COLORS

CONTRIBUTED by Catie Jarvis
Vinyasa Flow MON 12-1pm & FRI 715-830am

In Southern California, the change in season means a number of things... changes in temperature, less bathing suits, more sweaters. It gets dark earlier, people seem more busy, energy wanes with the holidays and waxes with the new year when we set new goals and go off to achieve them. But one thing that is missing in SoCal is any significant shift in the color. The ocean and sky are still blue, the palm trees are still green.

After having lived on the east coast for most of my life, this lack of change in the colors of the world always feels a bit strange to me. In New England, the colors of fall and winter are so significant in your understanding of the passing of one season to another. They affect you! One day there is green, then suddenly there is yellow, orange, red. Things change to brown and white. There is a fading as we move from one year into another. A lull, a hibernating. Then there is regrowth that is so apparent. It is magical to see the world turn back to life, from brown to green once again. It is important, I think, to have these colors be a part of our experience. Just seeing these different colors when we step outside brings certain feelings, thoughts, and energies to our lives.

Colors can affect your emotional and physical state. Each color has a unique vibration that can influence how you feel. Chakras, or energy centers in the body, have specific colors that relate to different parts of the body and aspects of the self. Wherever you are, it can be helpful to take control of what colors you are surrounding yourself with and why. If the world around us here in LA is staying consistent with its colors, maybe we need to take it upon ourselves to bring the colors that we need into our lives.

Here are some notes on what certain colors can bring...

Red will energize, inspire activity and movement, help passion, be powerful and stimulating as well as grounding. Red is associated with the root chakra, at the base of the spine. It can be too much for a person who is feeling anxious, but for someone who needs to be energized it would be a strong element to ad. Thinking of painting your exercise room? Maybe red is just the color. In Feng Shui, red is connected with luck.

Orange feeds happy, joyful, social emotions. Orange can be great to inspire creativity, the sharing of ideas, positive energy, and self confidence. It governs the sacral chakra in the lower abdomen and is a great emotional stimulant.

Yellow inspires intellectual clarity, organization, clear thinking, and helps us connect to our mental self and our self worth. It is a color of logic, of the left side of the brain. It great for productivity, but not as much for restful, or calming spaces and places. Yellow is the color assigned to the solar plexus chakra, situated below the ribs.

Green is balance. A perfect combination of restful and energizing. Green is the color of outdoors, calm and active at the same time. Green brings balance and harmony, healing, and rejuvenation. It is the color of the heart chakra and allows us to give love to others and to love the self.

Blue is cool and calming. Think rest, peace, and loving kindness. It is the color of the throat chakra and can relate to communication and truth. Blue can be great for invoking a meditative atmosphere. Thinking of creating a yoga space or buying a new mat, think blue. Thinking of a place to go to meditate, try that big blue ocean! Blue can reduce blood pressure and soothe one to sleep.

Purple/Indigo is very a spiritual color. A color full of richness in inspiration, intuition, and trust. Indigo is associated with the third eye chakra between the brows which connects us to our inner self, and our inner connection to the universe around us. Purple or Violet relates to the crown chakra at the top of the head where we find our “divine inspiration”, our connection to creativity and spirituality.

The more you understand how colors can affect you, the more you can control what kind of energy you choose to surround yourself with. You might consider painting your workout room a new shade, bringing new colors into your wardrobe, your accessories, your eye-shadow, your artwork, your yoga mat, your life. Take a moment to ask yourself what colors you would like to bring into your life as we move into the winter season!