7 Reasons Adult Coloring Books Are Great for Your Mental, Emotional and Intellectual Health

By Jordan Carter

Published 09:49 am

Reasons Coloring Books Are Good For You

The recent boom of adult coloring books perhaps at first inspired some very strange looks from people who might have not exactly understood why an adult would want to color. But as the trend has grown, there has been a lot written about the positive benefits it has for your health. It brings calm to the tsunami of stress that is every day. It promotes mindfulness and can flood you with inspiration in even the most dried-up of creative wells. Coloring books are not just for kids anymore, so the next time someone gives you a judgemental side-eye when they see you with your pencil crayons, remember the 7 reasons adult coloring books are great for your mental, emotional and intellectual health and ignore them, you’ve got a whole other world to dive into.

1. Mindfulness

Coloring fires neurotransmitters in both the left and the right sides of the brain. You have probably heard that the left side is responsible for things like science and math, while the right side likes to help us ignite creative sparks. As you use your coloring book, you combine both sides of the brain when deciding on colors, imagining what the final product will look like and finding a sense of satisfaction in the act of coloring.

Dealing with color choices, palettes and even selecting which picture you want to fill in is all a process that might seem simple and necessary to the whole process, but it puts you in a position to actually think more about what you are doing. This in itself is a mindfulness tactic that encourages you to consider more about what is happening around you to find peace and understanding.

2. Creativity

If you don’t paint, write poetry, or play an instrument, you might consider yourself as being as far from creative and artistic as can possibly be, like the Pluto to the burning artistic Sun, or something. However, coloring allows you to indulge in the latent creativity that lurks beneath. Selecting colors, imagining the final product, and going against the grain by choosing whacky solutions are all part of the creative process.

You don’t have to draw beautiful landscapes nor write touching and emotional poetry to be artistic. The adult coloring book proves that anyone can be an artist and so even if you believe to be completely void of any creative spark, it is still worth trying out.

3. Fights Against Triggers

Why did you do that one thing that you probably shouldn’t have done and then went on to ruin your day? It was – probably – because you were bored or stressed or simply did not know what to do next. Boredom, along with stress and a total lack of routine or structure, are the top triggers for negative behaviors that interfere with having a successful life.

With adult coloring books, these triggers are nullified, which allows you to embrace and achieve your true potential. Giving yourself time every day to complete an image in the coloring book, whether it be 10 minutes, 30 minutes or an hour (perhaps more) can give you purpose and keep those twitching fingers away from negative behavior.

4. Stress Relief

Some coloring books are purely dedicated to relieving stress throughout their pages. There are editions that have worked with art therapists to pick the best and most stress-free illustrations possible and compiled the book in a way that allows you to pick and choose the subject depending on your mood. These pictures generally consist of peaceful scenes such as mandalas and calming woodland scenes, however there are others that include random doodle drawings that allow you to switch your brain off.

Whatever kind of pictures they are, they work towards helping you forget about things that cause stress in your life. This could not be achieved if you were coloring in depressing office scenes, traffic vistas or a page full of utility bills that bring the dread of real life to your hobby. Other books feature cartoon characters from our childhood that promote anti-stress as we associate them with a time that we were stress-free (but we’ll get to that later).

5. Anti-Anxiety

Adult coloring books have proven to be excellent antidotes to helping people battle anxiety and PTSD. The calming act of coloring puts you in a state of contentment and happiness, and reduces the anxiety, no matter what the situation by calming the amygdala, which controls the fight or flight response that we experience when faced with potential danger.

For those with anxiety, this is something that can occur on a daily basis. By having an outlet to calm and nullify this response, anxiety sufferers will be much more capable of dealing with situations that they perhaps would not be able to in the past.

6. Simpler Times

We all remember the simpler times of childhood where we would sit in front of the TV and color to our heart’s content. You might not realise when coloring, but your brain associates this all the way back with your childhood, right down to the untied shoelaces, chocolate around the mouth and embarrassing haircuts you’d rather forget.

If you find yourself often pining for the simplicities of childhood but know those times are never coming back, then simply cracking open your pencil case, opening at a random page and coloring away is the closest you are going to get. Tapping into the doing-something-just-because-you-want-to feeling of childhood through coloring gives you that same feeling you did as a kid, precious, innocent and excited about the world before you.

7. Focus and Concentration

We all know about the legend of staying inside the lines when coloring and how it can turn something beautiful to something not-so-much. Adult coloring books can promote both focus and concentration as you take care to carefully make the picture as attractive and perfect as possible. Some coloring books contain themes or a storyline that you will only fully understand and get the most out of if you take care and see it through to completion, which provides a further sense of accomplishment.

For some people, this sense of accomplishment through coloring books is the thing they have been craving to feel better about themselves. Many people suffering from stress and other issues wake up, go to work, and come home, too exhausted to do anything else. The outlet of coloring can improve their mood and, by focusing on the task at hand, makes it difficult for intrusive thoughts to invade your head.

How To Get Into Adult Coloring Books

With all of the options available, it has never been easier to get into adult coloring books. Both Amazon and your local bookstore will no doubt have a wide selection of coloring books for you to choose from. These include mandalas, Nickelodeon characters, horror images, tattoo designs and cityscapes, to name just a few.

Many people associate coloring books with girls, but there are plenty of coloring books for men, too. These can range from male-oriented subjects that could be tanks, bikini-clad models (even though we’re sure the 90s had long passed, it’s all about respect now, dude), and curse words to just stuff that work to promote calm and inner peace for everyone.

If you are not sure about what you like, then practice with some of the cheaper coloring books available to get an idea of whether or not it is for you. You can buy small books that only feature a few designs for you to try your hand at before graduating to more detailed and in-depth collections.

Everyone has their own interests and needs, so if you find one that catches your eye, don’t worry about stupid gender stereotypes, just buy it. Your brain will thank you.

What You Need

As with any artistic venture, you need the right tools to get started. Experienced colorers will have long before invested in special markers, pens or a mechanical pencil to get the most out of their activity. If you are just starting, however, you can use any colors you have lying around the house. Different books have different qualities of paper, so find out what type of materials work for you.

Other than the materials, you will want a relaxing space to do your coloring. This can be your bedroom, living room, a local cafe or even the break room at the office (preferably alone, though). Wherever you choose, it is good to select somewhere that promotes calm and takes you away from the stresses of the day to really get the full effect of the coloring book, so try thinking about your favorite place and use that to start. It also helps to have a flat surface, too, but your knees and lap can act as a decent substitute.