Adult Coloring Books

Adult coloring books are a continuing fad. This childhood pastime is regaining popularity with adults looking to slow down their lives and remember the little moments in life. There are a multitude of coloring books for adults flooding the market. There are several varieties, some focus on art therapy or mindfulness, some try to help adults be more artistic and other books are for pure entertainment. Many users of adult coloring books report the activity is stress relieving for them and they enjoy the coloring process.

The biggest draw for adults using coloring books are the unintended health benefits. Research has proven anxiety and stress levels drop when coloring. The study was done particularly with mandalas as the test subject and found that while this helped with anxiety, regular doodling does nothing for a person internally. The reason coloring is relaxing is because it helps to turn off the mind and get it focused on something other than stressful everyday situations. In this way coloring can be comparable to meditation and used to help people center themselves.

However, adult coloring books is not art therapy. For anyone dealing with significant mental or emotional issues, seek out a trained professional in art therapy. For those dealing with everyday stress and anxiety and looking to alleviate some of that, coloring will do the job.

It’s simple to start. Buy an adult coloring book and some colored pencils and you’re good to go. Crayola offers guides that teach people how to blend colors, shade and add highlights to your pieces.