Chromatherapy and colour therapy promotes good sleep
Colour therapy or Chromatherapy is the use of colour to promote general health and also to treat particular maladies. Including but not limited to sleeplessness and insomnia and other sleep-oriented problems.
Chromatherapy or colour therapy can be used to treat both emotional and physical sleep disturbances.
Colour therapy may involve :
Exposure to coloured lights
Massages using colour - saturated oils and salves
Meditation and visualization of certain colours
Wearing certain colours of clothing.
Colour has been used for centuries in the treatment of a wide variety of disorders, including sleep disorders.
History of Colour Therapy
In India, practitioners of Ayurvedic medicine believed that specific colours corresponded with each of the seven chakras, vortices of energy in the body that represent organs, emotion and aspects of the soul or life force
In the days of ancient Egypt, colour therapy practitioners built solariums with specifically designed glasses and lenses that served to break up the sun's rays into the colons of the spectrum.
In the late 17th century modern-day colour theory was born when English mathematician and philosopher Sir Isaac Newton conducted his prism experiments and showed that light is truly a mixture of colours from the visible spectrum.
Colour therapy today
It was not until the late 1800s, when Dr. Edwin D. Babbitt published his book Principles of Light and Colour, that Chromatherapy or colour therapy as we know it was outlined.
It is in this work that Dr. Babbitt suggests the use of colour as a treatment for a variety of ailments, including sleep and anxiety disorders.
In the late 1940s, Russian researcher S.V. Krakov conducted a series of experiments in which he separated the different wavelengths in the light spectrum to show how colour affects the nervous system.
In his experiments, he observed that red light stimulated the adrenal glands, raising blood pressure and pulse rate, and that blue and white light had a calming, relaxing sleep effect
The fruits of Krakow's studies are still used today by many practitioners, and his brand of colour therapy is commonly recommended for stress and for stress-related pain.
In recent years studies have demonstrated the positive effects of full-spectrum light on seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and other forms of depression, which has resulted in increased public awareness of colour therapy.
It is becoming more and more common to find mainstream researchers turning to chroma therapy for a variety of ailments as well, particularly sleep disorders.
What is colour?
Colour is a property of light, which is made up of many different waves of energy. When light falls upon the photoreceptor cells of the retina, it is converted into electrical impulses.
These impulses travel to the brain and trigger the release of hormones (Ref : Melatonin). The release of these hormones in controlled bursts can be used to treat the body and mind for many of the medical conditions that hinder sleep as well as promote conditions that are conducive to sleep and rest.
While many forms of chromatherapy can and should only be practiced by licensed practitioners and/or medical doctors, some forms of color therapy are simple and safe enough to be practiced in the comfort of your own home.
These include wearing clothing of particular hues, surrounding yourself with a recommended colour, eating certain colourful foods, and concentration on visualizing a particular colour.
Colour therapy warnings
Some colour therapy warnings to be aware of:
Never use colour therapy instead of conventional care for serious sleep problems or sleep disorders.
If you suffer from epilepsy, use caution when looking at flashing lights.
If you are receiving coloured light therapy, avoid looking directly into the light source. Look at an object illuminated by the coloured lights instead.
When taking prescription drugs, read the warning label to make sure that no side effects are induced if your skin is exposed to bright light.