The Psychology of Colour

We all know that colour can affect our moods. We find some colours uplifting and inspiring, and others depressing. We often use terms such as "feeling blue," yellow-bellied," "green with envy," and "seeing red" without thinking of the meaning behind the words.

Our feelings and emotions are directly affected by the balance or imbalance of hormones in the body; since this is affected by colours they will also have a marked influence on our moods and feelings. Certain colours can calm our minds, while others stimulate mental activity. By restoring a balance of colour energy flowing to the pituitary, metabolic and emotional equilibrium can be restored. This can alleviate stress, tension, anxiety, and depression. Certain colours can help us deal with feelings of lonleliness, frustration, and greif.
Using colour to alter emotional energy also results in changed perceptions of the world, and our experience of it. Since colour directly links to the subconscious mind we can use it to diagnose and treat a problem at a deep level.

Red, the single most dynamic and passionate color, symbolizes love, rage and courage. Demanding attention, red has great emotional impact. Those who select red are aggressive, impulsive and strive for success. The desire to experience the fullness of living leads to constant activity.

Red is a powerful colour that has always been associated with vitality and ambition. It can help overcome negative thoughts. However, it is also associated with anger; if we have too much red in our system, or around us, we may feel irritable, impatient, and uncomfortable.
Pink is emotionally soothing and calming, and gives a feeling of gentle warmth and nurturing. It lessens feelings of irritation and aggression, surrounding us with a sense of love and protection. It also alleviates loneliness, despondency, oversensitivity, and vulnerability. While red relates more to sexuality, pink is associated with unselfish love.

Pink, emotional in character, connotes a sensitive heart. Universally representing caring and sharing, pink indicates a strong personality. The affectionate and concerned individual prefers pink. Gently, you offer love, attention and nurturing to those in distress.

Orange is the color of autumn, spice form and design. In bright tones, orange is jovial, cheerful and playful. Deepened, it becomes exotic and exciting. If orange is your choice, you have abundant energy with an eye for structure and organization. Your social nature finds you surrounded by family and friends.

Orange is a joyous colour. It frees and releases emotions and alleviates feelings of self-pity, lack of self-worth, and unwillingness to forgive. It stimulates the mind, renewing interest in life; it is a wonderful antidepressant and lifts the spirits. Apricot/peach is good for nervous exhaustion

Brown, sensuous in nature, represents an importance of hearth and home. It symbolizes physical comfort, ease and contentment. Should you seek brown, you are conscientious, steady and dependable. Your inner security, honesty and high virtue show that you take life seriously.

The colour of Mother Earth, brown brings a sense of stability, alleviating insecurity. However, it also relates to bottling up of emotion, a retreat from and a fear of the outside world, and also narrow-mindedness. This often results from a lack of self-worth.

Yellow is truly joyous and virtuous in its purest form. Yellow exudes warmth, inspiration and vitality, and is the happiest of all colors. Yellow signifies communication, enlightenment, sunlight and spirituality. If your favorite color is yellow, this indicates that you look forward to the future, and that you are intellectual, highly imaginative and idealistic. You tend to have a cheerful spirit and have an expectation of greater happiness.

Yellow is also a happy, bright, and uplifting colour, a celebration of sunny days. It is associated with the intellectual side of the mind, and the expression of thoughts. It therefore aids the powers of discernment and discrimination, memory and clear thinking, decision-making and good judgement. It also helps good organization, assimilation of new ideas, and the ability to see different points of view. It builds self-confidence and encourages an optimistic attitude. Conversely, dull yellow can be the colour of fear.

Green is the color of life, and represents freshness, security and tranquility. Green creates an atmosphere that is calm and restful, and characterizes the intense power of nature. If you selected green, you seek stability, balance and persistence. You are a moral and affectionate individual.

Green has a strong affinity with nature, helping us connect with empathy to others and the natural world. We instinctively seek it out when under stress or experiencing emotional trauma. It creates a feeling of comfort, laziness and relaxation, calmnes, and space, lessening stress, balancing and soothing the emotions. Dark green is helpful for emotional uncertainty.
But when green becomes muddy, dull, or olive, it indicates decay. Just like fallen leaves when they return to the Earth, muddy green represents the onset of death and is nondescript, unassertive, a negation of life and joy. Lime and olive-green can have a detrimental effect on both physical and emotional health since sickly yellow and green are associated with the emotions of envy, resentment, and possessiveness.

