Colors and Healing

The relationship between colors and healing is not a new concept but is not regularly practiced in Western Medicine. Sure, certain environments are designed to create a soothing and relaxing state through their choice of hues. But did you know that you can also apply this to fashion and what you wear as a health care practitioner.

Imagine someone feeling sick due to abdominal surgery, having a lot of pain, and barely able to take any extra stimulation such as multiple visitors, the scent of food, or overly loud noises. The door opens and here comes the nurse wearing a bright racecar blue scrub top with Sponge-Bob Square Pants frantically jumping around. On the other side of the bed, that patient probably feels a little queasy and overwhelmed with her environment, especially with the addition of her brightly garbed nurse.

While most medical professionals may question the relationship between colors and healing, this subjective issue may be a personal choice that can be affected by emotions, environment, and belief systems. And while there is skepticism about the effectiveness of chromatherapy and colorology, sound medical advice should be sought first prior to using any alternative treatment modalities. Any use of adjunctive therapy should always be checked with your primary care physician.

Our human eyes see variations of hues at different times. The familiar spectrum of the different light wavelengths (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet) is visible when we see a rainbow, or when we view light when it is refracted through a prism. This chromatic spectrum is simply energy—energy made visible. As human beings, it's the only energy we can actually see.

Dr. Max Lüscher, a Swiss professor of psychology and the inventor of the Lüscher Color Test, felt the significance of man's prehistoric relationship with the environment and color. Human lives were completely governed by day and night, light and dark. Day brings bright, warm shades, with action, activity and an increase in metabolic rate. Night brings cool, dark hues, with rest, inaction and slowing down.

Chromatherapy

Chromotherapy, sometimes called colorology, is an alternative medicine method. It is claimed that a therapist trained in chromotherapy can use color and light to balance energy wherever a person's body be lacking, be it physical, emotional, spiritual, or mental.

Chromotherapy is a science that uses varying, colorful hues to modify or to keep the vibrations of the body in a frequency that results in health, welfare and harmony. By applying certain hues and light to specific areas and acupoints on the body, balance can be attained and wholeness achieved. Some of the tools used for applying different shades are gemstones, candles, wands, prisms, fabrics, bath treatments, and colored glasses or lenses.

A therapist trained in chromatherapy applies light and color in the form of tools, visualization, or verbal suggestion to balance energy in the areas of our bodies that are lacking vibrance. This type of therapy can be administered in a number of ways, but is often combined with hydrotherapy and aromatherapy in an attempt to heighten the therapeutic effect.

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