Colour Therapy

[Jody]

A friend lent me a CD about Colour Therapy. I tend to be a skeptic about things I know nothing about so I didn't listen to it for a few months.

Finally made myself do it. And liked it.

I lay on my bed eyes closed, as the voice recommended, and was led through a number of suggestions, visualizing various colours, moving up through the bottoms of my feet, up through the top of my head. Visualizing an answer to her question, "Ask your body what colour it needs right now?"

I felt foolish. But I did so. and got an answer. I saw in my mind's eye, the colours (3 of them) royal blue, red and yellow. The voice on the CD said to receive the colours (I am paraphrasing like crazy here, haven't listened to it in some time). I did so, and ... felt something, very subtle, don't know how to describe it.

The CD took 20 minutes. Her voice was slow, gentle, her words were soothing, reassuring somehow.

Now. I didn't really feel any different when I got up, about like you would after a nice 20 min. rest (which is worth its weight in gold sometimes in and of itself). But when I stood up and started to walk, I was interested to note that the bottoms of my feet felt ... softer, more relaxed.

Didn't know they weren't soft enough before, couldn't have said they needed to be relaxed, before. But after ... what a difference. And I'd been having problems with my feet -- still do sometimes.

So. something happened.

Sidetrack --- So why don't I play this CD every day? It apparently does something for me ... and yet I've only listened to it once since then. Am I just too stubborn and westernized to make room for new things that, for heaven's sake, ... work?

I don't know. I guess I should dig that CD out again .......

 

[Lisa]

Hi Jody!
I just finished reading your article about left brain/right brain and your question on this post about why you don't use it more often sounds like a left/right brain thing. As though your left brain is saying "This isn't logical so lets forget it" and right brain is saying "Write a post about its usefulness and maybe you'll start listening to me!" hehe That right brain can be very resourceful! And I officially have far too much time on my hands because it would be too easy to create a dialog here between left and right brain and how righty convinced lefty to have you make the post.

Nice article you wrote on the left/right brain. Prior to becoming ill I used to try to live life with a lot more intuition. Ignored some of the idiot lights that came on and ended up very ill from it. Only this last two months did I wake up to the understanding that I had not been listening to that intuition more than occasionally and that each time it had not led me wrong (or to far wrong ).

With this in mind I am working daily on trying to make myself more open to what that intuition is telling me and the logic side can get stuffed! hehe Actually they usually agree or at least logic doesn't find fault with most of what intuition has to say.

Lisa

 

[Jody]

LOL

Yeah, Lisa, I think you nailed it. That's exactly what happens, with this Colour Therapy thing and with alot of other things too.

I should probably write an article about Left Brain domination (as opposed to left brain dominance). Trouble is, Left Brain figures writing the article is all that's needed. As opposed to actually, say, dragging out the CD, and listening to it again.

I think I have a lot of right brain action, I do lean toward the artistic, the intuitive, the spiritual. But the left brain has had a real strangle hold on some of these things for some time. I have also been trying to allow more room for right brain brilliance. It has guided me through many things that the left brain had no resources to deal with.

But the ol' Lefty has a habit of making a blanket statement that the right brain realm is dangerous and irresponsible. I am trying to break free of these ill-founded cautions. Takes real pluggin' away to do this. But I think it is worth the work.

 

[Lisa]

But the ol' Lefty has a habit of making a blanket statement that the right brain realm is dangerous and irresponsible.

This made me wonder: Is the left side our social animal (herd) side and then the right would be about the individual? Do cows think only with their left brain? hehe

Actually, the pack mentality would be similar to the left brain saying that something is dangerous, irresponsible, out of sync with what is normal or far out. I draw the pack idea from where the brain has to be getting it's idea of what would be normal or responsible - our pack/peers and the society we live in.

Seems like if this is true, then web groups like the forums here could make a huge impact on adjusting how we perceive our 'pack' and allow us to gradually gain more confidence in trying new healing options that are accepted as being ok here as opposed to far from normal elsewhere. Like colour therapy!

I must admit though, I have a hard time trying things such as colour therapy. Perhaps my endeavors to listen more to righty instead of lefty all the time will open me more to these options in the future.

 

[Jody]

Lisa,

Interesting thought about the pack mentality and forums. And, I suppose, it is in our packs that we determine what we feel is acceptable and what is not.

Who knows what we will all pick up here from each other?

I also had a hard time even deciding to listen to the CD. My immediate reaction was that it was a piece of fluff from the lunatic fringe (sorry to any aficianados out there, it's my left brain and I can't help it).

Chalk it up to desperation. A friend said to me once, "Desperation is a great motivator." I have found this to be true. I have tried a great many things that I normally would never have considered simply because I had run out of "acceptable" options that weren't working for me.

Where I was at was intolerable, so I had to start considering things WAY out of my comfort zone. Over time, I have found some success with some of these things, (music therapy, colour therapy, positive self-talk, EFT, to name a few) and am in retrospect glad to have been pushed into them.

 

[Lisa]

Hi Jody!

What is EFT?

I've been doing the positive self-talk when I have some time alone - a little hard to come by more than briefly a few times a day. A lot of it seems to really help. All I am missing with these conversations is a cat to be following me around so that I can claim to be talking to it instead of myself.

Lisa

 

[Jody]

I am fortunate. I have a cat.

EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Techniques. Google it for more information than I am up to putting here right now.

Essentially it involves tapping. To do it right it's tapping and saying positive affirmations with hope for the future. I can't do 2 things at the same time so I would just tap. The idea if I recall correctly (haven't done it in a year or so, quit when things started easing) it's a bit like stimulating acupressure points. (as opposed to acupuncture)

So you'd tap a spot between your eyes, under each eye, in front of your ears, on (or just above?) your sternum, the spot in the web between thumb and index finger, ... there's a few more and I can't remember just now. Tap about half a dozen times, each spot. And make the rounds a few times.

I was having panic attacks 2 yrs ago and an area of my right arm, lower arm, was quite sore, and prone to feeling inflamed during panic attacks. Actually would feel like an animal was digging needle-like teeth into my flesh. Terribly painful and scary. And it would pulsate.

EFT tapping for a few minutes would make the pain stop. Wouldn't take away all the panic but it would help.

When used during a time where there was no panic attack it would sometimes bring some relief from worries and agitation.

One of those things I mentioned that I tried out of desperation. It works to a degree when you dabble with it as I did. Perhaps when a person really applies themselves to it it may do more.