3-Minute Colour Calm Practice
Time needed: 3 minutes
Setting: Any environment, indoors or outdoors
Purpose: Using colour awareness to shift into relaxed state
Colour Discovery, 60 seconds
What: Scan your environment for one colour that naturally soothes you. This might be soft blue, gentle green, warm cream, dusty pink, grey, lavender or earthy brown. Trust your instinctive pull toward what feels calming right now. Once you identify your relaxing colour, find it in your immediate surroundings. It might be in nature like sky or leaves, in objects like clothing or walls, in reflections or shadows. Locate three different instances of this colour around you.
Notice: Which colour your body gravitates toward, how seeing it affects your nervous system, subtle shift in breathing or shoulders
Why: Engages visual sense for regulation, activates colour-emotion connection, creates focal point for attention
Colour Psychology: Certain colours consistently affect our nervous system. Blues and greens often activate parasympathetic response, warm neutrals create safety, soft tones reduce stimulation. Your personal colour-calm connection is unique and valid.
Colour Immersion, 90 seconds
What: Choose one instance of your calming colour to focus on fully. Soften your gaze and rest your eyes on this colour. Notice all its variations, the way light affects it, any texture or depth. Breathe slowly while looking at this colour. Imagine breathing the colour in with each inhale, letting it spread through your body. With each exhale, feel tension leaving. Continue for the full 90 seconds, returning attention to the colour whenever mind wanders. Let the colour become a visual anchor for your nervous system.
Notice: How sustained colour focus affects state, where relaxation begins in body, quality of thoughts slowing, any warmth or softening
Why: Extends calming stimulus, deepens relaxation response, builds colour-regulation association
Colour Research: Focused attention on calming colours for 60 to 90 seconds can measurably reduce heart rate and muscle tension while increasing reported feelings of peace and safety.
Colour Carry Forward, 30 seconds
What: Create mental bookmark of this calming colour. Close your eyes briefly and visualise your chosen colour. Open eyes and look around, noticing where this colour appears throughout your day. Set gentle intention to notice this colour regularly. Know you can return to colour gazing whenever needing calm. Some people choose to add this colour to their environment through clothing, objects or images as ongoing visual support.
Notice: Accessibility of this practice, how colour is always available, sense of portable calm tool
Why: Makes practice repeatable, builds environmental awareness, creates reliable self-regulation strategy
Closing: Take one breath while looking at your calming colour
Notice: State of nervous system compared to three minutes ago
Why: Anchors colour-calm connection
Why Colour Matters for Regulation:
Vision is dominant sense for most people. Colour affects nervous system directly. No equipment or privacy needed. Always available in environment. Works in public settings. Quick and subtle practice. Builds over time with repetition.
Personal Colour-Calm Connections:
Blue: Often associated with sky, water, spaciousness, trust, peace
Green: Nature, growth, balance, renewal, safety
Grey: Neutrality, calm, sophistication, gentleness
Cream or Beige: Warmth, comfort, groundedness, simplicity
Lavender: Softness, tranquility, gentleness, ease
Pink: Nurturing, kindness, softness, care
Brown: Earth, stability, reliability, warmth
Finding Your Colour:
Notice what you wear when needing comfort. Observe colours in restful spaces. Pay attention to nature preferences. Trust instinctive colour pulls. Track which colours affect your mood. Experiment with different colours. Your calm colour may change with seasons or states.
Colour Noticing Throughout Day:
Morning: Choose calming colour as daily anchor. Commute: Track your colour in passing. Work: Position yourself near calming colour if possible. Stress: Use colour gazing as reset. Evening: Notice colour in environment before sleep.
Building Colour Practice:
Start with 30 seconds of colour focus. Gradually extend to 90 seconds. Try different calming colours. Notice colour-state connections. Pair with breathing. Use during transitions. Create colour calm playlist in environment.
Environmental Colour Support:
Add calming colour to workspace through objects or images. Choose clothing in your calm colour. Set phone or computer background to this colour. Notice where colour naturally exists in your regular environments. Create colour calm corner at home. Use colour in self-care spaces.
Tips:
Soften gaze, do not stare harshly. Breathe naturally while colour gazing. Return to colour when mind wanders. Use in combination with other practices. No right or wrong calm colour. Trust your response. Practice regularly to strengthen effect. Works even with brief glances.
Colour Calm in Public:
Subtle and private practice. Looks like daydreaming or resting eyes. Can be done in meetings, transport, waiting. No explanation needed. Quick reset between activities. Pair with other subtle practices like breathing.
When Colour Alone Is Not Enough:
Use as part of larger regulation practice. Combine with breathing, grounding or movement. Seek additional support when needed. Colour is tool not cure. Build repertoire of regulation strategies. Know your limits and resources.