All of us have a favorite color when we chose dresses, purse, wallets, shoes, diary, scarf, accessories etc. Have you ever stopped to consider why it’s your favorite? The color you wear most has an immense power over your mood, attitude and how you are perceived. You might put more thought into your choice of colors while buying new clothes after reading about what colors really mean.

Your favorite color is said to define a big part of who you are, and can offer an inside look into your own personality and behavioral traits. Each color comes in variety of shades: dark, faint, pastel etc. The shade triggers our deeply hidden strengths and weaknesses and a certain psychological reaction. What color dress is worn by you can not only tell about your mood but it also changes the mood of others around you. Moreover the color you choose to decorate your home, dining hall, bedroom or kitchen will also say a lot about you and the environment of your household. Whether or not you believe in the psychology behind your color choice, there is no denying that the shades you cover in your home can set the tone or your thinking, your temper and your surroundings. Colors have their vibrancy and strengths.

Your favorite color might be more than just a visual preference. It reveals something you never knew about yourself. Read on the meaning of each color:

Black: This color imparts power; however, too much black can be overwhelming. So be cautious not to over-do it, and offset it with colorful accessories. Black represents a strong-willed and determined character, probably seeking power and prestige and who is not afraid to go after what he/she wants. If you love black, you might be a demanding person. Some people carry black elegantly.

White: White clothing gives a clean and innocent look. It implies that you are an organized and detail-oriented person. White shade represents a positive personality, and an optimistic outlook toward life and the future. People are drawn to you due to your bright nature, and you are usually very independent, self-sufficient, and detail-oriented. All white at times washes out the original personality, so add something bold and bright to break up the monotony.

Blue: It is one of the most common clothing colors. It helps keep you as well as others around you calm. It also represents honesty and trustworthiness, which are great qualities to have. Blue is always a great color choice. Perhaps that’s the reason why hospital employees, bank logos, and law enforcement uniforms are often blue. Blue represents a deep need for personal inner peace and truth. Lovers of blue like to live their lives according to their beliefs and ideals, and choose to live in harmony and peace. Blue also represents your sensitive and reliable side.

Green: This is the color of growth and health. It’s the color of Mother Nature; you see green in all its glory expressing renewal and life. Green has a strong association as a refreshing and peaceful color. It induces feeling of abundance and a plentiful environment while providing a restful and secure feeling. The prosperity signified by green can be negatively perceived as materialistic and possessive. When you want to appear all-natural, green is the way to go. Green is the color of money as well as envy and greed, so be careful not to wear too much green, especially deep green.

Brown:  It’s the color of the earth. It portrays stability and a solid foundation. This color relates to things that are natural and simple. Brown is thought to be dull, but it is reliable and wholesome. It portrays frugality and stinginess, but brown is a color of safety and confidence. I have seen, not all can carry brown. On its own, brown seems unsophisticated, but when combined with others can become quite elegant.

Gray: It’s another neutral color that makes you look classic, reliable and organized. Of course, too much gray can appear boring, so add pops of brighter colors to carry off this look. It is looked at as the color of compromise. It portrays an unemotional and detached attitude. It conveys gloom and depression. Grey has a stabilizing effect as it is very neutral, it is linked with maturity and protection. Grey is not considered a glamorous color, but is certainly elegant.

Red: Red is a color of action, power and passion. It stands out in crowd; hence the person wearing red color dress is recognized. Red is a bold color and wants actions. It is the color of passion and drama. This color attracts the most attention and is associated with strong emotions such as love and anger. Red is the color used universally to signify danger, courage, strength, and power. It is stimulating, vibrant and exciting. Red inspires desire with a strong link to sexuality and increased appetites. In Chinese culture red represents luck and prosperity.

Pink: Pink is a color of passion, similar to red. But it’s not as strong as red. It portrays vulnerability and sensitivity, it is a girly color.  It portrays love, tranquility and femininity. Pink has associations with tenderness and nurturing while conveying a sense of safety and even openness. Seeing the world through “rose colored glasses” holds a negative connotation as being associated with being unrealistic and overly optimistic.

Purple: Purple is a rare color choice. Purple signifies royalty, so if you want to appear regal, purple is a good choice. It’s also a sentimental color that shows uniqueness and artistic creativity.  It is also the color of spirituality. Very few people can carry purple color elegantly. It is the color of the sensitive, compassionate intuitive and introvert person.

