Adult Coloring, the New Zen Trend

As a busy person, you may have heard, or might be interested in some anti-stress techniques that could help you cope with your day-to-day: meditation, yoga, exercise, massages…

But, did you know that there’s a new relaxation technique that is all the rage these days, which is free or nearly free, super effective, and easy to practice?

We’re talking about adult coloring, the act of putting color to intricate designs, specifically geared to adults.

Coloring is a practice or hobby that is widely promoted in children, mostly to develop motor skills in the pre-writing stage of childhood. However, as we grow old, we tend to leave our colored pencils or crayons aside.

Recent studies have found that coloring relaxes our mind, helps with concentration, and it could help us solve problems without actively thinking about them. It’s also been said that coloring may be a good alternative to meditation, as it stimulates the senses, promotes creative thinking, and helps to deal with stress in a better way.

These are some of the reasons why adult coloring books are best sellers right now. They’ve had a great acceptance in European countries such as France, UK and Spain; and US is not falling behind either.

But even though adult coloring is “in” right now, it’s not entirely new. There are other kind of coloring designs called mandalas, which are traditional spiritual and ritual symbols from Buddhism and Hinduism. Mandalas are complex circular motifs with a clear center point from where the other lines of the design radiate. People have designed and colored mandalas for centuries, and even though mandalas still have spiritual significance to many people, they’re widely used as adult coloring designs nowadays.

The coloring books or sheets you may find online or in your nearest bookstore feature a wide variety of designs, from floral and botanical compositions, to city landscapes and architectural designs, to abstract drawings, cartoon characters, and even kaleidoscope-like creations.

Coloring experts (who use social media to create Facebook groups and Instagram hashtags to follow each other and share tips and resources about this pastime) advise that, in order to get the most therapeutic effect from an adult coloring page, is by using regular color pencils, instead of felt-tip markers. There is an inexplicable effect on the action of putting pencil to paper that cannot be achieved by other means, they say. We’ll take their word for it.

So, make yourself and your brain a favor, and go on vacation for a few moments by submerging in an intricate coloring design. You’ll see your worries melt away with each stroke, and your creativity flourish with every little piece you fill with color.

Here’s a good resource of free adult coloring pages if you want to give coloring a try

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