Color therapy
Color as art, form, life, therapy ... in one word: chromotherapy.
Chromotherapy is one of the alternative medicines: the colorful world of colors represents a therapy aimed at treating disorders of varying degrees. In this "medicine", which does not make use of any scientific proof, colors are indispensable to rediscover the harmony and balance of body and spirit.
Chromotherapy in history
The origins of chromotherapeutic practices are deeply rooted in the past: just think that the Egyptians and the Romans already adopted heliotherapy for the treatment of different ills: this practice consisted in undergoing direct irradiation of the sun's rays, which exercised power in the body antidepressant, albeit bland.
Color therapy practitioners believe that colors are able to influence the body's functions, affecting the metabolic, nervous and immune systems.
To show how important and how important colors could be in ancient peoples, a table is summarized which summarizes the key concepts of chromotherapy for the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Indians and the Chinese. This table will be useful to be able to make a subsequent comparison with the current chromotherapy trends.
ANCIENT PEOPLE | IMPORTANCE OF COLOR | HIDDEN COLOR MEANING |
Egypt | Color = organism functionality | Black = fertility Yellow (gold) = sun divinity Red (blood and fire) = positive and negative energy; extremism |
Greece | Color = fundamental element (water, earth, fire, air) and body fluids. Color is used in the treatment of diseases | Yellow = bile Red = blood White = phlegm Black = spleen, liver |
India | Color = chakra balance (energy centers connected to the main glands of the body) | Red = flowing blood Blue = blood coagulation |
China | Color = physical well-being | Yellow = strengthens the intestine Viola = treats epilepsy |
Colors and properties
Even in the most modern chromotherapy, colors are associated with some particular properties. As we will see, there are some analogies with the traditions of the past: this means not only that the current color therapy has kept many lines of thought unchanged with ancient peoples, but gives an example on the importance of this alternative medicine, very "felt" "From all the peoples of every age.
- Green symbolizes harmony, nature, balance and hope: it seems to act at the level of the nervous system (only on the basis of chromotherapy), calming migraine and nerve pathologies; helps to spread harmony and calm.
- Red is a symbol of fire, blood and sexual excitement: it is linked to strength, life and passion. It is believed that a red-painted wall can increase blood pressure and accelerate the pulse. Again, color therapy uses red in conventional medicine against burns and exanthematous pathologies (skin rashes). Red appears to be useful against depression, asthma, cough and impotence.
- Blue contrasts with red with a soothing, calming and refreshing effect. For this reason, color therapy uses blue in the walls to make people forget about stress and all the problems attached to it such as anxiety, insomnia. Even the inflammation is placated with blue (obviously there is nothing scientifically proven). Even the different shades of blue are considered to alleviate certain conditions: the indigo would serve in the case of cataracts, the light blue to give relief to the eyes.
- Yellow represents the intellectual part of the brain; according to the chromatists it serves as an aid to the study to favor concentration. It seems to be able to infuse happiness, joy and protection; at the gastric level, yellow symbolizes the elimination of toxins.
Principles of chromotherapy
According to the fundamentals of chromotherapy, colors can be absorbed by the body in many ways: special instruments and devices can diffuse radiation, or the sun radiates the skin, enclosing the entire spectrum of colors in the light, even foods contribute to chromotherapy, because the colors they contain enter the body through their intake. Indeed, the water, rich in luminous radiations, charges the body with energy, as well as the clothes which, enriched with colors, touch the body connoting it of harmony. Again, the body could absorb the colors thanks to massages with colored oils and pigments, or it could be helped to relax by baths with colored waters and enriched with essences.
Chromotherapy with light irradiation, based on the suppositions of chromotherapists, is one of the most effective techniques: electromagnetic waves are exploited for the production of energy, capable of entering deep into the cells so that an electro-chemical balance occurs. Luminous irradiations would serve, hypothetically, to improve the biological functions of cells. What pushes the "believers" to practice this abstract practice is the consequential aspect: the luminous radiations cannot create dangerous side effects like those determined by the drugs, in how much the light and the colors would succeed only to modulate the psyche, expounding the action right in the emotional state. Thus, physical and mental well-being is the mirror of balance and inner harmony.
The thought of scientists
Chromotherapy, in the light of scientific thought, is an ineffective practice because there is no demonstrable or demonstrated evidence concerning the efficacy of this dubious "medicine": based on the "real" Science, even the hypotheses of chromotherapy are devoid of consistency.
What about the episodes, albeit sporadic, of healing with color therapy? The scientific community responds that the rehabilitation of the disorder could be a consequence of external factors or the placebo effect, which cannot be associated with color therapy.
Despite what has been said, it is still fascinating and hopeful to believe that an abstract philosophy / medicine like chromotherapy can benefit man: for this reason, color therapy is included among the pseudo-sciences.
