Colors are made up of light particles: teeny tiny rays of light filtered, absorbed, and reflected off of the objects surrounding us. The colors we see are the rays of light that aren’t absorbed, bouncing back off of objects to stimulate photoreceptors in our eyes. In color therapy, it is thought that this light creates electrical impulses in our brain which stimulate biochemical processes inside of us that calm and excite us in different ways.
Color therapy has been around in practice for thousands of years, dating back to ancient Chinese and Egyptian cultures. As someone who’s suffered from lifelong anxiety, I started practicing color therapy a few years back, and it’s really helped me to find my own personal zen. Color therapy goes way beyond spa treatments, and can easily be integrated into your life through the colors you surrounded yourself, specifically the rugs on your floors and the paints on your walls. You should be especially careful with the color you paint your bedroom, because that’s the place you usually end up spending most of your time.
Violet helps to stimulate the problem-solving areas of our brains, promoting creativity and intuition. Lighter purples, like lavenders and lilacs, are good for making a room feel cozy, but make sure not to overuse them! Too much violet can result in suppressed emotions and insecurity! This color isn’t great in living spaces, but could be perfect for a wall in the bedroom of a younger female.
Blue is commonly known for its calming properties. It is known to help with insomnia, hyperactivity, and promote the imagination. However, too much and too dark of blues can lead to feelings of sadness and separation. If you end up choosing this color for your bedroom it is important that you choose a lighter blue, and that you pair it with warm colored accents.
The shade of green you choose makes all the difference. Brighter greens are good for thinking spaces like home offices; these colors create a refreshing, efficient atmosphere, along with improving vision. Softer, more natural greens like mint, heather, and sea greens are calming and can be good for bedrooms when used in moderation. A good way to introduce green to your bedroom is through houseplants!
Yellow is bright! It’s an extremely stimulating color, and is great for offices and schools, but not so great in places of comfort and relaxation like your bedroom. (But it could be good to use in your bathroom as a way to wake you up!) Yellow helps clarify thinking, boost creativity, and even lift moods to help with depression. However, overexposure to yellow can mess with your nerves and result in hyperactivity. Be sure to stick to pale yellows, and if you do want it in your bedroom you can balance it with blues.
Orange has lots of benefits: aiding digestion, increasing appetite, invoking happiness, and promoting extroverted behavior. In ancient times, it was even thought to heal lungs and raise energy levels! Orange is a good color to use in dining rooms, kitchens, and other gathering spaces, but can make it hard to sleep and concentrate when used in a bedroom. Too much orange can cause irritation and frustration, along with making a room feel smaller.
Red is one of the most popular colors to wear and use as an accent, but it’s best to stay away from using it as the main color of any room, especially your bedroom. Red stimulates appetite, confidence, and passion, raising energy levels and blood pressure. Too much red can result in anger and hostility. If you do choose to use red in your bedroom, limit it to accents.
Pure blacks and whites aren’t the best choices for a bedroom, because they can often make it feel too dark and depressing or too clinical and sterile. A better option is to choose to mix these colors into off-whites, creams, greys, and other neutrals. These colors are all good for creating a calming, comfortable atmosphere, along with balancing out other, brighter colored rugs and accents you choose to decorate your room with.
In the end, the choice is up to you. Colors profoundly impact the way your body and mood, and you should be careful with the colors you choose to surround yourself with. Colors like soft greens, light blues, creams, and lavenders are good for painting the walls of your bedroom, but should still be used in moderation! Reds, oranges, yellows, and other, more vibrant colors are great for accenting and pairing with the colors on your walls to balance them out.
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