I can just imagine you just looked at your skin and said what’s that got to do with anything…well actually I don’t mean your skin, I’m talking about you and what suits you.
Anyway, I’m getting excited now with just over a week to go until our next Marrakesh Women’s Retreat and I was thinking about the beauty of our surroundings when we are there, the lovely rooms and the sparkling outdoor space. And it occurred to me how important colour is.
Now, I don’t know if you know someone who has had their ‘colours done’ but I was recently talking to a lovely lady called Harry * who is an image consultant and colour therapist and she helps ladies to choose the ‘right ‘ colour cloths and makeup for themselves.
This is because when you look good it can make you feel like a million dollars right?
My mind is drawn to a sketch I remember, by Lee Evans where he talks about his wife looking like a Toucan! However, I am excited about having my colours done with Harry in the next couple of weeks as she will be joining myself and the other WHYs Women in Marrakech … watch this space for a video update.
Because of the work that I do with people to help them change their internal story, I believe that it is important to look at the inside of someone as well as the outside. I read recently that in modern medical terms we have realised what healers have always know throughout the millennia, that light is full of colour and that colour affects us deeply.
For example , we use blue light to treat jaundice in babies, and ultraviolet light for skins conditions like psoriasis. And there are all the things we say, when we are sad we are ‘feeling blue’. When we are envious we are ‘green’ and when we are angry the ‘red mist descends’.
Where does this all come from?
Well, eastern healers have used the colours as identifiers for chakras – the energy lines of the body. And when your energy is out in any area, colour can help you realign. For example – when we are ‘green’ with envy that is the heart chakra is hankering after something it doesn’t have.
The energy relating to each of the seven spectrum colours of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, resonates with the energy of each of the seven main chakras/energy centres of the body.
The chakras are like the cogs in a machine – they all work together and if one doesn’t work, then the others don’t work properly either. Which means, good health and wellbeing is achieved by a balance of all these energies.
Colour is absorbed by the eyes, skin, and the aura and so colour affects us on all levels, that is to say, physical, spiritual and emotional. Every cell in the body needs light energy.
Colour is used to create mood and to put it another way ‘creating mood’ means accessing an emotional response. There have been tests in hospitals and prisons which show pink makes people calmer. Makes sense when you think about it. What is the first colour we likely ‘see’ in the womb? .
All life experiences make an impression upon us. We tend to ignore the role colour has to play in this. We might remember a harsh word, or how an experience made us feel, and memories are often associated with smell and so a certain perfume reminds us of someone, or the smell of oil central heating reminds us of our grandparents (probably just me that one), but what we often don’t remember but may associate with the positive or negative experience, is colour.
65% of the population is visually oriented which means learn better by looking. But whilst most of these will remember images or videos, they often won’t remember the colour. That is why the police sometimes have a job getting a photofit done as the colour of the T-shirt, car, hair etc might not be as remembered as the logo stuck on the T-shirt, the type of car or the length of hair.
What might happen though is that we were in a blue classroom when we were told off or ridiculed in front of the class for saying something and from that moment we have a problem with speaking up, an issue with our throat chakra and an aversion to that shade of the colour blue. This is an example of working with someone to change the “story” someone has associated to that moment, so that they can gain knowledge to move forward, yes it can be something as simple as that which holds them back.
So you might be thinking if I’m feeling blue what can the use of colour in my outer appearance do to help? Well of course, it can support healing / making a statement about who we are as a representation of how we are feeling on the inside.
It’s all very interesting and just one of the things we will no doubt be talking about on our retreat. If you want to know more about it and come along on the next one click here. Meanwhile – don’t be green with envy about the women coming to Marrakesh on the 14th – get yourself on a plane for the next one!!
And, if you would like to find out more about Harry* please check her out by clicking here