CHROMOTHERAPY: INTRODUCTION
By now the relationship between chromotherapy and furnishings seems to be ever closer. The colors with which we decide to furnish our properties seem to really have a significant influence on our moods and beyond.
More and more studies certify this connection and, in fact, the leading experts in the field, advise you to be very careful in choosing colors when you are furnishing your home or office.
Despite the fact that it is still perceived by most as a pseudoscience, in the absence of scientific feedback on its actual validity, color therapy has more and more followers, and more and more manufacturers and retailers are betting heavily on this aspect to come up with new color combinations, which can satisfy, therefore, not only the decorating needs of their customers but also the humoral and psychological ones.
In fact, colors stimulate us, calm us, promote vital energy, and, according to proponents of color therapy, they heal various ailments: fatigue, acne, anxiety and depression.
CHROMOTHERAPY: WHAT IT IS
Color therapy is an unscientific and unverified alternative medicine that claims to use colors as a therapy for the treatment of diseases.
The use of colors would be governed by common principles, similar to those that lead to choosing the color of the dress to wear or the hue of the walls of the house to match a certain personality and favor or counteract a certain mood.
According to proponents of color therapy, colors would help the body and psyche regain their natural balance, and have physical and psychic effects that can stimulate the body and calm certain symptoms.
The effectiveness of color therapy is disputed by the scientific community, as no color therapy practice has ever been able to pass a controlled clinical trial, and even the assumptions of the theory are considered scientifically inconsistent, and it is a pseudoscience. Chromotherapy should not be confused with the studies and eventual applications of color psychology.
ORIGINS
Chromotherapy practices have been known since Ancient Egypt: Egyptian mythology assigns the discovery of chromotherapy to the god Thot. According to the hermetic tradition, both the Egyptians and the Greeks made use of minerals, stones, crystals and colored ointments, as well as painted the very walls of healing places.
In Ancient Egypt each color had a name that identified a “potential” i.e., functionality: black (KeM) is a symbol of fertility; yellow (KeNiT) is a symbol of solar deities; red (DeSHeR) is a symbol of blood and fire.
The Greeks, on the other hand, associated colors with the basic elements (air, fire, water, and earth) and these with the four “humors” or “body fluids”: yellow bile, blood (red), phlegm (white), and black bile, which in turn were produced in four particular organs (the spleen, heart, liver, and brain).
Health was considered the result of the balance of these elements, while disease was the imbalance of these elements. Colors, just as they were associated with moods, were also used as treatments against disease.
In India Ayurvedic medicine has always taken into account how colors affect the balance of the chakras, the subtle energy centers associated with the main glands of the body. The Chinese also entrusted their physical well-being to the action of various colors: yellow restored the bowels, violet curbed epileptic attacks.
In China, even, the windows of the patient’s room were covered with cloths of the appropriate color, and the patient’s clothing had to be the same hue.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Color therapy uses colors to help the body and mind regain their natural balance.
Like a musical instrument, which must be tuned in order to have the right pitch and for the sound from it to be harmonious, similarly, color therapy uses chromatic vibrations to restore energy balance.
When a part of the body is exposed to colored irradiation, it absorbs electromagnetic waves characterized by a certain oscillatory frequency. The cells of the body, composed of atoms, come into vibratory resonance with the frequencies of light waves and regain lost harmony.
The therapeutic effect of color on the human organism is therefore related to the oscillatory nature of colors and our cells: the malaise or disease is nothing more than a disharmony of the vibratory rhythm cellular on which colors have harmonizing power.
CHROMOTHERAPY AND FURNITURE
Well-being and color are connected by a process that has been scientifically proven, because the radiation emitted by different colors is perceived by the body, which reacts by transforming it into energy chemistry, changing into certain functions.
The colors to be associated with each function, and thus with each room, are therefore to be chosen according to precise criteria: choosing the wrong color for the environment could undermine our mood, our vitality and our functionality. Each room in the house should therefore be associated with the colors deemed most appropriate for the functions taking place in that place.
In interior decoration this technique leads to coloring a room or illuminating it with an artificial light of the color corresponding to the effect you want to achieve.
Showers using colored LED lamps can be placed in the bathroom to take chromotherapy baths at home.
In fact, modern tubs, such as those produced by TREESSE, have invisible LEDmechanisms inside that create a blade of light that can magically move the whirlpool in the tub. In fact, all the hardware is invisible, there are no taps, and the retractable cap avoids unsightly punctures on the inner surface of the tank.
