Taking a break to go on a vacation is the best way to balance work and life. Hotels or resorts offer many guest activities including yoga classes, spa services, local tours, shopping trips, and food tasting, to name a few.

Among many guest activities, one of my favorite is to color adult coloring books. For instance, Capella hotel at Singapore, offered me a coloring book with colored pencils.

While I was coloring, I focused on a simple activity. This began to relax my brain and quiet my mind. Thankfully, I could stop my racing thoughts when trying to sleep at night. Some studies have shown that focusing on the complex structure of the coloring page can help put our mind into a meditative state.

Quiet your mind with a therapeutic colouring session.

A form of Minduflness-Based Art Therapy, colouring can temporarily draw your attention away from the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives while unplugging ourselves from the digital world.

Now sit back, pick a colour and let loose.

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Reference

Mantzios, M., & Giannou, K. (2018). When did coloring books become mindful? Exploring the effectiveness of a novel method of mindfulness-guided instructions for coloring books to increase mindfulness and decrease anxiety. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 56.

Abstract

Mindfulness has been associated with the use of coloring books for adults; however, the question of whether they do increase mindfulness has not been addressed. In two studies, we attempted to identify whether mindfulness is increased, and whether there is a need for ongoing guidance while coloring, similar to mindfulness meditation. In the first randomized controlled experiment, university students (n = 88) were assigned to an unguided mandala coloring group (i.e., described in mainstream literature as a mindfulness practice) or to a free-drawing group. Measurements of state mindfulness and state anxiety were taken pre- and post- experiment. Results indicated no change in mindfulness or anxiety. In the second randomized controlled experiment, university students (n = 72) were assigned to an unguided mandala coloring group (i.e., same as Experiment 1), or, to a mindfulness-guided coloring group (i.e., same as the unguided coloring group with a mindfulness practitioner guiding participants as in mindfulness breathing meditation, with instructions modified and applied to coloring). Results indicated that the mindfulness-guided mandala coloring group performed better in decreasing anxiety, but no change was observed in mindfulness. Exit interviews revealed that some participants did not like the voice guiding them while coloring, which suggested further differing and significant findings. While mindfulness-guided coloring appears promising, guidance or instructions on how to color mindfully may require further development and adjustment to enhance health and wellbeing.