color and health

Let colors help paint a happier, healthier you

Don't give up on New Year's resolutions. It is never too late to start your exercise program or to lose those few extra pounds. Use the concepts behind your local diner's blue plate special for color motivations.

There might be many articles that have diet and exercise tips, but none that suggest how easy and inexpensive it is to use color to help get to the gym or eat the right foods to inspire better health.

Since ancient Egypt, color has been known to have emotional and physiological associations. Traditionally, the mind disassociates blue with eating because there are very few blue-colored foods in nature. The food psychology of the blue plate gives the impression that you are satisfied while consuming less and the festive qualities of eating blueberries disguise their low-calorie and great health benefits.

I've studied the meaning of colors and their influence on the body and emotions for more than 20 years, presenting color workshops worldwide and teaching color classes, and over time have discovered many motivating ideas people can use to improve all aspects of their life. For example:

NUTRITION

All naturally colored foods have specific antioxidants that reduce aging and not only have proven health benefits, the emotional association of their color reflects those benefits.

Orange is the color of optimism and eating an orange if you have a head cold instantly inspires feeling better; it is known to strengthen the immune system.

TRADITIONAL MOTIVATIONS

Red inspires action. Wear red clothes when popping in an exercise tape or taking a walk around the block to fill your body with extra vitality and stamina.

Yellow is the commitment and confidence-building color. Put a yellow dish towel on the fridge handle to dedicated to eating low-calorie, healthy snacks when standing there with the door open.

Orange is the color of body appreciation. Put some orange flowers on your desk and relish their beauty; feel that your are getting more beautiful when looking at them.

Green is the color of love, and taking care of your health starts with loving yourself. In addition to just eating your veggies, it's many applications can easily help motivate your wellness and make it fun.

Blue is the color for improving mental clarity for clearer communications and decisiveness.

Indigo helps awaken intuition and your higher self.

Violet is the color of the divine, helping individuals find their way toward bliss and making deeper connections to the cosmos.

Here’s another easy, healthy organizing tip. Assign one of the seven rainbow colors for each day to stay on task. I even organize my vitamins in colored, clear-plastic boxes that look like jewels to remember to take them! It also saves time by not having to open up the bottles every day.

--- Jami Lin is the author of six books on feng shui and interior design. More of her work can be view on JamiLin.com and ColorAlchemy.com.

***

[this article appeared in the Honolulu Star Bulletin, 1/24/10, but I could only find this edited version in a google cache. I typed the article using the edited version as a source, but actually the edited version is better written, so it's included below. For some reason, the editor omitted the paragraphs on blue, indigo, and violet.]

***

Color-coordinate your diet and exercise!
Written by Administrator
Friday, 22 January 2010 17:24

By Pam Philpott, Staff Writer

Have you given up on your New Year’s resolutions yet? It is never too late to restart your exercise program or to lose those extra pounds, and you can use color to help.

According to Florida color expert Jami Lin, color has been known to have emotional and physiological associations since the time of ancient Egypt. It’s easy and inexpensive to use color at the gym or eat the right foods to inspire better health.

All naturally colored foods have specific antioxidants that reduce aging, and the emotional association of their color reflects their proven health benefits. For example, orange is the color of optimism and eating an orange when you have a head cold instantly makes you feel better, plus it is known to strengthen the immune system.

The mind disassociates blue with eating because there are very few blue-colored foods in nature. A blue plate gives the impression that you are satisfied with consuming less, while the festive qualities of eating blueberries disguises their low-calorie and great health benefits.

Red inspires action, so Jami advises that you wear red clothes to give your body extra vitality and stamina when popping in an exercise tape, taking a walk around the block or going to the gym. Yellow is the commitment and confidence-building color. Put a yellow dishtowel on the fridge handle to remind yourself to eat low-calorie, healthy snacks when you open the fridge door.

Orange is the color of body appreciation. Put some orange flowers on your desk and feel good about how you look. Green is the color of love, and taking care of your health starts with loving yourself. In addition to just eating your veggies, you can let green motivate your wellness and make it fun.

Here’s an easy, healthy organizing tip from Jami: “By assigning one of the seven rainbow colors for each day, I organize my vitamins in colored, clear-plastic boxes that look like jewels to remember to take them! It also saves so much time by not having to open up the bottles every day,” she says.

Jami has studied the meaning of colors and their influence on the body and emotions for more than 20 years. She has presented color workshops worldwide, taught color classes at Miami-Dade Community College and for professional associations, such as AID (American Society of Interior Designers).

In addition to her award-winning ColorAlchemy book, she has six published books on Feng Shui and Interior Design, several of which became Book-of-the-Month Club selections. For more information, visit JamiLin.com, Feng-Shui-Interior-Design.com, and ColorAlchemy.com.