I love looking at my drawing room, which is done up in shades of white and red, with some splashes of yellow. These are the colours that I enjoy looking at; that give me pleasure! Colours can certainly alter our mood or have a positive or negative impact on us. There is an entire branch of study devoted to Light Therapy, Colour psychology and Counseling! Colour and light therapy has its roots in ancient healing systems, but has been studied and developed by modern scientists and medical specialists for application in its present form.  This therapy teaches you how you can use colours in your environment, your home, place of work and even your clothes. Colour and light therapy includes healing through visualization and special breathing techniques too. Colours are thought to have different energies, which can be channeled into our bodies.

Did you ever walk into a room and feel a certain sense of calm comfort come over you, or feel invigorated and rejuvenated simply by looking something, say beautiful tree or bunch of flowers? Have you thought that it could be just the colour that you see which has this impact on you? Colour can affect our moods and mental state. While some colours can be uplifting, some seem to depress us. Similarly some colours can inspire while some don’t have quite that effect on us.

Even generally speaking, we tend to associate certain colours with certain moods: red is generally associated with passion, heat, excitement. Green represents new beginnings, rejuvenation fecundity. Yellow is generally viewed to be a happy, sunny colour, blue is viewed as cool or cooling. White is the colour of peace.

There are social and cultural connotations to colour as well: for instance while orange could be viewed as a bright cheerful colour in the west, in Indian symbolism it is representative or sacrifice and valor, especially in the battle field.  Whereas in the west brides wear white, in India widows wear white. Red in India is the colour for a married woman, the colour of her bridal attire, the vermillion in the parting of her hair, the colour of the bangles she wears!

What colours can do is alter our perception of what we see, so that if you have a rather small room, colouring it in light colours can make it appear larger. With the right colours you can create a serene haven in your room that can soothe and calm. 

So it is a good idea to do some serious thinking about what colours effect you positively and make an effort to surround yourself with them, because colours are thought to effect growth and sleep patterns, nervous system and even sexual behavior! Perhaps you have noticed that?