beings and the visual experience we have from the moment we can wake influences how we feel both in our space and in our lives.
Next, as you enter into the shower you may take a moment to close your eyes and feel into what your goal for the day may be and if there is a color that will help you to achieve that goal. You can begin to sense in your mind the color that will help you most. It is no surprise that using color has an influence on our energy, or our ch’i. Color can harmonize and balance our ch’i and thus improve our life, our energy and our flow. I like to do this practice while in the shower and I imagine myself dressed in a color that will inspire my day the most. Sometimes my whole outfit will appear in my mind based on the color or colors that feel most uplifting. I encourage you to take a moment as you prepare your clothing for the day to sense what color or colors inspire you the most. As you picture yourself wearing that color, does it bring about a sensation of dancing in your own light? Color influences our energy and how we feel about ourselves and can also influence those around us. This is a gift to yourself and others to shine in this way. Color is a tool in our toolbelt to radiating more of your own light, our color, our energy, or ch’i into the world. We can help each other raise our vibration in this way.
If you are looking for power in the tasks of your day, you may wish to bring in red. Red is a color of passion, energy, fame and fire. Red also attracts success, confidence and love. Studies also show that blue may help set our circadian rhythm if it gets out of whack and has the biggest positive effect on physical, mental and behavioral patterns you go through each day. If you are trying to lose weight, white is a great color to wear and also helps to clear the mind. Green is very nourishing to your health, calms your nerves and represents balance, growth and abundance. A cure for someone who is feeling unlucky is to wear the full rainbow of all seven colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and purple). It is said that this will improve the wearers luck and ch’i! Perhaps our “off “days have more to do with choosing colors that clash with our ch’i that day instead of flowing with choosing colors that will balance us. Looking at the colors we are most attracted to shows us the areas that our ch’i is flowing and colors we do not like, may also show us areas that we may be blocked or stuck. How we feel about ourselves may be caused less by our sense of aesthetics and beauty and more by this block or flow of this inner state of ch’i energy. Our ch’i changes every day and what we choose to wear will reflect our ch’i at that moment, or help us find the higher vibration we would like to be in.
Color can also influence our inner feelings. Some colors cheer us up like a bouquet of yellow daffodils, evoke happiness like a pink/orange sunset, while some bring in sadness or gloom like a crowd of black at a funeral, others bring us energy like my red coffee cup, or find relaxation in a green room full of plants, or even help us to focus while we eat an orange. Color offers a way to enhance nearly every aspect of our lives – improving our moods, stimulating our energy, focusing our minds and keeping healthy physically and mentally. Color is also one of the nine basic cures of Feng Shui. Color is also, for me, connected to meditative practice. The six true colors knows as white, red, yellow green, blue and black also correspond to the Buddhist six syllables “Om Mani Peme Hung”. Color that we use both in our surroundings and what we wear is a manifestation of light and energy. Use it well. When applied with intention to all areas of our life we can restore and enhance our energy, balance and good fortune in our home and in our life.
“If you select a color that harmonizes with your ch’i, then you will flourish” – Grandmaster Lin Yun
