Color Me Calm Tuesday, November 29, 2016 Think you’re too old to color? You THOUGHT wrong! Coloring is now implemented into many adult therapeutic activities. No matter what age you are, creating something beautiful makes you feel good, so never stop! Today… Turn and talk to your neighbor about the last time you colored for FUN. How did it make you feel? What did you color? Which colors express emotion for you? How did you use those colors to express yourself? Thursday we’ll put your coloring expertise to the relaxation test, but in the meantime… Take a deep breath and move into this day knowing you have already conquered it. Why color? Coloring is a stress relief technique that has been proven by research to put the mind at ease. By distracting the mind, coloring allows mental stimulation to happen at the same time as relaxation. Psychologist Gloria Martinez Ayala states, "When coloring, we activate different areas of our two cerebral hemispheres. The relaxation that it provides lowers the activity of the amygdala, a basic part of our brain involved in controlling emotion that is affected by stress."