Colouring and painting come to the rescue during the pandemic

Salman Khan & Sunny Leone

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic recession have negatively affected many people's mental health. From job loss to losses in business many people are suffering from anxiety, depression and stress.While some quite unflinchingly believe that stress is a part of life, there are many who don't want to dismiss it as a natural reaction. From fatigue to stomach aches to cardiovascular diseases, and even death, it can prove detrimental to one's life.

From taking a walk, implementing breathing exercises, adhering to healthy eating habits - there are many ways that experts are recommending to beat stress. But did you know, one simple and proven way to de-stress yourself lies in your child's playroom? Yes, the idea of getting a coloring book and some crayons and sketch pens has started to grab everyone's attention. So the activity which children do for fun, is now being recommended to adults by art therapists to help them relax their brain.

Art therapy is a scientific therapeutic technique that encompasses a wide range of media which we utilise to work with clinical patients diagnosed with clinical illnesses and for their well-being. This includes visual arts, expressive writing, story-telling, theatre, and movement. And this works fantastically with adults.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, many art therapists have recommended that art has come across as an expressive medium that has helped many people communicate, beat stress, and delve deeper into different aspects of their personalities.

What's interesting to study is the surge in the popularity of adult coloring books in the recent past. From abstract images, mandalas, to your most liked characters, these books come with a wide range of themes to help the adults connect with their inner selves and live a content life.

Amid the lockdown, several celebrities have brought out their creative side. They have shown their fans some of their hidden talents, surprising them. Salman Khan who is known for his paintings took to it during the pandemic. The actor shared his work on social media as he drew a monochrome picture and uploaded the entire process on his IGTV. Not many are aware that Khan had enrolled at the Sir J J School of Art in Bombay as a young man. But after his film, Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) became a super hit, he decided to pursue acting.

Sunny Leone is also another trained artist and she too knows her way around the brush. The actor has done several artworks in the past and has always garnered a good response from her fans. In this artwork, Sunny Leone tried to depict a broken glass. The use of her colours and the concept was amazing and her fans, therefore, loved it very much. The actor even mentioned in the caption that it took her around 40 days to complete the painting.

Janhvi Kapoor also took to painting during the lockdown last year. The Gunjan Saxena: Kargil Girl (2020) actor and her sister took up painting during the initial days of lockdown. The sisters were at it for quite some time and created some beautiful artwork. From painting abstract designs to just making amazing colour filled canvases, Kapoor and her sister had a good time painting. Her contemporary actor Ananya Pandey too decided to pursue the hobby to avoid boredom during the lockdown. The young actor shared a painting of her movie Khaali Peeli's poster alongside a beloved cartoon character. It was loved by fans and garnered her immense appreciation from her followers.

Art therapist Varsha Savla believes that there is no denying the fact that we all live in a time period where technology has become crucial in order to navigate through life. From depositing our checks via mobile banking to reliving our memories through photos and videos, we need technology for virtually everything.

So is there anything that can help us break our technology addiction? For many of Savla's clients coloring books helped them take a much needed break from smartphone addiction. "Technology addiction is indeed a very real addiction and one that is tough to break because we use technology on a regular basis. However, if you are determined to stay away from it, you can achieve it," she says, adding, "I too am addicted to colouring. While my 7-year-old daughter is busy coloring different patterns, I invest the same time in coloring stress-relieving patterns. Even though some adult coloring books are intricately designed, they are created only to help you de-stress and focus the mind. Honestly speaking, the colouring-in craze helped me stay calm and creative."

MBA professional Shweta Sahni found the books appealing because they helped her create something she could take pride in. "I don't treat Mandalas as just adult coloring books. For me it is a tool that provides me with a creative outlet that helps me break my inflexible routine.

For Bhawna Kapoor, a Chartered Accountant by profession, it is the nostalgia for coloring that she thoroughly enjoyed as a child that made her pick up the hobby after almost 20 years. "Color as a design tool has the power to make me feel more comfortable and cheerful. I loved the designs that I found in adult coloring books. Even though intricate, filling in these patterns with my favourite colors left an enormous impact on my mood," she explains.

As Savla says, it is the entire process of taking up a creative project such as colouring and completing it successfully that helps one develop a sense of achievement. "Adult enjoy coloring and investing in Mandala. In fact, we have had many asking for take backs. These books allow them to do something for themselves where they don't need an expert to guide them through that process. Our daily life is exhausting and the pace of life is increasing. Such books help us ease that stress, and infuse a sense of achievement too."

From therapy sessions to discussion forums and even counselling, painting and coloring books are instrumental in helping one practice mindfulness, the ability of seeing one's own thoughts from a distance.