COLOR-THERAPY Gemstones

Designing Jewelry Based on the Healing Properties of Colors

- LISA TRUESDALE

Though it may sound to some like a modern, new-age concept, color therapy has actually been around for centuries. For instance, in Ayurveda, a natural, holistic system of medicine that originated in India more than 3,000 years ago, each of the body's seven chakras, or energy centers, is assigned a different color. This helps practitioners determine which color(s) to use in their healing therapies. Color therapy was also practiced in Egypt, China and Greece more than two thousand years ago.

WHAT IS COLOR THERAPY?

Color therapy, also called chromotherapy, colorology or color healing, is used to help influence a person's energies for emotional, spiritual and physical benefits. Color therapy uses light in the form of color to correct imbalances that can lead to diseases of the body or mind. Proponents of this ancient healing method believe that colors, which are technically lightwaves of specific lengths, can help soothe us when we feel anxious, help energize us when we feel lethargic, and help us attract the things we might be seeking in our lives, like love, success, power and so on.

The color blue, for example, evokes feelings of calmness and serenity, as it's reflective of the expansive sea and the never-ending sky. Wearing clothing of a preferred color is one way to reap the purported benefits, yet most people probably won't want to wear the same color shirt every day. That's where colortherapy gemstones come in-jewelry is a much more convenient (and compact) way to wear preferred colors each day.