Ayurvedic Advice: The Meaning of Colours as Rituals and Traditions

Ayurvedic Advice: The Meaning of Colours as Rituals and Traditions

When it comes to holistic health, Ayurveda is the mother of all wellbeing systems. It integrates everything from food and family time to work-life balance, meditation practices and exercise, breathing techniques, sun exposure, mindfulness and mudras, and much more. Indeed, everything we do and everything we’re surrounded by has an affect upon us. The choices we make in terms of the colours we’re exposed to may seem like a small insignificance in terms of our health and wellbeing, but it turns out the meaning of colours can act as the key to unlocking our mind-body potential.

Is your kitchen yellow? Your living room blue? Have you painted your hallway green or your bathroom bright white? Do you purposefully wear black to work and red on a night out, or do the colours around you pass by without a second glance? Consider for a moment, the vast array of colours you’re surrounded by right now. What can you see in front of you, outside the window or on your very own body? Did you make a conscious choice about any of these colours? How do they make you feel?

Colour therapy as we know it today became popular in the 1960s, but died out a couple of decades later. It is thought to have originated in Egypt. And it remained important throughout the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans, through to the renaissance period. Furthermore, Chinese therapists and traditional medicine practitioners diagnosed illnesses by reading the ‘colour’ of pulses, complexion, tissues and organs. While Sanskrit healers throughout India were well versed in the meaning of colours to help balance the body and mind. Specifically through colours associated with the chakra system.

Colour as Ritual & Tradition

We know that certain colours represent danger and royalty, death or marriage. But when colour was first ‘invented’ in the form of artist tools and decorative uses, the only colours that held deep meaning were those in nature. Such as flowers emitting scarlet red alerted others to danger. Or the vibrant greens and pinks of feathers and fins, which were primarily for mating or fighting purposes. Or gold which was found only in sand and sunshine. Eventually however, its believed that the first man-made colours were created by combining soil, animal fat and burned charcoal as early as 40,000 years ago. From that time onwards, we’ve been able to express ourselves through colour in clothes, on walls and in every aspect of life.

The ancient Egyptians understood red as symbolising chaos, fire, danger and victory. They knew blue to represent creation, heaven and rebirth. Interestingly, depending upon which culture you look at, death can be linked to the colour black or white. And whilst yellow represents happiness and creativity, to some cultures it also means cowardliness. We all have a different reaction towards certain colours. So when you’re choosing your clothing or home décor, (and especially your next yoga mat!), pause to really consider how that colour makes you feel.

Ayurveda & Colour Therapy

Now that we know the meaning of colours has such a big impact on us, we can start to use it to enhance our health and wellbeing. If you’re not sure which ayurvedic dosha you resemble, take a test or simply experiment with how each colour makes you feel physically and emotionally.

To balance Kapha energy, governed by earth and water. Favour bright and stimulating colours like magenta and red, orange and yellow. Avoid cool, pale colours like pastel tones or white.

To balance Pitta, governed primarily by fire. Favour cool blues and greens, pastel purples, white and silver. Avoid heating colours like red, orange or anything that is purely black.

To balance Vata, governed by wind and movement. Favour warm and comforting colours like gold, deep red, purple and mustard. Avoid grey and black, or overly stimulating bright reds.

As the seasons change, so too do our energies and needs, so observe how colours make you feel during Summer, and whether this feeling changes as we move towards Autumn.

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