This type of bathtub allows for a magical and truly relaxing experience thanks precisely to the resulting color combination that allows for unparalleled relaxation.
In addition, there are three key aspects to consider when choosing a certain color for the various rooms:
- First, assess the living environment and the special characteristics of each room;
- Consider the symbolic meaning of each color chosen;
- Finally, one must consider the function of each room to make sure that the color chosen really has a therapeutic effect on those who spend time there.
THE WALLS OF THE HOUSE
Based on the properties of the colors, it will be possible to choose a specific coloring for the walls of the house according to the chromotherapy:
- Scarlet red: This shade gives a feeling of security and a transforms a room into a comfortable haven;
- Red: stimulating, it is the symbol of fire, blood and sexual excitement. It is related to strength, life and passion. It is believed that a wall painted red can increase blood pressure and quicken the pulse. It turns out to be perfect for an office area;
- Orange: sensual and antidepressant, it is good to reserve it for transition rooms or in the kitchen, never in rooms;
- Yellow: detoxifying, boosts vitality, is the color of places of concentration par excellence, which is why it is good for study;
- Green: symbolizes harmony, nature, balance and hope. It seems to act at the level of the nervous system, calming migraine and nerve disorders; it helps to spread harmony and calm, so it is preferred in bedrooms;
- Turquoise: purifying, it is perfect for bathing;
- Cyan: refreshing, in the office it is perfect in meeting rooms and at home in the living room because it encourages communication;
- Indigo: increase intuitive abilities, is excellent in rooms where you need to reflect, therefore, perfect for study;
- Blue: contrasts with red with calming, soothing and refreshing effect. For this reason, blue is used in walls to make people forget stress and all the problems attached to it such as anxiety and insomnia. It is the ideal color for areas of relaxation and decompression and therefore perfect for the bedroom;
- Purple (or violet): stress reliever. It is the ally of insomniacs and anxious people, to be favored in their bedroom or in their private study.
THE THINKING OF SCIENTISTS
Chromotherapy, in the light of scientific thought, is an ineffective practice because there is no demonstrable or demonstrated evidence concerning the effectiveness of this dubious “medicine“: according to “real” Science, even the hypotheses of chromotherapy are devoid of consistency.
Finally, what about the episodes, albeit sporadic, of healing with color therapy? The scientific community responds that the remediation of the disorder could be a consequence of external factors or the placebo effect, certainly not associated with color therapy.
Despite what has been said, it still remains fascinating and hopeful to believe that an abstract philosophy/medicine such as color therapy, can benefit humans: for this reason, color therapy is listed among the pseudo-sciences.
CONCLUSIONS
As you may have noticed during this article, color therapy is very much taken into consideration when you plan to furnish your home or office from scratch.
Although it is not a scientifically proven method, people are well aware of the changes in mood that are felt when they come in contact with certain colors rather than others, and consequently, deep down in their hearts they know the validity of this pseudoscience inside out.
In addition, more and more studies on the subject confirm the influence that electromagnetic fields resulting from the different colors chosen have positive and beneficial effects on people’s minds, and, therefore, more and more retailers and experts on the subject are betting big on the topic.
In fact, the various well-known and authoritative color coding systems have been receiving more and more importance and consideration lately, such as PANTONE.
The latter is a very important color coding system that, in fact, each year, based on both its own studies and the tastes of the subjects, chooses the colors that are trendy and will be used most often in the various rooms of homes.
SPEAK TO AN EXPERT
Obviously, the advice, in order to avoid that this choice of colors may have negative rather than positive implications, our advice is always to rely on an expert in the field, who can advise you in the best way, not only the colors that are most suitable for you, but also the various color combinations to choose to make the most of the functionality of their rooms.
Moreover, which is of no small importance, in addition to the functional and therapeutic aspect of colors, it has mainly aesthetic significance.
Thus, it is very important to choose the color that works best in a given room, but it is also important not to have regrets by choosing a color that does not best meet our aesthetic and taste requirements.
In fact, it is important to find the perfect combination of these two aspects to make one’s home a true nest of calm and tranquility that can improve our lives.
Finally, chromotherapy can be assimilated to other important philosophies to make furnishings not only an aesthetic but also a therapeutic need such as feng-shui or the installation of Zen gardens.
LEAVE A COMMENT
Also, if you have any doubts about this pseudoscientific method of furnishing your home, do not hesitate to leave a comment at the bottom of the article with your doubts, I will reply as soon as possible!
Finally, if your doubts persist and you need more detailed advice, you can write me an email at [email protected]!