TOSCA/Turquoise. We associate blue-greens with the refreshing and cool ocean. It is therefore invigorating, cooling, and calming. Like green, turquoise is good for mental strain and tiredness or feeling washed-out. It is an elevating colour that encourages us to make a sparkling fresh start. Turquoise is also helpful for feelings of loneliness, since it heightens communication, sensitivity, and creativity.

Cool and constant, teal indicates stability and resistance to change. If teal is your favorite color, you are a sensitive individual, and have excellent taste. Optimistic and trusting, you have a high degree of faith and hope, easily trusting others.

BLUE The color of tranquility, blue is cooling, soothing and orderly. The color of royalty, blue brings comfort and serenity to our lives. If you choose blue, you have a basic need for a calm, harmonious and tension-free existence. Capable, conservative and sensitive to others, you make a loyal and trustworthy friend.

Blue is a cool, calming colour and is associated with a higher part of the mind than yellow. It represents the night, so it makes us feel calm and relaxed as if we are being soothed by the deep blue of the night sky. Light and soft blue, make us feel quiet and protected from all the bustle and activity of the day, and alleviates insomnia. Blue inspires mental control, clarity, and creativity. Midnight blue has a strong sedative effect on the mind, allowing us to connect to our intuitive and feminine side. Too much dark blue can be depressing, however.

Violet, Indigo and Purple, the color of luxury, indicates sensuality, passion and depth of feeling. This lavish color creates an unusual atmosphere and provides an unexpected essence. If you like violet, you tend to be unique, highly sensitive and observant. Creative and artistically talented, you tend to have a complex personality.

Indigo, violet and purple have a deep affect on the psyche and have been used in psychiatric care to help calm and pacify patients suffering from a number of mental and nervous disorders. These colours balance the mind and also help transform obsessions and fears.
Indigo is a powerful, psychic colour associated with the right side of the brain, and stimulates intuition and imagination. It is also a strong sedative. Violet and purple are colours of transformation at a very deep level, bringing peace and combating shock or fear. They have a cleansing effect in emotional disturbances. They are also connected with artistic and musical impulses, mystery, and sensitivity to beauty and high ideals, stimulating creativity, inspiration, sensitivity, spirituality, and compassion. Violet can exert strong psychic influences, however, and a person attracted by it has to guard against living in a fantasy world. Purple is associated with psychic protection.

GREY The cold influence of grey keeps it foreign, remote and distant. Grey is preferred by those individuals who put their noses to the grindstone. If grey is your favorite color, you tend to be a careful, articulate individual who is focused and dedicated to your commitments.

Associated with independence, self-reliance, self-control, gray acts as a shield from outside influence. However, gray generally has a negative feeling - thick gray clouds, fog, and smoke. Gray is the colour of evasion and noncommitment since it is neither black nor white. It relates to walling everything off, remaining separate, uncommitted, and uninvolved, inevitably leading to loneliness. It also denotes self-criticism.

White suggests goodness, purity and innocence. Its elusive nature provides serenity and the essence of perfection. The individual who chooses white as a favorite color seeks excellence and enlightenment in all philosophies. Simplicity, purity and recognition are a constant endeavor.

The colour of ultimate purity is white. It is an all-round colour of protection, bringing peace and comfort, alleviating emotional shock and despair, and helping inner cleansing of emotions, thoughts and spirit. If you need time and space to reflect on your life, white can give you a feeling of freedom and uncluttered openness. Too much white, however, can be cold and isolating, because white separates us from other people.

Magenta. When we are feeling despondent and worried about our condition, or are feeling angry and frustrated, magenta draws us our out of this attitude and lets our spirits soar. It is a spiritual colour but also with practical overtones, associated with a compassion, support, and kindness.
From a negative perspective, magenta, like violet, makes us desire to be lifted out of the demanding world and avoid challenges. It can also be too relaxing. So avoid magenta if you are chronically depressed or introverted.

Black. This colour is both comforting, protective, and mysterious. It is associated with silence, the infinite, and the feminine life force - passive, uncharted, and mysterious. Black can also prevent us from growing and changing. We often cloak ourselves in black to hide from the world.

Silver is the colour of the moon, which is ever-changing. It relates to the feminine principle and the emotional, sensitive aspect of the mind. It balances, harmonizes, and is mentally cleansing.

Gold. Like yellow, gold is associated with the sun and is therefore related to abundance and power, higher ideals, wisdom, and understanding. It is mentally revitalizing, engergizing, and inspiring, and helpful for fear, uncertainty, and lack of interest. Pale gold is excellent for depression and sharpens the mind.