Yellow: Yellow is a bright color that represents the sun. It portrays brightness and cheerfulness in a person. Yellow is also a color that can indicate fear, so if you are feeling timid or shy, avoid yellow. Yellow is harsh on the eyes, so always break it up with other colors. It is the color of optimism. Yellow is a compelling color that conveys youthful, fresh energy. This color of sunshine is uplifting and illuminating and associated with success and confidence. Yellow stimulates the left side of the brain, helping with clear thinking and quick decision making. Yellow grabs attention because the eye sees yellow first. The downside of yellow is that it can induce anxiety and cause one to be over-critical.

Orange: Orange is a playful color that often represents children’s toys and their clothing. As it is a mix of red and yellow, it can also be a blend of those color personalities. Please remember, if you wear too much orange, you might not be taken seriously, so use it in moderation if you want to feel young or playful. The color represents encouragement. The combination of yellow and red makes the orange color convey excitement, warmth and enthusiasm. Social and inviting, this is the color of the extrovert, exuding happiness and joy, releasing inhibitions. Orange is a motivating and encouraging color. The negative connotations of orange are hypocrisy, bighead and self indulgence.

Colors are smiles of nature; our life is to enjoy all colors available in nature!!!

The sun is source of light, human body consists 70% of water, without soil vegetation cannot grow, living beings need air to breathe and sky is multi-hued. The basic elements in our environment consist the basic colors and are they are differently structured. The sense of colors is an extension of life. Each season has its color, therefore colors plays important role and it has been an important dimensions of human life.

India is known for her diversity and therefore the country is home to numerous interpretations and illustrations of symbols and colors. Colors represent different emotions of people living in different regional and geographical states. Each color has a different meaning and notion, and it differs from place to place. Some of the universally celebrated colors find their origins in the spices: turmeric which is used all over the country by each religion is yellow, it is also used in ceremonies and while offering prayers. Yellow symbolizes sanctity and is an essential herbal ingredient applied on the body and face by people. Cardamom is green, clove and pepper are black, chilies are red, cinnamon is dark brownish, coriander seeds and cumin are greenish brown, nutmeg is grayish brown so on and forth. Each spice has its color.

Indians are religious at heart; each god is associated with a complexion. Vishnu, Ram and Krishna are depicted in blue, the reason being blue is the color of the sky and of divinity. Whereas Shiva is fair, he is described as ‘Karpura-Goranga’ meaning he who is as fair as camphor. Most goddesses are fair complexioned except Kali. She is depicted in dark complexion.

India is an agrarian economy therefore green plays most important color. Green symbolizes a new beginning, harvest, and happiness. It is also the revered color of Islam which has a large religious presence in India. Green is a manifestation of God himself.

Some of the obvious differences between the perception of color in the West and the East are due to the simplest elements in history. Royalty, in the West and in the Christian culture, is represented by a deep, mystical shade of gray and purple, while in India, it is the deep hues of red and ochre that symbolize wealth and dignity. Perhaps one of the most affecting factors in the perception of colors in the Indian psyche is the religious undertones that coexist at almost every phase of life. India is steeped in tradition, culture, and a rich and a fabulous history. Kings and kingdoms, saints and followers, rebels and fighters have traversed the paths of its glorious past and they have all played an important role is forming the perception of colors.

Another fact why Indians are so obsessed with colors is because in ancient and medieval India textiles was the prime business. Some rulers were favorably inclined towards the arts and they encouraged weaving. Differentiation was made between the rural textiles woven for the masses and those made in state workshops for royalty and the well-to-do in other countries. The best workmanship was found in the ritual drapes for temples and palaces. Then, fabric names apparently represented the places where they were woven, and details about weaving techniques were not recorded.

It was Marco Polo who left detailed accounts of the people and industries of the coastal regions of India in the late thirteenth century. He has mentioned after seeing the Coromandel Coast the finest and most beautiful cloth in all the world-buckrams like the tissues of spider webs, and he observed dyeing with indigo in the great tex­tile center of Cambay and spinning of cotton in Gujarat. Under the Sultan of Delhi (1325-1351) price controls for food, cloth, and other commodities were initiated to help fight inflation. A permit was required to buy silks, satins, and brocades, and only the well-to-do were allowed to have them. The sultan employed four thousand silk weavers who made robes of honor, hangings, and gifts of gold brocade for foreign dignitaries.

