by Diantha Harris | April 2018
(A guest blog post on ClarityisCrucial.com, home of Vanessa Velez!)
In my very varied career from Interior Designer to Color Consultant with side trips into Body Work, Healing Touch, and Feng Shui, I have always stuck with color as the main tool in my toolbox.
The colors of the rainbow correspond to those in our chakra system and thus perfectly suited to working with our bodies and etheric bodies in order to heal, move through challenges, and to clear blockages among other miracles.
Let’s take a quick overview of these 7 main rainbow colors, all while acknowledging the thousands of colors presented to us in any paint store!
There are still only 7 main colors, and indeed only 3 primary ones from which all the others arise, but let’s not get into a theoretical discussion yet! The only theory I will bring in at this point is that it is helpful to know which color lies across the color wheel from the color we are working with. This is because the complimentaries work together. If we have an excessive amount of color in our chakra system, we need to temper it by bringing in it’s opposite. How we do that will be covered at the end of this article.
- Red: (Base of the spine) One of the three primaries, red is the color that helps us ground and manifest. It is the color of our life force, the color of life itself and without it, nothing will happen. It is a color that speaks to us of our passions, of energy, of movement and action. If we have an abundance of red, we find ourselves challenged with anger issues, a quick temper, an ability to say cruel and scathing comments to others. To bring back balance, we would use the complimentary color of green to lessen those tendencies.
- Orange: (Sacral Chakra) A combination of red and yellow, orange is the color of bliss and creativity, of community and sharing. I love orange for the fact that it is quite healing for anyone who has suffered abuse, trauma or assault. I challenge you to find anyone who has not suffered at least one of these, even if in a small way. So orange is everyone’s ally for overcoming these things. If we have an overabundance, it can lead to eating disorders, a propensity to lie, or being an exhibitionist. Use blue to reign it in.
- Yellow: (Solar Plexus) Another primary, yellow is the color of happiness. Orange is bliss, yellow is happiness. It is the color of self esteem and ego, of assimilation of all kinds, and the color of our wisdom and ability to learn. An overabundance leads to being egotistical, stingy, controlling and argumentative. Use purple to rebalance this.
- Green: (Heart) A combination of yellow and blue, green is the color of nature, of the heart, of the healer, and it helps us find our direction in life. It reminds us of nature so it is a soothing color to most people and can make us feel more at home. An overabundance can cause jealousy, a gossipy nature, and a whiny, cruel personality. Use red to rebalance.
- Blue: (Throat) The third and last primary color, blue is the color of peace, truth, spaciousness, and integrity. We trust people who wear blue, and blue can make one appear to possess more authority than others. But is you have too much of it, it can cause stubbornness, arrogance, isolation, and a critical nature. To rebalance it bring in orange.
- Indigo: (Third Eye) The only tertiary color in the chakra system and rainbow, indigo resides at the third eye and is the color of intuition, higher mind functions, being able to channel or be psychic and looking within. This is a wonderful color to use for meditation and a spiritual Yoga/Chi Gong/Tai Chi practice. If you have an excessive amount, you will feel isolated, depressed, or be detached from reality. Bring in the color gold to rebalance.
- Purple: (Crown) A combination of red and blue, purple is the final color of the rainbow. It is the color of spirituality, and since it resides in the crown of our heads, it connects us most certainly to our Divine guidance. It is the color to use when we have suffered great loss, when we want to transform or transmute something, or when we are healing. Too much purple makes us suicidal, eccentric, elite. Use yellow to rebalance.
So how do we USE color?
This is why I love using color as a tool for healing and support for my clients, my friends, my family and my self: It is with us always.
- We need only close our eyes and imagine the color in our mind’s eye.
- We can use color breathing where we imagine the color around us and begin to breathe it in and out, filling our lungs and then our bodies with the color we need.
- We can use clothing, jewelry and other accessories, flowers, flower essences, essential oils, foods, music…
There are endless ways to bring color into our lives.
Generally, when I recommend a color to someone they already have something in their possession in that color. And if you need a color that you don’t like, you can wear it where you don’t see it: underwear or socks perhaps.
