Colour is a wonderful natural force that we can harness to help us lead a happy and healthy life. The different colour wave-lengths found in sunlight permeate our bodies and affect our primary functions including our growth, sleep and appetite, circulation, nervous and immune systems and so when there is a balance of colour energy in our system we feel a zest for life and enjoy good health. Colour and light also affects our mental and emotional state and each colour has a therapeutic quality that can affect the way we think and feel. 

Colour Therapy  is not yet been included as part of any primary health system but there are many instances of its integration into specific health-care treatment plans.  One such instance is the use of Colour within cancer care programme at the Bristol Cancer Care clinic where the use of nutritional therapy, colour visualisations and colour breathing has proved effective in the care of cancer patients.

While undergoing chemotherapy and  often frightening invasive surgery it has been found that complementary health therapies can lend much needed  mental and emotional support.  Using colour visualisations and breathing techniques can assist patients to harness the power of the mind and adopt a positive mental attitude. Some patients have reported that being taught various colour therapy techniques has helped them cope with the fear and pain associated with the disease and its long and difficult treatment.   

As we know, complementary medicine does not always focus on finding cures and a full recovery. Rather it seeks to assist in finding a positive outcome whether it is a  life-changing experience or  helping a person and their family come to terms with death.  In fact, Colour Therapy  can bring understanding and even joy into a person's final days and help alleviate fear associated with the possibility that you may not recover.

Here are two case studies that illustrate different uses of Colour Therapy and different outcomes.

CASE STUDY 1.
Julie was a single mother in her early thirties. She came to me after she had found a lump in her breast which had been diagnosed as malignant. She had agreed to surgery, which was to take place the following week, but felt she also wanted to try a complementary treatment to aid her recuperation after the general anaesthetic.

On the first session, which was prior to her operation, I administered turquoise light, using a colour therapy torch, to the whole chest area and particularly  the thymus gland and heart. In the chakra system, the turquoise wave-length is linked to the immune system. It is also been found to stimulate the thymus gland to produce T-helper cells, which play an active role in the body's defence system. 

After her operation, I concentrated on working with blue light over the wound, in order to encourage healing and the formation of scar tissue. A few weeks later Julie reported that her medical consultant had been amazed with the speed at which her wound healed, and with so little scarring. He had compared Julie's case with another patient who had a similar sized lump removed during the same week.

Julie returned for several more colour therapy treatments which took the form of art therapy. It was important for Julie to discover the emotional aspects of her illness. Through the art therapy, Julie discovered that she needed to resolve certain feelings she had towards her mother. Three years later Julie has been given a clean bill of health and says she is positive that her illness will not recur.

CASE STUDY 2.
Mary came to me in a very distressed state, during the advanced stages of ovarian cancer. She had undergone radiation therapy, with little effect. The size of the cancerous cyst was too large to remove, and the prognosis was poor.  It was clear that Mary's cancer was life-threatening.

As Mary was extremely frightened and alone (her daughter was her only relative, lived abroad).

I decided the best way to proceed was  to teach her some colour breathing techniques using the colour blue, in order to calm her down and help with pain management. I instructed Mary how to use this technique at times when she was fearful and in pain. Once Mary was calm, we discussed her religious faith and the power of prayer. We also talked about the spiritual nature of colour and  ways that divine light can bring comfort and peace.

On her second visit, I took Mary through a colour visualisation, because there have been many documented cases of spontaneous recovery from cancer. In the visualisation Mary focused her attention on the diseased cells and the colour she intuitively related to her illness. She was then asked to focus on the colour of health (in her case deep pink). She was led to imagine the colour of the cancerous cells changing to the colour of health, until she felt that her whole body was glowing clear bright pink. During this session, Mary told me that she had used colour breathing, and that this had allowed her to come to terms with her illness, and that she was taking comfort from her spiritual beliefs. 

Mary was taken into hospital several days later, but I was unable to visit her. Later, I was contacted by her friend, Tara, to say that she had passed away. Tara was convinced that the colour breathing had eased the pain  and that the visualisations had aided the dying process.
There are many caring and qualified Colour Therapists who have turned to colour therapy after having survived cancer themselves and some like myself believe that the use of colour therapy opened the way for spontaneous healing to take place. Whatever the outcome Colour Therapy can  bring joy and light into your life and help you find love and peace within yourself.

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