Color therapy
As color therapy treatments are referred to, in which the effect of colors on the human psyche and the human body to play a role ( Psychoimmunology ). This should be achieved through the color design of the room as well as through the use of colored light.
Various approaches to art therapy , including anthroposophical painting therapy , are based on the creative activity itself and the direct effect of the colors, without being expressly referred to as color therapy.
In the meantime, the first quantitative studies of the effects of color light therapy on specific diseases have been carried out. In addition, there are no known scientific studies on which the various theoretical concepts of color therapy could be based.
Must be distinguished, the light therapy , the use of infrared light and the phototherapy with ultraviolet light, such a treatment option. B. in children with neonatal icterus . The effects of infrared light or UV light are not based on color.
Historical development
Even in ancient times, colors were experimented with in medicine. The sick were coated with colored pastes or wrapped in colored cloths. JW von Goethe dealt with colors and their effects in his writings.
In 1878 the chromotherapeutic work "The Principles of Light and Color" by the doctor Edwin D. Babitt appeared , in 1895 an article by Carus Sterne with the title "The color stimulus in humans and animals - a consideration of Goethe's theory of colors" in the Vossische Zeitung. Both works report on a healing method by means of color, which was already used in the 14th century for smallpox and which was still indicated for smallpox in the 18th century in several European countries, as well as in Indochina and Japan. This method consisted quite simply of the smallpox sufferers being covered in red by covering a room with red cloths, red curtains, etc. Rudolf Steiner developed color therapy with the neurologist Felix Peipers in 1908.
Irradiation with infrared lamps is not a color therapy because it does not work through the color, but through the penetrating warming radiation.
Forms of therapy
These forms of therapy are controversial. Colin Goldner, for example, said: "However, modern therapists do not agree on which color should be used and how."
Color meridian therapy
The color meridian therapy goes back to the physiotherapist Christel Heidemann (1924–1998). With the help of a scan of the connective tissue on the back and "color heptograms", blocked meridians in the human body are to be found. For therapy, about one centimeter silk circles or pieces of fabric dyed with vegetable dyes are stuck on certain meridian points with natural color by means of plasters . The treatment is intended to restore the tension balance of connective tissue and muscles of the entire body and thus have a beneficial effect on health and alleviate pain. Clinical studies on color meridian therapy are still pending.
Color puncture
With the color puncture that Peter Mandel introduced, bundled colored light is directed onto acupuncture points that are intended to be stimulated. The aim is to supplement traditional acupuncture with irradiation with colored light in order to achieve healing effects with certain colors. The disturbed regions of the body should be brought back into balance, as they have the same vibration pattern as the selected light spectrum. In the meantime, more than 200 different systems are used in color puncture, both as the sole method of treatment (especially preventive) and in combination with other therapy methods.
Aura soma
"Aura-Soma", a word formation from the Greek aura (breath, shimmer) and soma (body), was developed in 1984 by the blind and, according to her own account, clairvoyant Englishwoman Vicky Wall. Her preparations were initially only intended for cosmetic treatment, but were further developed by her into a therapy system similar to traditional Indian medicine (chakra teaching). The content of the Aura Soma bottles consists of two liquids which are divided into an upper and a lower layer of 50% each. They can be mixed for a short time by shaking, but soon separate again into two layers. The top layer is made of colored olive or lotus flower oil, the bottom layer is made of colored water, supposedly from a sacred spring in Glastonbury, England. The bottles, called Equilibrium, have numbers from 1 to 112 and names. Aura-Soma is a registered trademark of Aura-Soma Products Limited of Glastonbury.
Others
For example, some therapists recommend surrounding yourself with specific colors or specifically eating foods of a specific color. Colored bath additives are more likely to be assigned to the wellness area. Visualizing colors plays a role in meditation and is sometimes recommended for relaxation .
literature
- Vicky Wall: Aura-Soma. The miracle of color healing and the story of a life . Maurer, Frankfurt am Main 1990, ISBN 3-929345-00-5 . (also: Nietsch, Freiburg im Breisgau 2006, ISBN 3-934647-11-1 )
- Rose Maria Pütz: Color meditation. Investigations of potentiated methods of meditative painting processes with plant colors as a basis for painting therapeutic measures . Bertelsmann, Bielefeld 1991, ISBN 3-7639-0008-X .
- Temenuga Koepke-Staneva: Color meridian therapy according to Christel Heidemann. The doctrine of the etheric body in East and West . Verlag am Goetheanum, Dornach 2003, ISBN 3-7235-1170-8 .
Individual evidence
- ^ A. Schäfer: The effect of colored illumination on heart rate variability. In: Forsch Komplementmed. Volume 13, No. 3, Jun 2006, pp. 167-173.
- ↑ NB Boccanera: Colors in the intensive therapy environment: perceptions of patients and professionals. In: Rev Esc Enferm USP. Volume 40, No. 3, Sep 2006, pp. 343-349.
- ↑ Marianne Altmaier: Metal Color Light Therapy - For the research and development of a new therapy on an anthroposophical basis. Mayer, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-86783-016-4 .
- ↑ ST Azeemi, SM Raza: A critical analysis of chromotherapy and its scientific evolution. In: Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. Volume 2, No. 4, Dec 2005, pp. 481-8. PMID 16322805
- ↑ Guideline "Diagnostics and Therapy of Hyperbilirubinemia in Newborns" of the AWMF , Reg. No. 024-007, accessed on November 8, 2018.
- ↑ Color therapy: With light against suffering . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . May 9, 2007.
- ↑ Color meridian therapy for paraplegia. at der-quschnitt.de, accessed on May 22, 2018.
- ↑ Susanne Fischer: Brief introduction to color puncture according to Peter Mandel at cromo-pharma.it, accessed on May 22, 2018.
- ↑ Color Puncture and Esogetic Medicine according to Peter Mandel at esogetics.com, accessed on May 22, 2018.
- ↑ color puncture. at taramax.de, accessed on May 22, 2018.
- ↑ Numbers and names of the Aura Soma bottles
- ↑ Trade Mark 2014338, Intellectual Property Office, Great Britain. (ipo.gov.uk , accessed September 11, 2013)