You Are the Colors You Choose

We all have our own fashion style, but did you realize your choice of colors may actually reveal more about you than just your tastes or that the colors you wear may even affect your moods?

It is now accepted that color can be used to stimulate or inhibit certain behaviors. Advertising executives are well aware that a product can have a completely different impact if the color of the packaging is changed. Psychologists have found that certain colors in our immediate environment can help us perform some tasks. For example, exercise is best performed in an environment of warm colors, such as reds and oranges, whereas the tranquil blues and greens are ideal for mental concentration.

Quite often the sayings in the English language have tapped into a deeper interpretation of the colors. Red with rage, green with jealousy, purple passion, feeling blue, he is yellow, are well known to most people. However, each color has a cornucopia of meanings associated with it. If you would like to understand what some of the common colors mean see the chart.

Your choice of color

Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung encouraged his patients to use color in their paintings to express the deepest unconscious part of their psyches. We all go through “favorite color” phases. It has been discovered that personality traits are reflected by your preferred color. Extroverts favor the color red, introverts prefer blue, yellow is the choice of intellectuals, and well-balanced individuals tend to go for green colors.

Using color positively

Apart from recognizing whether something suits you or not, an inner sense tells you which color to wear. Deny this feeling and you could be ignoring a benevolent influence. For example, red increase’s energy and promotes free movement. For a woman it can reflect changes in the reproductive cycle such as menstruation or ovulation. If you have a sudden desire to wear red it could indicate that you are about to experience a tiring day and need all the help you can get. Interestingly when traffic lights were first introduced people had great difficulty stopping for the red light because on a psychological level red means “go” and green means “stop.”

Are you prepared to wear your feelings on your sleeve?

Why do you look great in a color one day and the next time you wear the same color it looks dreadful? It is because the color no longer reflects who you are in that moment. Wearing a color can cause you to act and react to life in different ways. Your choice offers insight into current life issues and can, in some instances warn of potential illness. 

Color and illness

Each color has positive attributes or truths and the opposites of these are challenges. For instance, the truth of the color blue symbolizes faith and communication. The challenge is a lack of faith, depression, and difficulty with speech. Conscious awareness of the colors you choose to wear can offer insight into potential change in your life. For example, Illness of some kind can be indicated when a color that is out of character is worn frequently. If the red range of colors is worn regularly it could point to a physical condition, the color blue an emotional imbalance, and yellow a nervous state.

Dis-ease means that we are out of balance, color can help to re-balance and make us whole again. Red colors are good for improving circulation and orange has been found to be beneficial for children with autism. The color green is useful for calming and balancing the heart, and is supposed to influence regeneration of cells and elimination of toxins. This is the basis of Color Therapy. Color healing was used in the temples of Heliopolis in Ancient Egypt, as well as in China and India. Hippocrates, the founder of modern day medicine, placed colored strips on cuts to aid in the healing process.

The Gray Areas

Black is a popular non-color, often worn to suppress and protect the emotions. Any color worn with it is a paradox since it represents unrealized potential. The promise of power that black evokes lies within the consciousness of the wearer. Combined with another color it augers control over its influence. With red colors it controls physical power and yellow colors intellectual power. White on the other hand highlights a color and worn alone symbolizes a clean palate, completion, purity, cleansing, and strength. The challenges of white are those that accompany a new start, anger, vulnerability, and tears. Gray is the combination of black and white and symbolizes the diversity of the two creating a state of caution. 

Combining Colors

When colors are combined each influence reflects off the other. Wearing green with the color red puts a different slant on the meanings. As green means stop and red means go, these colors together can signify a difficult decision, usually involving staying or leaving a situation. Wearing these colors can aid in the decision making process through the vibratory influence of each color. 

Color Therapy

Whether it’s a date or an interview think about the impression you want to make. Use the information on the color page to plan your wardrobe and achieve the greatest impact. The truth of each color symbolizes potential, the challenges indicate blockage. Wearing a color can stimulate and/or counteract either of these energies. For example, if you are lecturing wear blue colors, for a steamy night of passion bring out the red dress, and if it’s attention you are seeking opt for the limitlessness of the color yellow. If you wear more than one color combine the meanings and create your own new potentials and challenges.