After a long day at work or school, it is important to de-stress and calm the body down. Coloring is one example of how San Luis Obispo High School students like to end, or start their days, and invite calmness into their lives. Expressions set out to find individuals who use coloring as a mechanism to achieve these goals.

  Coloring has been shown to relieve stress in a similar way that meditation does. Since coloring in an in-the-moment activity, it allows the mind to be in the present. Being in the moment can have mental health benefits.

  “I’ve been coloring and drawing ever since I was little. I think that when you color, your brain, and body enter this calm state. Your mind is letting go of all its thoughts and just focusing on which colors to use, and where to color what. It is forcing your body and thoughts to stop what they’re doing and just color and in response it releases a lot of stress and negativity” said sophomore Mana Kiaha.

  Coloring has the ability to relax the fear center of your brain, the amygdala. It induces the same state as meditating by reducing the thoughts of a restless mind. This generates mindfulness and quietness, which allows your mind to get some rest after a long day at work.

  There are different ways of coloring to calm down. Various brands have created specific coloring books that are calming to the mind to color and fill in.

  “Since school is online, I find myself looking at a computer screen all day, and then coming back to it later to do homework. It’s kinda exhausting, so I feel like coloring is a good way for me to escape that. I’ve been coloring in a coloring book, I have so many from when I was younger that it makes it really easy,” said junior Fiona Stevens.

  Coloring is only one of the many ways to relax your mind. Students have discovered multiple ways to de-stress and end a long day.

  “I play guitar and go for runs to help de-stress at the end of a long school day,” said junior Emmersen Hill.

  So next time one is feeling stressed or wants some relaxation, pick up a coloring book and pens and start doing one’s thing!

Source: beaumont.org, usmedicalstaffinginc.com