CHROMOTHERAPY: INTRODUCTION
By now the relationship between chromotherapy and furnishings seems to be ever closer. The colors with which we decide to furnish our properties seem to have a truly significant influence on our moods and beyond.
More and more studies certify this connection and, in fact, the leading experts in the field, advise you to be very careful in choosing colors when you are furnishing your home or office.
Although it is still perceived by most as a pseudoscience, in the absence of scientific evidence on its effective validity, chromotherapy has more and more followers and more and more manufacturers and retailers are betting strongly on this aspect to propose new combinations of colors, which can therefore satisfy not only the needs of furnishing of its customers but also humoral and psychological.
In fact, colors stimulate us, calm us, favor vital energy and, according to the proponents of chromotherapy, they heal various types of disorders: fatigue, acne, anxiety and depression.
CHROMOTHERAPY: WHAT IS IT
Chromotherapy is an unscientific alternative medicine and unverified claiming to use colors as a treatment for disease treatment.
The use of colors would be governed by common principles, analogous to those that lead to choosing the color of the dress to wear or the tint of the walls of the house to match them to a certain personality and favor or contrast a certain mood.
According to the proponents of chromotherapy, the colors would help the body and the psyche to regain their natural balance, and would have physical and psychic effects capable of stimulating the body and calming certain symptoms.
The effectiveness of chromotherapy is disputed by the scientific community, as no chromotherapy practice has ever been able to surmount a controlled clinical study, and also the assumptions of the theory are considered scientifically inconsistent, and it is a pseudoscience. Chromotherapy it should not be confused with the studies and possible applications of psychology of color.
ORIGINS
Chromotherapy practices have been known since Ancient Egypt: Egyptian mythology assigns the discovery of chromotherapy to the god Thot. According to the hermetic tradition, both the Egyptians and the Greeks made use of minerals, stones, crystals and colored ointments, as well as painting the walls themselves of the places of care.
In Ancient Egypt, each color had a name that identified a “potential”, that is functionality: black (KeM) is a symbol of fertility; yellow (KeNiT) is a symbol of solar divinity; red (DeSHeR) is a symbol of blood and fire.
The Greeks, instead, they associated colors with the fundamental elements (air, fire, water and earth) and these with the four “moods” or “body fluids”: (yellow) bile, blood (red), phlegm (white) and black bile which in turn are produced in four particular organs (the spleen, heart, liver and brain).
Health was considered the result of the balance of these elements, while the disease was the imbalance of them. Colors, as associated with moods, were also used as a treatment for disease.
In India Ayurvedic medicine has always taken into account how colors affect the balance of the chakras, the subtle energy centers associated with the main glands of the body. Even the Chinese entrusted their physical well-being to the action of the various colors: yellow put the intestine back in place, violet curbed epileptic attacks.
In China, even the windows of the patient’s room were covered with sheets of adequate color and the patient’s clothing had to be of the same color.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Chromotherapy uses colors to help the body and mind to find their natural balance.
As a musical instrument, which must be tuned to have the right intonation and so that the resulting sound is harmonious, in the same way chromotherapy uses chromatic vibrations to re-establish energy balance.
When a part of the body is exposed to colored irradiation, it absorbs electromagnetic waves characterized by a certain oscillatory frequency. The cells of the body, made up of atoms, enter into vibratory resonance with the frequencies of the light waves and find the lost harmony.
The therapeutic effect of color on the human body is therefore linked to the oscillatory nature of colors and our cells: the malaise or illness are nothing but a disharmony of the cellular vibratory rhythm on which the colors have harmonizing power.
CHROMOTHERAPY AND FURNITURE
Wellness and color are linked by a process that has been scientifically proven, because the radiation emitted by the different colors are perceived by the body that reacts by transforming them into chemistry energy, changing in certain functions.
The colors to be associated with each function and therefore with each room, are therefore to be chosen on the basis of specific criteria: choose a wrong color for the environment it could compromise our mood, our vitality and our functionality. To any home environment must therefore be associated the colors deemed most suitable for the functions that take place in that space.
In interior decoration this technique leads to coloring a room or illuminating it with an artificial light of the color corresponding to the effect you want to achieve.
In the bathroom you can place showers that use colored LED lamps, to take chromotherapy baths at home.
In fact, modern tubs, such as those produced by TREESSE, have invisible LEDmechanisms inside that create a blade of light that can magically move the whirlpool in the tub. In fact, all the hardware is invisible, there are no taps and the retractable cap avoids unsightly punctures on the internal surface of the tub.