Even today Indian textile heritage has been preserved by the women’s sari, which often reveals fine weaving, delicate textures, beautiful colors, and rich patterns. A formal sari might be of silk or a cotton which is brocaded in floral patterns formed with many tiny bobbins, each holding a different color. Some saris are exquisitely block printed with gold or silver floral sprays or show allover spot patterns of tie-dye. Kanjivaram, Dhakai, Paithani, Sambalpuri, Pattu, Asssam Silk, Banarasi, Poachampally, Gota, Chanderi……..the list is big. Each saree is woven with the threads of tradition. They are famous more for their tradition and culture than a mere fashion.  There is a legacy behind every type of saree. The “rani” pink of mystical Rajasthan, the pastel hues of southern India, the joyous, bright hues of the northern frontier, and the balmy bright colors of the east offer a multicolored insight into an almost perfect blend of history and modernism. And perhaps a trip down its many roads will lead to an understanding of its pulse.

Colors usually symbolize anxiety, conformity, faith, joy and trust. India remains colorful and vibrant in more ways than one. It stands strong as perhaps the most enduring example of unity in a world in its diversity. The colors hold it together are the colors of faith, pride, and love – feelings that overcome all differences. Black in India has connotations with lack of desirability, evil, negativity, and inertia. It represents anger and darkness and is associated with the absence of energy, barrenness, and death. Black is used to ward off evil. This can be found in an age old custom where you see little black color kajal spot on infant’s cheek, for that matter, anyone looking really spectacular is often seen with a little black dot on the chin or under the ear to ward off the evil eye.

White is the absence of color; white, as a color, repels all light and colors and therefore, when a person wears white, he/she disconnects from the pleasures and luxuries of active and normal participation in society. We usually see the devout and pious people use the white color. It is an inherently positive color associated with purity, virginity, innocence, light, goodness, heaven, safety, brilliance, illumination, understanding, cleanliness, faith, beginnings, sterility, spirituality, possibility, humility, sincerity, protection, softness, and perfection. In short friends, colors have their effect on us to the extent that they stimulate even our highest-level thoughts and intelligence.

Chromotherapy is also called color therapy which is the use of color and light to gently bring about homeostasis. Examples of homeostasis include the regulation of temperature and the balance between acidity and alkalinity (pH). It is a process that maintains the stability of the human body’s internal environment in response to changes in external conditions. In this therapy color along with light is applied to specific areas and accupoints on the body. This is an alternative therapy which means any treatment that is not considered of as part of conventional medicine. Health professionals working in cancer care are becoming more aware of the alternative therapies.

Chromotherapy practitioners believe that color can be used to correct energy imbalances which are the cause of a disease. A chromotherapist applies specific colors or lights to specific points in the body called “chakras.” Different colors have different effects.

Color and light have been used for healing since the very beginning of recorded time. Ancient Egyptians had built solarium-type rooms with colored panes of glass. The sun would shine through the glass and flood the patient with color. They used color therapy to the fullest potential. And, it is said that many patients had cured because of the therapy.

Some practitioners use colored silk cloths which are placed on the body and then flooded with sunlight. Some practitioners use color infused water and color meditations to send healing rays to the person. Today, there are many therapists who use color and light in fascinating ways. Some therapists have a box with a mechanism that flickers light into the eyes. They report success in speeding the recovery of stroke victims and those persons who experience chronic depression.

Scientists, who have studied color and light extensively, recognize that colors bring about emotional reactions in individuals. Our reactions and attitudes to colors differ from person to person, which makes an interesting study in itself. Our attraction to certain colors may very well signal areas where the body energies are imbalanced. Understanding why certain colors effect us positively while others bring about negative feelings helps us a lot in our healing journeys. If you have observed some colors might motivate positive feeling while uplifting your mood while some might simply put you off. Wearing the wrong color can make you feel out of sorts with yourself. Colors are certain wavelengths of electro-magnetic energy – Chi energy seen through our eyes. The color we see is the part of the visible spectrum that is reflected back by a certain object.

