Blog Entry 2
Three Psychological States I Chose to Do My Mind-Body Practice In
In an effort to experience the benefits of my mind and body practice to a full degree, I chose to partake in adult coloring when I was experiencing mental or psychological disarray. These psychological states include stress, anxiety, trouble sleeping, and being emotionally overwhelmed. In my experience, being a college student can be quite stressful due to the workload and the material covered in courses. I stress about knowing all of the material in my courses for my exams, getting good grades, meeting the requirements for medical school, managing school and work while still doing exceedingly well in school, etc., I mean, the list could go on. As I've discussed in my first blog entry, I also have anxiety where my hands shake uncontrollably, my heart rate increases, or I have this sinking heart sensation, usually stemming from conflict, but also randomly. In moments like these, I feel detached from reality, being only in my head or internally panicking. My nerves seem to be all over the place, and ultimately, it becomes difficult to concentrate on tasks at hand or things I need to do. Consequently, it becomes hard to attain mental and psychological stability. By doing this mind and body practice in these states, I could see if coloring actually helps regulate my stress and anxiety and decide if coloring is worth including in my daily activities from now on.
If adult coloring could help promote the parasympathetic nervous system, which returns your body to a state of relaxation, I wanted to understand how this takes place exactly. I wanted to experience in real time what my body and mind go through as it goes from a state of disorder to a state of order, and how it could make it easier for me to fall asleep on nights when there are a million things on my mind.
What I Experienced While Coloring
One day, when I was researching all the potential medical schools I should go to and all of their requirements, I became stressed and overwhelmed with negative thoughts. I began to stress about whether I qualified or if I had enough time to become qualified. I began to feel like I was failing in life, and all these negative thoughts began swirling around in my mind. Eventually, I decided I should open the new mandala coloring book I ordered from Amazon to get my mind off of things. As time passed while coloring, I realized I was no longer in my head. I was fully concentrated on coloring in the lines and what colors I wanted. I felt as if I were in a different conscious state, a meditative state. There was absolutely no thought in my head other than about coloring. It was very different from when I'm taking an exam, where my heart is racing, when tons of information from multiple chapters are running through my head, wondering which answer is the best choice, and biting my nails from being anxious about finishing or getting the answers right. My body was in a complete relaxation state. My breathing slowed and I was no longer stressing about my future. Even after I felt better mentally, coloring the mandalas felt addictive; I didn't want to stop. I remembered why I liked coloring a long time ago: it was fun, and it passed the time. Crazy enough, I colored until I got sleepy, when just before I was just too stressed and overwhelmed to even feel sleepy. Usually, it's hard for me to fall asleep, and I have to force myself to go to sleep, even when I'm sleepy, but with this mind and body practice, it came easily. Page from an adult mandala coloring book
Every time I experience anxiety, I start coloring, and I almost instantly feel different. At first, my hands are shaking, and I have this internal feeling where I feel like I'm panicking. In consequence, it makes it hard to stabilize my hand to stay within the lines, and I'm forced to concentrate extra hard on staying within the lines. As time passes, I stop shaking, concentrating only on coloring rather than on whatever triggered my anxiety, and my breathing slows. When I'm coloring, I obtain a phenomenal amount of calmness. I have no worries, no anxiety, no negative thoughts, nothing but coloring. When beginning this assignment on mind and body practices, I didn't believe I would actually find something that would most suit me or be useful for me, but I have found coloring to be helpful as well as satisfying.
Conclusion
Evidently, coloring is more than just a therapeutic way to relieve stress and obtain psychological well-being, but also enjoyable. Coloring has begun to be something I do for fun and to relax my mind and body. It may be too soon to say this is my new coping mechanism for stress, but I definitely see this becoming a part of my daily or weekly to-do lists to ensure mental health. It feels easy; it doesn't feel like a chore as I thought it would. I've always said I need to find something I enjoy doing outside of school and work, besides reading, to avoid overworking myself, and I think I definitely found that something. It may seem childish, but now I see what my mom means when she says she uses it as a coping mechanism. Coloring is very distracting. Coloring takes me to a place with no worries and thoughts, and I think that's why I like it so much, because I'm an overthinker, and it allows negative thoughts to roam free in my head, to where I begin to believe them, to the point they affect me. It feels good to obtain physical, mental, and psychological stability when it seems so far-fetched, and I believe people should start coloring or doing any mind and body practice to receive the benefits they offer, just as I do.
For more information on how coloring can relieve stress, anxiety, depression, and more, and links to some stress-relieving coloring books for adults, click here.
