This St. Patrick’s Day I accompanied the fourth and fifth grade classes from Leo Politi Elementary School on a long anticipated field trip to the El Capitan Theater to see the new film Turning Red. The movie was excellent and we had a great time!

Young woman wearing a blue checked dress and a floral headscarf

Memories of a Glorious Mushroom

Sleeveless black top and brown pleated maxi skirt

What’s your favorite color?

If you thought coloring was just for children, you’re wrong, it’s also a good way hobby for adults who need to destress and relieve anxiety.

Have you ever noticed when you’re reading a good book or you’re listening to nice music or doing a hobby that you really like that you’re breathing slows down? The same thing happens with coloring except when you’re coloring your mind focuses on the task at hand and afterwards you can marvel at the beautiful artwork you’ve just created.

If you are aware of all these factors you might already know a little bit about the healing power of coloring. If you aren’t aware of the information I’m going to share with you will open you up to a deeper relationship with coloring.

The definition of color is “a component of light which is separated when it is reflected off of an object.” If you’re wondering why color is important, it’s important because it “helps us to store and process more efficiently than black and white scenes therefore helping us to have better memories.“

Although colors have their own meaning meaning individually, when grouped together they have meanings as well. From the color wheel the primary colors red and yellow and the secondary color orange are warm colors and the primary color blue and the secondary colors green and purple are cool colors.

Not only do these groups affect our moods, when we were them, they also alter our moods when we color with them. So if you want to feel calmer you wear or color with cool colors and if you want to turn around a bad mood you wear or color with warm colors.

Along side the color choices from the cool and one palettes are the various “color combos” you can utilize to give your current projects more oomph.. Pink, yellow and turquoise might include two warm colors and one cool, but the overall effect is bright and reflects an upbeat mood. If you really need to calm down and destress, but don’t want to choose blues, you can use beiges pinks and other “extremely pale” shades instead.

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Art can be a good stress-reliever during trying times.