PLEASANT ACTIVITY: Coloring

Today’s #PleasantActivity is COLORING - no longer just for kids! Coloring can reduce anxiety, improve focus, and help you achieve #mindfulness!⁣ ⁣

• Research shows #anxiety levels dropped when people worked on coloring pages. ⁣ ⁣

• Like meditation, coloring allows us to switch off our brains from other thoughts to four on the present moment. ⁣ ⁣

• It can help reduce boredom and #ReduceStress, calming down our amygdala (related to fight or flght response) and turn on the parasympathetic nervous system (the one that is about relaxing) instead!⁣ ⁣

• Coloring improves focus, concentration, problem solving, and organization skills by activating your frontal lobes (the part in charge of higher-order functions)!⁣

• Coloring brings you back to a simpler time - a time when we were carefree, didn’t have a ton of responsibilities and stresses, and when we did things just because we liked it!⁣⁣

If you don’t trust your inner artist, coloring is perfect for you (doesn’t require artistic ability to create something pretty)! ⁣ ⁣ Tips if you want to try this out:⁣ 1. Skip crayons & use colored pencils (it helps with focus and precision)!⁣ 2. Set a time limit: For antsy types, aim for 20-30 minutes.⁣ 3. Share your work: Display your artistic renditions proudly! I have a collection of pictures I’ve colored in a portfolio!⁣ ⁣ Did you like coloring as a child? What about now?