Adult colouring books

Adult colouring books are everywhere these days, and they present all kinds of diverse imagery. Some stores are selling books that feature giant swear words covered in flowers, others depict enchanted forests or dream-like cities. According to a Washington Post article, an estimated 12 million colouring books were sold in the United States in 2015 alone. I’m not immune – I have at least five that I use frequently. These books, primarily used as basic stress relievers, are making a huge difference for people’s physical and mental health. They’ve been an especially wonderful self-care tool for those with mental health issues.

Colouring and art as a form of mindfulness is not a new phenomenon. At a Zine festival in Ottawa, I met an artist who creates colouring books and can attest to that. Sarah Mangle is an artist, life drawing model, daycare teacher, workshop facilitator, advice columnist, and copy editor living in Montreal who teaches private and group art lessons to adults. “Adult colouring books have actually been around for decades,” she says. “The original ones that were the most popular were the Mandala Books. They were available at occult and women’s bookstores.” Colouring books can be traced back to Tibetan Buddhist Monks, who created Mandalas as a way to enter a “flow” mental state in their quest for enlightenment. The Monks created beautiful, intricate designs out of coloured sand as a form of meditation. The same mental state that comes from meditation can be reached through colouring. The books have exploded in popularity in recent years. Sarah attributes the recent popularity to market creation. “Big publishers saw the potential for a new market and invested a lot in it” she says.  

Sarah has been an artist all of her life. The first colouring book she created was The Affirmations Colouring Book, which is now being republished in French. The book offers adorable illustrations of animals saying comforting affirmations to the reader. Sarah decided to use affirmations because she says they are “ways to hope when you don’t have any.” Since, she has opened her Etsy shop, SarahMangle, and sells comics, postcards, and another colouring book. Through her unique art, Sarah says she  tries to “bring comfort and joy to people’s lives,” and her colouring books absolutely spread this message. They make you feel like you’ve been wrapped in a warm hug.

According to Sarah, art is essential to mental health. “Art making is often tactile,” she says, “Tactile things, sensory things, connect us to our bodies and our breath. Remind us we have bodies. Bring us to the present moment. And in that way, art making can help soothe, help bring us back into our bodies.” Other than being comforting, using adult colouring books actually has physical effects on our brains. Colouring has been shown to cause a similar brain state to meditation. It is a ways to switch off the brain and replace negative imagery and thoughts with positive ones. Our heart rate and respiration slows down, our muscles loosen, and our brain becomes stimulated. Colouring causes reduced anxiety, calming sensations, and can even improve sleep or be a boost to fine motor skills. Sarah says that “colouring is relaxing mostly because it’s tactile and repetitive. The lines on the pages provides spaces that need to be filled. The action is soothing.” She says it’s an invitation to be creative in welcoming, non-judgemental ways.

The popularity of these books is not just growing in individual homes. Sarah’s colouring books and others like them are being used in unexpected places. “People are using them as peer support groups in prisons, schools, shelters, therapy waiting rooms, hair salons and lawyer’s offices,” Sarah says, “To me, that tells me my books are effective and no big multinational company is making money off of them. That’s important to me.”

So, whether it’s a colouring book that features whimsical creatures from under the sea or Canadian National Parks, picking up a colouring book and spending even just a few minutes colouring is one of the best things you can do for self-care time.