The Power of Colour

Earlier this week I was passing one of my local art galleries and a picture displayed in the window stopped me in my tracks.  It absolutely resonated with me.

The name of the painting is ‘Autumn’s Grace’.  It’s a fairly small acrylic – around 30 x 20 cms – but the colours & the content made my heart sing.  It has a rich dark green background and it’s a painting of what appears to be 2 mismatched beautiful antique chairs – one pink velour and the other a wooden chair painted in a teal colour. They’re positioned at an angle to each other as if 2 people had been having a chat and then vacated the chairs.  Around the chairs is a swirl of fabulous colours depicting autumn leaves in a variety of rich colours – oranges, greens, mauves, purples, reds, turquoises, yellows, pinks & greys.  And then in addition, is something even more magical, because there’s a light sprinkle of gold brushstrokes on each of the chairs and around them, and a gentle swirl of gold between them in the background against the rich forest green.

It was only 8am when I was looking in the window at the painting so the gallery was still closed.  I knew that I had clients all morning and I wouldn’t be able to return to the gallery until lunchtime, however, I knew that I had nothing to worry about – I simply knew in my heart that the painting was mine:  It would still be available when I returned later at lunchtime that day and it would be within my price range.

Sure enough, when I returned at 1pm, the painting was still in the window and I went in and was able to pick it up, gaze at it and purchase it.  It now lovingly occupies a place in my home.

So why did it resonate with me?

The first reason:

What’s rather extraordinary to me, is that this month I was intending to write an article on the meaning of colour in our lives, and there I was standing in the cold morning light gazing at colours that were affecting my mood in a very lovely way.  Colours are magical and resonate with us at a very deep level and can affect our mood, behaviour and physiology without us even being aware of it. What many of us don’t realise is that colour is massive in influencing our wellbeing.

Colour to Stimulate Imagination and Mood

Very simply put, different colours represent different things.  Using colours can stimulate our imagination and our mood.  We don’t need to intellectualise it, we can just use our innate senses to respond to the colour.

Every rainbow that appears in the sky consists of 7 colours.  These colours are Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red.  VIBGYOR that is a short form name of all these colours.  The language of colours and how they can help & heal us is much more complex than I have the opportunity to explain in this article, but below I’ve noted the rainbow colours and how they can help us simply by being aware of the power & energy of each colour:

• Red = can keep you grounded & strong, gives you courage to survive.  It can represent perseverance, passion & survival.
• Orange = helps to enhance relationships with yourself and others.  It helps with enthusiasm, fun, health, wider interests & humour.
• Yellow = is about clarity.  It assists with defining the self – boosting self-belief, self-confidence, broadmindedness & optimism.
• Green – many people think that red is the colour of the heart, but it’s actually green.  It represents love of the self & of others, compassion, harmony & equilibrium.
• Blue – is about communication – how do you talk to yourself & others.  What is your message?  How do you express yourself?
• Indigo – helps us to connect with our intuition.  Helping us to connect with our emotional intelligence.
• Violet – is about our spiritual self – higher ideals than our everyday life.  It can help us with inspiration and hearing Divine guidance.

The 2^nd reason the painting resonated with me:

It beautifully embodied the essence of my daily meditation practice and spiritual journey.

I believe that we are not on this earth for ourselves.  We’re placed here on earth to share our gifts, uplift others and leave this world a little better than we found it – that is our general purpose.  Our lives are about service.  Naturally, some of us are more aware of this than others.

It’s my belief that we’re more than just the physical body we occupy and that whether we know it or not, we’re all spiritual beings occupying human bodies to experience a life bound experience of service.  Each of us has their own journey.  Some of us are more temporal and exist happily & healthily in our daily lives without concerning ourselves with the mystical aspects of the self and simply do our best to create happy & healthy experiences for ourselves and for those in our orbits.  We can all live in kindness while supporting and creating safety for others.

However, others are very aware of the spiritual aspect of life and the unseen influences that are constantly around us.  We may not be able to see them with our eyes, however, it’s my belief that Angels, Spirit Guides, Ascended Masters and Ethereal Beings are constantly with us and that to receive their Divine Guidance, all we need to do is to ask.

Every day I try to spend a significant portion of time communicating with my ‘Higher Power’ – I have a thought process where I see myself walking in a forest, then walking in a beautiful meadow and approaching a tower, walking up the steps of the tower into a magical room  – a beautiful library with 2 chairs at close angles to each other.  I see myself sitting down in one of the chairs and asking for my Higher Power, Spirit Guide, or Angel to step forward and sit with me and give me their Guidance. Then I just wait – without doubt – simply in gratitude and with full expectation of receiving.

My life is about service – I’m a therapist and I simply ask for the guidance and tools I need to enhance the lives of those I serve – be that clients, family, friends or anyone else in my life, and beyond.

So, to get back to the picture – when I saw the 2 chairs, the magical sprinkle of gold dust and the wonderful colours, I had a sense of peace, pleasure, fun & expectation.

I now have a visual representation of what I’ve been seeing in my mind’s eye for a very long time. The painting is now next to the chair where I meditate and I feel deep peace & happiness.  It greatly enhances my meditation.  And each time I happen to glance upon I in my daily life, I’m instantly connected with that ‘bigger picture’ – it elevates me – life is not about perfection:  Our experiences – both joyful and painful – are opportunities for growth, healing and evolution.  Let’s make our little corner of this world a better place for ourselves and others.

And please know, that you simply have to ask for the help of the Divine in order to receive it.

May I extend love and blessings to you all.  Thank you.

The Painting

Credit: Christine Clark