Coloring can take those negative thoughts and actually replace them with positive ones. Doodling and coloring is something that you can dive into. It requires a lot of attention and allows you to think about what you’re doing rather than about what you’re worried about. You have to pay attention to the edges, pick what color comes next, figure out how to add depth to your picture, and work at making it look the way you want it to. All of that means you have to focus on the task at hand so your brain can’t focus on something else.
Try this if you are new to meditation and want to quiet your mind without trying.
This whole process can ultimately lead to the release of hormones and chemicals in the brain that also help to produce positive physiological changes in the body. When there are patterns, details, and repetition involved in your activity, it triggers positive neurological responses.
There is such a high level of prediction involved with coloring, that leads to the calmness of your brain. The inability to predict what’s going to happen next is troublesome for your brain. It’s along the lines of the fear of the unknown. That lack of predictability can trigger the stress response from the amygdala. Coloring is predictable for your brain. It knows what’s coming because of the repetition and the patterns. The nature of this activity brings your brain down to a calmer level.