Color therapy is often facilitated in the healing rooms of alternative health practitioners. It is classified as a vibrational healing modality. And, it is interesting to note that vibrational healing technique incorporates the use of chi energies within all living organisms such as plants, water, sunlight, and sound. Everything in the universal creation is made up of electromagnetic energy vibrating at different frequencies that matches to sound, light and color. The existing electromagnetic field around every object is known as ‘Aura.’ The Chinese refer to this aura as ‘Chi.’ Color is simply a form of visible light, of electromagnetic energy. All the primary colors are reflected in the rainbow; they carry their own unique healing properties. The sun alone is a wonderful healer! Just imagine what life would be like without sunshine. It has been proven that lack of sunlight contributes to depression for some people.

Friends, color is one of the languages of the soul, look at any meditative paintings; they are beautifully colored. An infant also gets inspired looking at colorful objects. They influence our moods and emotions. They impact our sense of well-being and uneasiness both. Using and avoiding certain colors is a way of self-expression; it sheds light on our personality. Each individual carries certain shades of colors very well; we should spare some time and study which color makes us happy. Colors affect our sensitivities.  Light colors make a space look big; a high ceiling looks less high when painted in a dark color. Colors have a symbolic meaning which is immediately recognized by our sub consciousness. It is a universal fact that not all colors mean the same to all persons and all cultures. They influence the flow and amount of energy in our bodies; each chakra strengthens our body. I have written a lot about chakras on my blog. Please read to know more.

Before examining color and its healing capacity on a person, the cause must be known. True healing comes about when the cause of the condition or illness is addressed from the root. If healing goes no further than a mere relief or masking of the symptoms, then, eventually that which brought about the need for healing, in the first place will re-emerge and manifest it within the body in one or some another form. Please remember that body is an outward expression of that which is taking place within the mind, the soul – the subconscious. Thus, any healing technique which deals only with the physical body and the energy field of the individual tends to accomplish one thing; it simply boosts his energy. That energy boost in turn allows that person’s own internal healing mechanism to become mobilized into greater activity.

In color therapy when a person has too much of one color, which is also not good for the body, the patient is treated with opposite of the color to lessen the excess color effect. Using color as a tool to feel better is therefore a very effective way to improve our overall wellbeing. We choose foods for their colors; we wear certain colored clothes and jewelry; we buy interior décor, cutlery, bed sheets, furniture, our wall colors so much so even the tiles in the bathrooms and wash rooms for the colorfulness. Blue is relaxing, while white cleanses the mind and purifies the spirit. Red ignites spirits and green sooths the mind. These are just some of the examples on how you can use colors. Color therapy has no contraindications (In medicine, contraindication is a condition or factor that serves as a reason to withhold a certain medical treatment) and it can safely be used on infants, children, older people, as well as on people suffering from serious illnesses or patients recovering from post-surgical trauma.

Red is called “The Great Energizer” and “The Father of Vitality.” Red is warm, vital, heating. It loosens, opens up clogs, releases stiffness and constrictions. Orange has a freeing action upon the body and mind, relieving repressions. Because orange is a blend of red and yellow. Yellow helps strengthen the nerves and the mind. It helps awaken mental inspiration and stimulates higher mentality. Thus, it is an excellent color for nervous or nerve-related conditions or ailments. Green is the universal healing color. The ancient Egyptians and Chinese used green as the primary color of healing, as green is midway in the color spectrum; therefore, it contains both a physical nature and a spiritual nature, in equal balance and in equal harmony. Blue is cooling, electric, astringent. It helps bleeding, decreases fevers, and cures sore throats. Blue can have a sedative effect, as expressed in the remark of “feeling blue.” Indigo is a great purifier of the bloodstream and also benefits mental problems. It is a freeing and purifying agent. Indigo combines the deep blue of devotion with a trace of stabilizing and objective red. Indigo is cooling, electric, and astringent. Violet is truly the color of the divine Spirit. Violet works only on the levels of the Spirit. It is generally not used for physical conditions; however, some color experts believe that it does provide nourishment to the cells in the upper brain and does have a link with the crown chakra. And, last but the least, white is the perfect color, because it is all color, in perfect balance and harmony. It is the color of the awakened spirit; the light of perfection; the light of the divine and cosmic consciousness.