This type of bathtub allows you to live a magical and truly relaxing experience thanks to the combination of colors that derives from it and that allows you to live a real relaxation without equal.
In addition, there are three key aspects to consider when choosing a certain color for the various rooms:
- First, evaluate the housing context and the peculiar characteristics of each room;
- Consider the symbolic meaning of each chosen color;
- Finally, we need to consider the function of each room to ensure that the chosen color really has a therapeutic effect about those who spend time there.
THE WALLS OF HOME
Based on the properties of the colors, it will be possible to choose a specific coloring for the walls of the house according to the chromotherapy:
- Scarlet red: this shade gives a feeling of security and a transforms a room into a comfortable refuge;
- Red: stimulating, it is the symbol of fire, of blood and sexual arousal. It is connected to strength, life and passion. It is believed that a red painted wall may increase the blood pressure and speed up the pulse. It is perfect for an office area;
- Orange: sensual and antidepressant it is good to reserve it in passageways or in the kitchen, never in the rooms;
- Yellow: detoxifying, stimulates vitality, it is the color of the places of concentration for excellence, therefore it is excellent for the study;
- Green: symbolizes harmony, nature, balance and hope. Seems to act on the nervous system, calming migraine and nerve pathologies; helps to spread harmony and calm, therefore it is preferable in bedrooms;
- Turquoise: purifying, it is perfect for the bathroom;
- Cyan:refreshing, it is perfect in the office, in the meeting rooms and at home in the living room, because it encourages communication;
- Indigo: increase intuitive skills, it is excellent in rooms where reflection is needed, therefore, perfect for study;
- Blue: it contrasts with red with a calming effect and refreshing. For this reason, blue is used on the walls to make you forget the stress and all the problems associated with it such as anxiety and insomnia. It is the ideal color for relaxation areas and decompression and therefore perfect for the bedroom;
- Purple (or violet): anti-stress. He is the ally of insomniacs and anxious people, to favor in their bedroom or in the private office.
THE THOUGHT OF THE SCIENTISTS
Chromotherapy, in the light of scientific thought, is an ineffective practice because there is no demonstrable or demonstrated evidence concerning the effectiveness of this dubious “medicine“: according to “real” Science, even the hypotheses of chromotherapy are devoid of consistency.
Finally, what about the episodes, albeit sporadic, of healing with color therapy? The scientific community responds that the remediation of the disorder could be a consequence of external factors or the placebo effect, certainly not associated with color therapy.
Despite what has been said, it is still fascinating and hopeful to believe that an abstract philosophy / medicine like chromotherapy, can benefit man: for this reason, chromatic therapy is inserted among the pseudo-sciences.
CONCLUSIONS
As you have noticed during this article, chromotherapy is very much taken into consideration when you plan to furnish your home or office from scratch.
Although it is not a scientifically proven method, people are well aware of the changes in mood that are perceived in contact with certain colors rather than others and, consequently, in their depths I know perfectly the validity of this pseudoscience.
In addition, more and more studies on the subject confirm the influence that electromagnetic fields deriving from the different colors chosen have positive and beneficial effects on people’s minds and, therefore, more and more retailers and experts on the subject are strongly focusing on the subject.
In fact, the various well-known and authoritative color coding systems have been receiving more and more importance and consideration lately, such as PANTONE.
The latter is a very important color coding system which, in fact, every year, based on its own studies and on the tastes of the subjects, chooses the colors that are in trend and that will be used more often in the various environments of the homes.
CONTACT AN EXPERT
Obviously, the advice, to prevent this choice of colors from having negative rather than positive aspects, our advice is always to rely to an expert in the sector, who can advise you in the best way, not only the colors that are best for you, but also the various combinations of colors to choose from to maximize the functionality of your rooms.
In addition, something of no secondary importance, in addition to the functional and therapeutic aspect of the colors, has mainly aesthetic relevance.
So, it is very important to choose the color that works best in a given room but it is also important not to have regrets by choosing a color that does not best meet our aesthetic and taste needs.
In fact, it is important to find the perfect combination between these two aspects to make your home a real nest of calm and tranquility, able to improve our lives.
Finally, chromotherapy can be assimilated to other important philosophies to make furnishings not only an aesthetic but also a therapeutic need such as feng-shui or the installation of Zen gardens.
LEAVE A COMMENT
Also, if you have any doubts about this pseudoscientific method of furnishing your home, do not hesitate to leave a comment at the bottom of the article with your doubts, I will reply as soon as possible!
Finally, if your doubts persist and you need more detailed advice, you can write me an email at valeriadesign@casaomnia.it!