Or you can use Simply Color Sprays which I created and make just for that purpose of serving people with their color needs. They are made from charged water, essential oils, gem elixirs, and/or flower essences and so are all natural and so simple to use.
And best of all, with color breathing, you can do that anywhere at any time and no one will even know, which makes it a perfect tool to use as you stand in a line to check out of a store, or going through airport security lines…anywhere you are, color can be there also!
I hope you enjoy the power and blessing of colors each and every day of your life. Color is such a gift we have been given, easily accessible, very powerful, lovingly gentle, and transformative.
“Mere colour, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways.” – Oscar Wilde
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Diantha Harris has worked with, studied, written about and played with color her entire life. She is currently living in Vero Beach, Florida and Big Bay, Michigan where she works with clients and continues to write, teach, and speak about color. The author of two best-selling books on color, Diantha is also the creator of her own line of color sprays made from essential oils. You can peruse a whole wealth of information on color, listen to free meditations, read her blog, or take a free color quiz at www.lifepotentials.net.
Check out her Simply Color Online Course here.
Pick up her Simply Color book – now on Kindle.
Connect with Diantha on Facebook here.
by Diantha Harris | October 2016
Fall Colors
“How beautiful leaves grow old,
How full of light and color are their last days.”
John Burroughs
Even though we are now full time Floridians, there is still anticipation in my heart for fall, my favorite season. I have so many wonderful memories of fall and fall colors while growing up and then while raising our family. I always loved the return of cooler temperatures, the chance to wear a sweater again, the bright cheerful fall leaves, the crunch of walking through fallen leaves.
One of the best things is, of course, the colors of the leaves as they change from green to both vibrant and subdued colors. These color changes inspire people to travel to northern climes to take “color tours”. When we lived in Northern Michigan we saw scores of tour buses meandering the area taking in the colors, stopping to purchase apples of all colors and bright orange pumpkins, and sipping cider to wash down delicious warm apple doughnuts fresh from the kitchens of the roadside stands.
Some of the most vibrant colors of fall are in the red-orange-yellow part of the spectrum. The Evergreens provide a beautiful backdrop for these vivid colors and the brown of the oaks and other trees provide a lovely counterpoint to the vividness of their more showy neighbors.
The explosion of color in fall, this effusive display of color, comes just before winter, when things are quieter, the colors muted into whites, grays, dark browns and blacks. But most people greet fall with an excitement inspired by this array of warm colors that appeals to the eye and the soul as well.
Have you ever thought about why this is? The colors themselves, being in this warmer end of the spectrum, are indeed imbued with the ability to excite our nervous system. Our bodies literally react to these bright colors with an increase in heart rate, and a rise in our body temperature. The warm colors speed up our systems and elevate our spirits. It is no wonder that many people say fall is their favorite season. For the most part we feel more alive thanks to the effect warm colors have on our bodies.
FALL COLOR FAMILIES:
As you yourself experience fall, think about what each color family in this warm spectrum means:
Reds: This color connects us to the earth, helps us to ground, assists us in manifesting, inspires passion, and excites our systems more than any other hue. There are many shades of red in fall colors from deep reds even into purples and into the bright, bright reds of sugar maples.
Orange: This color against a cobalt blue fall sky is one of my favorite sights. I can’t tell you how many hundreds of photos I have taken over the years of orange leaves against a clear, deep blue sky. Perhaps that is because over the years I have learned to love orange, the color of community, creativity, connection as well as the color we use to heal trauma and overcome challenges. It is a juicy color that just makes me happy, and rightly so as it is the color of bliss, very Joseph Campbell like.
Yellow: This hue is associated with fall in my mind as the color of school buses and goldenrod. As a child I hated to see goldenrod bloom because it meant those carefree summer days were coming to an end and we would soon be back in school. I liked school, but I loved summer. Yellows make us happy too and they help us assimilate things from foods to knowledge. Adding yellow to a student’s environment will help them remember what they are studying.
