Contributed by Andrea Pflaumer

Just about everyone needs some form of healing these days. Healing can come in many forms – physical, psychological, emotional, or spiritual. But it has a deep impact when it comes through our senses. Food nourishes our body and soul, music soothes the savage beast. And floating in a fragrant, luxurious bath can soak away the stress of the day.

But for those of us who are highly visual, there is healing to be had by surrounding ourselves with things that are beautiful. One major element of beauty is color. Color is the first thing that registers to the human eye.  

We tend to assign meanings to different colors based on our personal preferences and our cultural influences. But the vibration of colors and how they affect us is not subjective. Colors have very specific and measurable effects. 

So let’s look a little bit into how we can soothe ourselves with color.

RED

The color red has the longest wavelength on the spectrometer. It is the first color that babies perceive after black, white, and gray. Red also has what is called a very high “reflectance” which means that it does not absorb light. 

Red is the color of the hemoglobin in our blood. It’s the color of the flush on our faces when we’ve been exercising, when we’re angry, embarrassed, flirting, and after sex! It says, “I’m alive.” Red is simply stimulating. It even stimulates the appetite! So if you need some energy and motivation, buy some red roses, wear a new red lipstick, or just eat some red fruit or veggies!

PINK

If red reminds you too much of aggressive energy you can capture a more gentle form from shades of pink. Those include everything from baby pink to peach. These colors also have youthful qualities because they are infused with white. It’s that lightness that changes the vibrational effect from one of intensity to one of approachability.  So they can make us feel more optimistic and joyful. 

BLUE

If you’re feeling that things have just gotten way too intense or way too extreme, blue is the color you might want to find in a home accessory, a wall color, or a piece of clothing. 

Various shades of blue convey a sense of calmness and clarity. It is actually shown to lower your blood pressure. It speaks of conservatism and wisdom. This is why so many business suits are in various shades of navy. Blue is the color you wear when you are feeling protective – or even a little bit self-protective. 

Interestingly, teal blues (leaning toward green) are colors that every human can wear beautifully. They are universal. My color mentor, John Kitchener, says, that’s because from outer space our planet is teal, therefore we earthlings look good in teal!

GREEN

There are many unfortunate pop culture references associated with this. “Green with envy,” comes to mind, or “green around the gills.” But in fact, green suggests some wonderful qualities, such as stability, prosperity, and good health. And similarly to the effect of wearing blue, green indicates power. 

Green is the color of the heart chakra and is often used for emotional healing. It’s considered to represent compassion and unconditional love, generosity, and humility. It also suggests a person who is well-balanced. If you are in need of healing, on any level, one of the best things you could do is take a walk through nature just as fresh grass and green leaves are starting to appear.

ORANGE

Orange is a very quixotic color. Like red, it also vibrates fairly high the spectrometer. But on an emotional level, it speaks of independence because it tends to it connect us to our senses and our central nervous system. It’s an expansive and optimistic color that can make us feel more enthusiastic, resourceful, sporty, or even flamboyant. Orange stimulates but is not necessarily soothing. If you’ve been feeling lethargic maybe buy some oranges and appreciate the peel as much as the fruit!

YELLOW

Yellow is the color of our life-giving star, the center of our solar system, our sun. It’s the color of some of the first flowers we see blooming in the spring: daffodils! In Western cultures, yellow signifies joyousness and youthfulness, renewal, and awakening. In Eastern cultures, it literally signifies awakening – spiritual awakening. In that way, we associate the color yellow with deep truths and wisdom.  

Yellow is also a stimulating color, but in a very different way than red is. Actually, it can stimulate some level of anxiety, as it activates that part of our brains that we associate with certain images. For instance, yellow “caution” lights, or “caution” tape. But, generally, yellow speaks of optimism and good cheer. Adding a few yellow throw pillows around the room or buying those first bunches of spring daffodils can make you feel renewed.

PURPLE

Because purple is the combination of red and blue it suggests both power and dignity. It is the color of royalty. Purple is a color of imagination and creativity, including artistic talent. But it also has a spiritual component, as it is associated with the crown chakra at the top of the head. So it also expresses some mystery and ancient wisdom. 

In that way, it has its own kind of “high vibration” in that it does shake up the material world. Purple crystals in the form of amethyst remove negative entities and influences in the environment. If you place one somewhere near the entrance to your front door you might feel calmer in your home.

THE EYES HAVE IT

And then there is some magic in our own eyes: specifically the colors in our eyes. For almost every one of us, all of the shades of colors in the iris of our eyes make us feel calm, they reflect back to us who we are at a fundamental level. And they also make others with whom we interact feel calm. I believe this is because the eyes are the windows of the soul. Connecting with someone on the soul level is the deepest way of connecting. 

So wearing or surrounding ourselves with something in any one of our eye colors might make us feel more grounded and secure.

What is your favorite color to wear or surround yourself with? And how does it make you feel?

Andrea Pflaumer is the author of the Amazon best-seller Shopping for the Real You: Ten Essential Steps to a Perfect Wardrobe for Every Woman: Fashionistas, Fashion-phobes, and the Over 50 and She’s Got Good Jeans – a guide for how to shop for and where to find the perfect jeans for your body and budget.

Her new online course is called: Discovering Your Inner Style: An Adventure in Dressing Authentically.

Andrea does in-person and online wardrobe and shopping consultations for women worldwide and blogs at Shopping for the Real You. She is the host of a video collection entitled: Vital, Vivacious, and Visible after 50 and Shopping for the Real You: Expert Edition where she interviews women in the areas of fashion and beauty.

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