If you are feeling a bit blue, down, affected by SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) why not try a colour walk? You can do it anywhere - even in your home but it is better done outside. It can be done walking for the bus, on the way to do the shopping. You can involve your children as you walk them to school.
So here is how it works: Pick a colour - any colour and then see how many things of that colour you can find. It can be anything, but the trick is to find different things so you can't have 6 blue cars, but you could have a blue car, a car with blue tinted windows. Similiarly you don't have to find natural things - so don't spend too long looking for blue flowers. You could have a blue plastic bag hanging in a tree, a pair of blue eyes, a blue skirt, the grey of a eucalyptus tree that looks blue in a certain light, the sky.
This colour walk works as a walking meditation as well. It is very hard think negative things when you are having to put your focus on looking for a specific. You will be adept at looking for glimpses of your chosen colour in seemingly hidden places.
If you are doing it indoors it is a good way to see what colours you fill your house with. Do you need more of a certain colour to change your mood, lighten a corner, become a backdrop?
Most of all, enjoy your walking.
What a brilliant yet simple idea!! As a mental health professional I work with folks to help them shift their perspective by focusing on something else - which is exactly what you are doing with your color walking. I will link your post to my blog so that others can make use of your color walking idea. Thanks!
Posted by: Lucy MacDonald | Saturday, November 12, 2005 at 10:42 AM