Green is not strictly a fall color, but it is present in the fall as the backdrop for the bright colors. Green is the bridge from the warm to the cool colors and in our chakra system it is also the color of the heart, the center of our energy centers. As such, I decided to include it here as I find it a great part of the Divine plan that in the background of all the fall’s feverish colors, green provides the base, the grounding if you will, for all this energy. Green provides the heart beat of the season, the steadying influence. In spite of all the frivolity of fall colors, green is still there, still steady, still the frame for the scenes in front of our eyes.
We may as well speak to Brown as well for fall colors do contain this earth color. They may not take center stage but brown is even earthier and more grounding. It doesn’t scream for attention but rather goes about its job as being the anchor and the more serious influence doing its job well but quietly. It is friendly and doesn’t care if the colors around it create a fiesta, for it knows well enough that those colors need their quiet backdrop in order to shine more brightly. Just as a star or a politician needs a quieter partner, someone to steady them, someone to keep them grounded and anchored, so, too, do browns provide this for their showier sisters and brothers. After all, if everything were a bright vibrant hue, with no contrast, we could not appreciate the liveliness in those colors. And if everyone were a star or politician, there would be no one to watch or hear him or her. Our friend brown provides this contrast brilliantly.
With this in mind, then, I hope you enjoy your fall and seeing the colors as you move through each day.
© Diantha Harris
October 2016
by Diantha Harris | August 2016
I’m not sure but I would bet that anyone you ask might believe that the world seems to be upside down, things are not what they seem, and chaotic might be a word they would use to describe the current state of the world.
Indeed, these are “interesting times” from the ancient “Chinese curse” we have all heard about for years. (In case you are not familiar with that old saw, the ancient “Chinese curse” is “May you live in interesting times.”)
I’ve been thinking a lot about how the colors might help sort things out for us, how they might supporus, and how they might lead us through these challenging times. Color for our time is an amazing support for us, colors are always with us, and color can ultimately help us negotiate troubled waters and get to a place of smoother sailing.
Let’s examine all the chakra colors to see how they become “colors for our time”:
RED: This color is so necessary for us to use to remain grounded and to fuel our energy. If you are one of the way-showers, a person who is here to bring more light to the planet, then it is imperative to remain grounded in the earth in order to manifest your destiny. It is necessary to be grounded in order to manifest anything at all, and necessary to keep our center strong, and full of energy. Red is also a fuel for our energy and a color we can use to activate our intentions.
ORANGE: We also need a strong container to hold our energy and intentions. Without a container, the energy leaks away and has no focus, much like water without a pipe or hose or container of some sort. It will just ebb away. Orange helps us with creating and maintaining boundaries. Those boundaries are imperative if we are to manifest our destiny at this time.
YELLOW: A color that radiates, happiness, yellow helps bolster our spirits. More than that, though, yellow helps us focus, helps us remember, and helps us “digest” all that is going on. IT helps with assimilation of all sorts and right now we must be nimble and cogent around each situation.
GREEN: The color of the heart, green helps us remain seted in our heart center. the more we can act from this place, the better the world will be. We must rid ourselves of the hate, the disrespect of others who think differently than we do, the anger and righteous indignation that reigns supreme so often in our lives. Coming back to the heart center we will be better able to listen to others, to listen to our own wisdom, and to discern where the truth lies.
BLUE: More than any other color, blue is the color of peace and trust. We need both very much right now. Most of us yearn deeply for peace. We yearn for leaders whom we can trust. We yearn for a world where love can prevail over hate, where discernment is used before judgment, where peace is the goal rather than greed and power. These qualities all lie within the domain of blue.
INDIGO: We can use indigo to help us with the inward focus on ourselves, clearing us to more acceptance, more understanding and forgiveness, more spiritually based thoughts and actions. It also helps with dream work and many believe that in today’s world we are being guided through our dreams, and understanding them is of utmost importance. (Note to readers: I would personally add yellow when using indigo for dream work as yellow helps with both clarity and assimilation.)
PURPLE: The color for transitions and transformations, we can use purple to help us move forward to a world we only dream of today. This is where the magic lies and we can employ purple to create the changes for a more stable, heart centered, peace loving world.
