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What Is Color Therapy & How Can It Help Heal Our Chakras?

Heidi E. Spear, M.A.
Author:
January 02, 2020
Heidi E. Spear, M.A.
By Heidi E. Spear, M.A.
mbg Contributor
Heidi E. Spear, M.A. is an author and teacher who leads workshops on creative expression, yoga, meditation, energy healing, stress relief, the yoga of Shakespeare, and the law of attraction. She has a master's in comparative literature and the arts from Washington University in St. Louis and a master's in humanities and social thought from New York University.
Image by Chelsea Victoria / Stocksy
January 02, 2020
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Color therapy, also known as chromotherapy, uses the frequencies of colors in order to promote healing (both physical and emotional). There are multiple ways you can practice color therapy, and luckily, we have Heidi E. Spear, M.A., ABD, and her new book, My Pocket Chakra Healing, to teach us about all how it can help heal our chakras.

Practice color therapy via the natural world.

Notice the myriad ways in nature that color appears, and use the vibration of the light from those natural objects to affect you. For example: 

  • For nourishing your heart, take a walk in the green, spring grass.
  • For groundedness in the winter, buy yourself a red poinsettia.
  • To heighten your connection to spirit, keep purple lavender by your bedside. 

Take time to look at these objects, and be mindful of what you surround yourself with in your home and office. Your body perceives the vibrations, even if you aren't looking. There's never a lack of inspiration from nature when it comes to color. Flowers come in spectacular shapes and colors, and the colors of animals, plants, and the sky are innumerable. Taking in the vibrations of color will stimulate your body if you aren't completely energetically closing yourself off. 

Third eye chakra and lavender. 

The smell of lavender is known for its relaxing and soothing effects. What's more, lavender is a bluish-purple color that is often associated with the third eye chakra. And this chakra is often linked with the pineal gland, where melatonin is produced to help induce relaxation for sleep. 

Practice color therapy via colored glass. 

Another way to perform color therapy on yourself is to pour pure spring water into a glass bottle that is the color you desire. Set the bottle in the sunlight so that the water absorbs the vibration of the color. Then, throughout the day, take sips of that water. 

Because your body is about 70% water, you absorb the vibrations around you just as water does. If you are new to color therapy, start slowly with this practice. 

Visualize healing colored light. 

Because colors, thoughts, and your body are energy, they all work together. When you visualize colors traveling to a chakra, the energy of your thoughts literally affects your energy centers. The energy of your thoughts can also affect your body and your mind. Close your eyes and take a few deep, nourishing breaths. You can lie down, stand, or sit upright. Then put your awareness on each chakra one at a time. While your awareness is at each level, breathe in and out a few times until you can envision the color of that chakra in that part of your body. Use the rainbow as your guide for color. 

  • At the root chakra, envision red.
  • At the sacral chakra, envision orange.
  • At the solar plexus chakra, envision yellow.
  • At the heart chakra, envision green.
  • At the throat chakra, envision blue.
  • At the third eye chakra, envision indigo.
  • At the crown chakra, envision white, violet, or gold. 

Start at the root chakra. Take slow, deep breaths in and out, and with your imagination connect to the perineum, where the energy center is located. After a few natural breaths, as you breathe this time, imagine inhaling red light into the root chakra. Hold your breath in for a few seconds, imagining the colored light sustained there. Exhale, let go. Do this three times, then move up to the sacral chakra, and repeat the exercise visualizing the color orange. Continue up the chakras to the third eye chakra, following the same pattern. When you finish with the third eye visualization, let your breath flow naturally in and out. Imagine your crown chakra glowing white light that envelops your entire body and expands upward, connecting you to the wide expanse. After doing this for a few moments, release the visualization. Cross your arms in front of you, hugging yourself across your chest or waist. 

Feel the parts of you that are connected to the earth, grounding into the earth. Bring your awareness back into your body. And when you feel complete, open your eyes. 

Relieve anxiety with color-based chakra healing. 

Bringing your focus to all your chakras will help calm your anxiety. This color-based meditation will relax your body from head to toe. 

  • Start your visualization at the root chakra, and imagine the root chakra glowing bright red. Feel your sitting bones stable, supported by the earth. Inhale and exhale with your attention at the root. 
  • Place your hands one on top of the other on your torso at the location of the sacral chakra. Notice how your own hands on your body are grounding, comforting. Hold your hands at the area where the sacral chakra blossoms, and imagine a bright orange color as you inhale and exhale. 
  • Move your hands up to the solar plexus chakra. Imagine the bright yellow glow of your third chakra. Continue this up your body at the heart, throat, and third eye chakras. 
  • Finally, place your hands on top of your head at the crown chakra. Through your hands, visualize calming, healing white light flooding your brain through this chakra. Visualize yourself relaxed. Release your hands. Take a moment; notice whether there have been any changes in how you feel. Notice your breath, your level of physical tension, and your mind. 

Excerpted from My Pocket Chakra Healing by Heidi E. Spear. Copyright © 2019 Simon and Schuster Inc. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved. 

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