Very few people would deny that daily life gets overwhelming—it’s why a lot of us struggle with chronic stress and anxiety. Too many stressors can leave our bodies in continual “fight-or-flight” mode, which affects our ability to function. We end up struggling to make decisions, we’re in a bad mood, and we might even be mean toward people who don’t deserve it.
To take yourself out of this mental space, you may need to practice a grounding technique like a color walk. Grounding techniques get you out of a negative headspace and ground you in the present moment by helping you intentionally focus on your sensory surroundings. Color walks are the latest mental wellness trend that let you do exactly that while getting physical activity.
Here’s how it works:
Go for a walk—it could be around your neighborhood, around your office complex, at a local park, or anywhere convenient.
Choose a color—it can be any color, but keep it general. (For example, choose blue instead of a specific shade of blue.)
Keep an eye out—look for anything that is the color you chose. Try to see how many objects you can identify.
Switch it up on future walks—when you choose a different color, you challenge yourself to look for things you didn’t see last time. If you run out of general colors, choose a specific shade to look out for (or choose a different place to walk).
Why does this work?
Even with its simple premise, a color walk is a popular option for people trying to improve their mental health because it gives you a specific task that’s unrelated to other stressors in your day. It requires very little thought but focuses your attention on what’s actually in front of you. You’re not required to see a specific number of items, so it doesn’t matter whether you identify one sight that’s your chosen color or a hundred.
Research shows grounding practices like color walks help us regulate our moods, control our emotional responses, and clear our minds for better focus on what actually matters.
Plus, you’ll be getting physical activity while you walk, which boosts your energy and releases endorphins.
Tip: Need to switch it up? If you’ve already been through a full rotation of colors on your walks, or you’re walking through somewhere without a lot of color variety, give yourself a different challenge. You could focus on objects that start with a specific letter, or you could focus on other senses, such as sounds or smells.
