Chromotherapy Guide: What is Color Therapy and How It Heals Your Body

Chromotherapy, also known as color therapy, colorology or simply cromatherapy, is an alternative method of treatment, which uses the effects colors have on us to alleviate certain conditions. For that reason, it’s also often referred to as color therapy or color light therapy. The treatment utilizes the chi that exist within differently colored lights, crystals, gemstones, and plants to have a positive effect on the individual. The vibrations of each color affect the mood, emotions, and even the physical health of the individual receiving treatment.

Color Affects Everyone

This type of vibration medicine is effective, because color exists as a form of light, which means it’s a variation of electromagnetic energy that can be used to effect changes in a living being. Each color used in chromotherapy has unique healing properties, so each person’s treatment is different. The colors used will depend on what condition they’re seeking to alleviate.
If you have doubts that this type of color therapy works, just look at the effect that the sun has on all of us. Particularly, a lack of sunshine can cause people to experience seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, which leaves the individual feeling lethargic, depressed, or anxious. When color therapy is used in these instances, those depressive symptoms are often reduced or alleviated altogether.

Just like any type of treatment, chromotherapy must be conducted by a trained therapist. He or she may use a variety of methods that may incorporate tools, verbal suggestions, or guided visualization techniques to treat the patient. The therapy is intended to balance the energies in the body, so that mental, emotional, or physical afflictions can be improved. The therapist uses a variety of tools, which may include any of the following:

• Gems
• Candles or artificial lights
• Crystal wands
• Glass prisms
• Colored fabrics
• Colored water for bathing
• Colored contact lenses
• Colored lasers

These tools are used in therapy to help the patient overcome whatever ailments may be posing a problem, though the process involves more than simply exposing the individual to the color. Different types of therapy and counseling are used in conjunction with these tools to help promote the changes that are expected.

The Use of Different Colors in Chromotherapy

As previously mentioned, each color can cause a different set of changes to the body. As such treatment will vary, based upon the patient’s particular problem. By looking at what properties each color embodies, it’s easier to gain a more thorough understanding of how chromotherapy can help resolve certain problems.

Red – Used to stimulate better blood flow through the arteries, red is often the color of medications that are intended to increase the supply of oxygen in the blood. Red rooms and glasses that are colored red can also have an uplifting effect on patients. What may be even more surprising is that baths consisting of red-colored water and the use of red lights have been effective methods of helping paralysis patients recover.

Yellow – If you need to purge or vomit for some reason, your doctor may prescribe a medication that’s yellow in color. Many laxatives are also yellow or yellowish in color. To relieve constipation, you might try drinking water that has been kept in yellow wine bottles. There have been cases in which respiratory infections and colds have been alleviated by exposing the individual to sunlight filtered through yellow glass.

Blue/Violet – These colors help to cool the body, which can alleviate conditions caused by inflammation. Conditions like diarrhea, excessive urine production, and delirium can be relieved through this form of chromotherapy, which may explain why many plants used for medications are blue or violet in color. Green tea, which is beneficial in boosting the immune system, is actually a mixture of blue and yellow tints. In chromotherapy, blue lights have been used to treat sciatica and lung hemorrhages. Combined with regular white light, blue light has helped patients recover from rheumatism, invalidism, and nervousness, even after more traditional medical treatments failed to produce results.

Using Chromotherapy in Your Daily Life

You don’t have to see a therapist to benefit from the effects that colors have on each of use. There are many ways you can incorporate more positive colors into your daily routine, which can help you stay healthy and feel happier. From changing the way you dress to paying more attention to the colors of the foods you eat, you can use color therapy to change your life.
Practices for bringing more color into your daily routine:

• Repaint the walls in your home a more lively color
• Eat more colorful fruits and vegetables
• Add colorful items to your home decor
• Use colored light bulbs in your lamps
• Dress in colors that correspond to that day of the week
• Be more observant of the colors in your environment

Chromotherapy can be used to your benefit, even if you don’t suffer from a particular ailment. By incorporating more positive and more vibrant colors into your day, you can feel better about yourself and you’ll be more productive and active. Rotating the colors you expose yourself to on a daily basis can help you maximize the benefits you’ll enjoy as well. Additionally, using color therapy in your daily life can add a bit of fun to your routine and keep you from feeling as though you’re stuck in a rut.