A 2-Minute Color Breathing Exercise to Banish Negative Thoughts

Have you ever noticed that negative thoughts seem to stick around a lot longer than positive ones? Quieting concerns or anxieties can be a challenge, but a bit of mindfulness can help.

Mindfulness is the practice of being present, and it combats negative thoughts by encouraging us to live in the moment, according to the American Psychological Association.

Deep breathing, a popular mindfulness exercise, can be practiced anywhere and at any time to help bring about feelings of relaxation by lowering your heart rate, decreasing high blood pressure and reducing tension when you feel stressed, per the University of Michigan Medicine.

One easy and energizing method is called color breathing. Here's how it helps bring about calm, and how to get started.

Color therapy, also known as chromotherapy, encourages you to focus on color in an effort to be in the present moment and combat feelings of discomfort, anxiety, depression and stress.

A June 2018 study in ​Medical Acupuncture​ found that after engaging in color therapy, 93 percent of participants — all of whom were experiencing some kind of trauma — experienced a positive response.

Color therapy, combined with intentional breathing, can help instill a sense of calm and relaxation when intense emotions arise. It's particularly helpful for dealing with stress, which puts the body in "fight or flight" mode.

Deep breaths spark your body's parasympathetic nervous system, which reverses the stress response by slowing the heart rate, lowering blood pressure and calming the mind, according to Harvard Health Publishing.

Color breathing is a simple breathing technique that you can use at any time to trigger a relaxation response, Sophie Mort, a clinical psychologist based in the UK, tells LIVESTRONG.com.

This form of color therapy entails taking long breaths and visualizing a certain color that has meaning to you — because it represents either how you want to feel or a feeling you'd like to let go.

"I recommend that my clients use color breathing any time they notice tension rising in their body (if their shoulders [and] neck feel tense or their chest feels tight), when they feel anxious or angry and when they can't sleep," Mort says.

This technique is both customizable and flexible. To start, choose a color that represents the mood you wish to feel; for example, blue or green might help induce calm, while yellow is tied to confidence, according to Color Psychology.

Don't get too caught up in choosing the "right" color — rather, "simply choose a color you like and that feels soothing to you," Mort says.

Once you've got a hue in mind, follow these steps:

1. Start by closing your eyes and taking three slow, deep breaths, down into your diaphragm — the lower part of your ribs. (Find tips for mindful breathing below.)
2. Visualize the color of your choice. Imagine that you are breathing the color into your body with every inhale.
3. Imagine the color spreading through your body, all the way to your fingers and toes with every exhale.
4. If you notice your mind wandering (which is normal), simply come back to the color.
5. Keep visualizing the color and notice any sensations or new feelings that arise.
6. Repeat for two minutes or longer, if you'd like. There is no minimum time to achieve the benefits of this practice — any amount of time can cultivate relaxation in your body.
7. When you are ready, open your eyes and come back to the room.

Mort recommends practicing this once a day — not only during stressful moments, but during moments of calm, too. A consistent routine will allow you to master this coping mechanism, so you can call on it when you need it most.

There are many ways other than color breathing to achieve a state of calm. If this technique doesn't feel right, you may want to try other deep-breathing skills or other relaxation exercises.

"Try a meditative practice like focusing on your breath, a color or a mantra," says Mort. "The most important thing is to have a mechanism to ground yourself in the present moment, which over time stops us being whisked away into our worry thoughts about the future or fears about the past."