I get stressed a lot.
Even though my goal is to be relaxed, it takes a lot of work for me to relax.
So when I walked into my local Barnes & Noble last month and saw a display of coloring books advertised to adults, I started to think. I remembered reading somewhere online that they help relax people. Even the table said something about how coloring reduces stress.
I flipped through the coloring books, saw a few that looked pretty, but then moved along to look at other books in the store.
When I got home though, I started thinking again about the coloring books, and wondering if they would really help. I mean, could they reduce stress for someone who couldn’t color in the lines as a child?
But a week later it was still in my head, so I went over to Amazon, and found the coloring book I had been looking at in the store. It’s called Secret Garden, and had lots of flowers and other nature type stuff, which I like.
It was a lot less expensive at Amazon too, so I got the coloring book, and a 50 count of colored pencils for just about $20.00.
Who knew they made colored pencils in THAT many colors?!
The funny thing was, it’s become so popular, that I had to wait 2 weeks for my coloring book to come, as it was temporarily out of stock.
So I waited…and waited…and then it arrived.
And I picked a picture that looked somewhat easy – not too many little things to color.
This is what I have done so far.
I color for maybe 15 minutes to a half of an hour at a time.
Is it relaxing? Well, when I am doing it I don’t really FEEL relaxed, I’m more anxious about making sure I stay in the lines.
Do I stay in the lines? Not always, but you can’t really tell, so it isn’t a big deal.
Once I finish, I do think I feel more relaxed though.
I think it’s because I’m concentrating so much on the coloring (you know, choosing what color to paint what part of the flower, making sure I stay in the lines, etc…) that I’m not worried about anything else, or able to even think about anything else.
So once I stop, I feel oddly relaxed, and am ready to move onto something else.
I think it’s good to clear my mind, and do something like color.
Obviously I’m not the only one.
Since I’ve gotten the coloring book, I’ve seen a segment on the news about how coloring books are now “in” for adults, the weekly “Parade” magazine that comes with the Sunday paper had a cover story about coloring, and I’ve seen countless articles online without even looking for them.
So it seems that it helps a lot of people, not just me.
If you’re interested in trying it…it doesn’t cost a lot.
You can get a coloring book for under $10, and depending on what type of medium you want to use to color – crayons, colored pencils, etc.. it can cost as little as a few dollars for those.
I will make one suggestion though.
Get one specifically for adults. Coloring books for kids have really big spaces to color, and (at least to me) would get boring fast. Coloring books created for adults have more intricate designs, and will be more interesting to color, and will keep your mind occupied more.
To show you how popular this is getting, here is a list of adult coloring books at Amazon.
It’s quite a list! But at least that means that you’ll be able to color whatever it is you’d like to color.
So even if it’s not something you’re willing to share with your friends (I tried that, and got laughed at!) I suggest trying it out if you need to “turn off” your brain for a little while, and relax while doing something fun.
