Color Your Way Happy

by Yasmin Ahmed 

Bismillah

Everywhere you go it is there, everywhere you turn it is there, everywhere you look it is there, you are surrounded by it, it has the power to change your mood in an instant. What is it? COLOUR!

Have you ever thought about the blessing of colour in your lives? Colour is visible to the human eye with the presence of light.

No light -> No colour -> Total darkness

We could continue to talk about how light is made up of colours, and how each colour has its energy, and its influence on the human body etc. but this is not a science lesson.

The saying ‘eat a rainbow’ literally means eat a variety of colours of food to stay healthy. The more vivid the colour of fruit or vegetable, the more ripe and fresh it is, and as the fruit or veg deteriorates so does the colour, making it less appealing. The fact is colour is an amazing blessing from Allah subhaana wa ta'aala.

Do you stick to safe colours? Magnolia for your walls, black for your wardrobe? Have you had the luxury of seeing a ‘Colour me’ specialist who has dictated which colours suit your skin tone and therefore you are rigidly sticking to this scheme by choosing the same colours again and again? Why? By choosing the same colours again and again, you are actually limiting the blessing of colour.

I being a school teacher always used to brighten my classroom with lots of colour, yet when it came to my own clothes, I always wore black as it was safe and slimming or chocolate brown as it matched the colour of my eyes. Whenever I went shopping my brother was my biggest critic, he would comment ‘it’s black’, ‘it’s black’, ‘it’s black’, ‘it’s horrible’. My brother always wore white and colours, and looked fresh, whilst I felt heavy, dull and dreary. It was after my brother bought my first white outfit, I realised how it affected my mood. Now I stay clear away from black or wear it with colour and brown - I try not to touch it as I have noticed how gloomy I can get. Colour is a blessing that can heal or harm.

The colour green is mentioned many times in the holy Quran, it is a healing colour which is linked to joy and happiness.

Reclining on green cushions and beautiful fine carpets. (Surah Ar-Rahman 55:76)

Just as there are other therapies, there is colour therapy which has long been used by some cultures and is now being used in the western world. To find out which colour might help you at this moment in time you could close your eyes and imagine a red light shining on you, take a few minutes and notice how you feel, next imagine an orange light shining upon you, again note how you feel, continue this exercise until you have experienced all the colours of the rainbow. Go back to the colour that made you feel good and take note of the shade of the colour and its affect. You may want to wear this colour for a while, not as an entire outfit (as this might have the opposite effect of what you want to achieve), a simple scarf or handkerchief might be enough.

Do not limit yourself with colour but play around with it, that bright orange scarf might just be the ‘pick-me-up’ you need for that dull dark winters day, and if it is not the season to be wearing those colours – WHO CARES! Why let any fashion designer dictate what colour you wear each season, be your own designer, wear what you want. That colour might just brighten your day and everybody else’s, so give it a go you might be surprised.

Posted in: Life,Lifestyle,Women,Yasmin Ahmed