Holi special: How colours impact our emotions, decisions & life
Does a yellow living room feel warm and inviting? And seeing a red colour puts you on alert mode? What relevance do colours hold in our life and how do they impact our emotions, feelings and behaviour? There can be no better time to find about the psychology of colours than Holi- the festival of colour itself.
The colour family
Colours can be broadly divided into warm colours and cool colours. Colours such as red, orange and yellow falling in the red area of the colour spectrum are termed as warm colours while those falling in the blue area of the spectrum (green, blue, purple) are cool colours. These colours evoke emotions within us which may range from love, compassion and warmth to anger, indifference and hostility.
Colours influence our decisions
We already know how colours influence our emotions in the built environment and make us feel lively, lethargic, happy or gloomy depending upon the colour scheme of our home or office. But did you know that colours have always been used as an effective marketing tool by world’s biggest brands to influence how we associate with their product and services?
The colour mix helps them alter our opinions about their brand and improve their sales. For example, a food brand will mostly be seen using ‘Red’ in its logo & space since it is the most appetizing colour which is also said to evoke hunger. Luxury car & fashion brands use ‘Purple’ to express royalty & legacy. ‘Yellow’, representing warmth & cheerfulness, is used by lifestyle brands while ‘Green’, the colour of nature, is used by brands to show freshness and good health.
The impact of colour also varies depending upon one’s climatic conditions. People living in cold regions are more attracted towards the warm colour family and vice versa. Colour variations are also said to alter performance and productivity of an individual.
The proven impact of colours
While you must have personally felt the impact of colours, there are some instances in the history that reassure us about it.
In early 2000’s, the civic authorities in Glasgow changed the colour of street lights from ‘Yellow’ to ‘Blue’ to give the city a makeover. It was only later that they found out that this resulted in a drop in the city’s crime rate. Similarly, in 2005, the railway authorities in the city of Nara in Japan changed the platform light to ‘Blue’ in an attempt to reduce the instances of suicide. No suicides have been reported at the city’s platform since then. In another study, warm coloured placebo pills were proven as more effective than cool colour placebo pills.
Chakras: The energetic rainbow within us
Not just the world around us but also the chakras within us are made up of rainbow colours. Our body has seven Chakras that run along our spine, each having a specific meaning and a colour associated to it. These chakras carry energetic vibrations and the circulation of energy in each one of them influences our overall well-being.
• Root Chakra
Identified with colour ‘Red’, it is the 1st chakra at the base of our spine and is associated with safety, survival, grounding and nourishment.
• Sacral Chakra
Represented by the colour ‘Orange’, the 2nd chakra gives us emotional stability, enhances creativity, sensitivity, sexuality and intimacy and helps us express freely.
• Solar Plexus Chakra
Denoted by ‘Yellow’, the 3rd chakra stands for strength, confidence and power that can be derived by tapping into the warmth of our inner Sun.
• Heart Chakra
As the name explains, the energetic vibrations of Heart Chakra help us to receive and give love, compassion, empathy and care. Denoted by ‘Green’, it is the Chakra for health and healing.
• Throat Chakra
Located in the centre of our eyes and denoted by the colour ‘Blue’, the 5th chakra enhances our communication abilities and helps us express clearly without the fear of judgement.
• Third-eye Chakra
Purple is the colour for this mystical 6th chakra located right in the centre of our forehead. It is about attaining higher consciousness and connecting well with our intuition & inner voice.
• Crown Chakra
The most ethereal of all, our 7th Chakra is located outside our body (2 inches above head) and connects us to our higher self and the Universe at large. It is denoted by ‘White’.
Intrigued by how colours work for us and within us? Want to find out more? Call Peyush Bhatia, a reputed life coach & healer at 9205658544.
