Adult Doodling and Colouring In

Colouring  and doodling is an activity that we tend to associate with children. As we grow older, we put aside our crayons and coloured pencils in favour of pens and highlighters. However, colouring and doodling can be beneficial for adults as it requires focus, is meditative and mindful and is one of the few activities that have no risk of competition or possible failure. Colouring has a de-stressing effect because when we focus on a particular activity, we focus on it and not on day to day life or the things we need to do. When colouring or doodling, we activate different areas of our two cerebral hemispheres. The action involves both logic and creativity. This incorporates the areas of the cerebral cortex involved in vision and fine motor skills. The relaxation that it provides lowers the activity of the amygdala, a part of our brain involved in controlling emotion that is affected by stress.

So why not download one of the many doodling and colouring in sheets, like the example below, and see if you feel more relaxed…