You may have got one in your work secret Santa. A (not so close) relative may have bought you one for your birthday because “you were always into art at school”. You may have the Doctor Who one to tide you over until the next series starts. Whatever the reason,adult colouring books are very popular and it’s likely that most of us own one.
Whether you’re a fan of colouring in or are dubious about it, these books can help us cope with stress and improve our wellbeing. In the final post of National Stress Awareness Month, here’s 8 reasons to keep colouring or pick up those colouring pencils for the first time.
- 1. Colouring in reduces stress and anxiety
Creative activities can be used to help us cope better with mental health problems and alleviate psychological distress. More specifically, colouring tasks have been shown to reduce anxiety and stress and improve mood, all good for our wellbeing.
- 2. It’s a mindful activity, which is beneficial for our wellbeing.
Colouring in can put us in a meditative state and help us become more mindful. As we learnt in a previous blog post, mindfulness can reduce stress and anxiety and even pain. Just focusing on one thing that is happening in the here and now – i.e. colouring in part of a picture – can help us take a step back from stressful and emotional situations.
- 3. Mindfulness colouring books can reduce symptoms of depression
If you’re suffering with a low mood, colouring may be able to help. Research has shown that after a week of daily colouring in, participants showed significant reductions in symptoms of depression and anxiety. Those who completed logic puzzles over the same time period did not show these reductions, suggesting that colouring in for a short period on a daily basis can improve our mental health.
- 4. Colouring can improve our problem solving skills
Deciding which colours we want to use in each part of an image relies on our creative, right side of the brain and logical, left side of the brain working together. Creative activities such as colouring provide good opportunities to practice our problem solving skills as they often involve thinking differently. Continued practice can also help us become more resilient in the face of stress.
- 5. It gives us a sense of control
When we feel stressed, we often feel like certain aspects of our lives are out of our control. Engaging with colouring in books can help us regain that sense of control, because we are the ones choosing the colours. When given the choice of how to colour in an image versus being instructed to copy the colours of a pre-coloured image, participants were more likely to persevere with the task and show reduced levels of anxiety.
- 6. Colours can affect our wellbeing
Different colours can affect our thoughts, feelings and behaviour in multiple ways. Choosing the colours we want to use in a colouring task can address our subconscious psychological needs and improve our wellbeing.
- 7. Different themed books can help us engage with our interests
It’s important to do something we enjoy every day. As well as making us happier, doing something fun can improve our skills, enhance our creativity and increase our ability to learn. Due to the popularity of adult colouring books, we can combine the benefits of colouring with our own interests. There are colouring books for every interest – Ryan Gosling (my personal favourite), cats and Game of Thrones, among many, many others.
- 8. With all this in mind, why don’t you give this week’s activity a go?
I’ve designed a pattern for you to colour in, reduce stress and improve your wellbeing. Spend 15 minutes colouring it in and see how you feel. If you’re able to, spend 15 minutes each day on it until you’ve completed colouring it in to enhance the benefits to your wellbeing.
Click the link below to download the worksheet. It’s recommended for this exercise that you print it off so you can colour it in! If you don’t have a printer, you could draw your own design and colour it in.
If colouring in has helped improve your wellbeing, please do get in contact and share your story!
I share wellbeing-related research, news and stories on twitter and Instagram in between weekly blog posts so do follow @15minwellbeing on both platforms to keep up to date. I’d love to post your colouring online, so get in contact and share your work 🙂
15 Minute Wellbeing 