HOW DO WE USE THE COLORS? There are so many ways to bring color into your daily life easily and most are without cost. You can wear it, breathe it, create bubbles of color protection with your intention and visualization, use essential oils/flower essences/gem elixirs, use accessories in clothing/jewelry/home and office, vases of flowers, pots of flowers and plants, gems and stones, and many other ways. In addition I have created a full line of color sprays that are a very easy and inexpensive way to use color eliminating all guesswork on your part. Click here to read more….
And to find out what each color can do, click here and then click on each color to read about its own qualities and how to work with each complementary color.
For tons of tips on how to use color from the perspective of 25 professionals plus myself see Simply Color for Everyday Living.
Turning to the Rainbow Chakra colors as the Colors of Our Time will bring you support, guidance, and help with transitions and changes. It is using the gift of the Rainbow that nature has given us in order to make the transitions that are occuring on the planet at this moment in time.
Enjoy the colors. Namaste.
Diantha has studied color intensely for over 30 years from several different aspects including art, art history, religions, philosophies, energy work, feng shui, healing systems using color, interior design, flower essences, gem elixirs, essential oils, gems and stones. She continues to learn as she teaches, writes and speaks about her beloved world of color. Believing that color is both subtle and powerful, gentle and effective, Diantha also believes color is a gift from the Divine, another gift given us from the nature kingdom for us to use for support, change, and the unfoldment of conscious living. The author of 3 books, you can peruse her new book, Simply Color for Everyday Living on her website and receive many free offerings. www.lifepotentials.net
by Diantha Harris | November 2015
Need help healing from trauma or shock?
Orange is your ally!
Since Simply Color for Everyday Living was published in September, I have been on many radio shows talking about color. It has been so much fun and the thing that seems to grab most people’s attention is the fact that orange can help support us as we heal from traumas and shocks.
I personally am so grateful to know this as life seems to serve up plenty of these occasions where we get flattened from out of nowhere. It could be a careless remark from someone we love, or it could be a fender bender or worse. It could be a physical whammy or the loss of a friend or family member. Whatever the trauma or shock, it affects our chakra system, particularly the sacral or second chakra.
The color of that chakra is orange and when we are dealing with these life issues, we deplete our system of orange and we need to replenish it, just as much as we need to replenish nutrients when our bodies are deficient in them.
Orange is a very juicy color that we need over and over to keep our sacral chakra happy. Keep supplying orange to your body so that this important chakra never slips into a depleted and weakened state. Like everything else, maintaining is a lot easier than getting into a state of emergency.
Any questions, feel free to ask. Be well!
WELLBEING
How to keep all the chakras in balance.
Last month we talked about what colors fuel which chakras. This month let’s address different ways we can bring the colors in:
Foods: pretty self explanatory. Just eat the foods that are the same color as the color you are needing. In our example of orange above, kumquats, oranges, yams, sweet potatoes, orange peppers are just a few examples of what to eat to replenish orange.
Accessories: either in décor or fashion. One of my personal favorite ways is with scarves. They are relatively inexpensive, store easily, and come in all the colors we know and love.
Flower essences: simply select a flower essence that is made from a flower that is the color you are needing. In this case it might be orange begonia. You can put a few drops in your drinking water or place directly under your tongue and let your body absorb it. You could also put a few drops into your body lotion and smooth it on, especially over the sacral chakra.
Essential oils: selecting an orange oil and diffusing it into your space is an easy and pleasant way to bring orange into your body. This is especially good if you do not care for the color and don’t want to wear it or see it.
Clothing: any piece of orange clothing would work including things that don’t show such as underwear or socks.
Gems and Stones: select the ones that are the color(s) you need and hold them or display near your bed or desk.
Get creative: using art supplies of various colors is a fun way to bring colors into your aura.
Sprays: using Simply color sprays is a very simple way to bring the essence of a color into your aura. You can spray it around your body, onto your pillowcase, into a bowl of water on your desk as you work, into your car, around your desk area.
Can you think of other ways to use color? See Simply Color for Everyday Living for great examples of ways to use color creatively, intuitively, and easily.
Color-filled blessings!
