Spontaneous: In this approach, set an ongoing intention to remain open to receiving messages from any color’s energy. You can write down this intention and keep it somewhere visible, or just remind yourself of your intention in the morning before you start your day. Doing so allows the universe to highlight the color whose energy you need the most in any given moment. If you start to notice pink all over the place, your higher self may be letting you know you need to be kinder to yourself and less self-critical. As you get more comfortable working with color in this way, you will start to receive messages on how to best care for yourself and your spirit. Our world is so filled with color, and it will become second nature to notice which shades jump out at you, depending on what you need. If you see your color of the week manifesting itself, take a picture of it with your smartphone and watch the signs begin to add up. If you post it on the social network of your choice, make sure to use the hashtag #YourLifeInColor. Aside from giving me a chance to support you, it is a great way to connect with others like yourself who are exploring color energy.
COLOR AFFIRMATIONS
Affirmations (also known as mirror work) involve repeating a positive message to ourselves so that it replaces negative self-talk. This practice was made famous by Louise Hay’s fabulous book You Can Heal Your Life. I bought that book as a teenager and it has helped me to overcome many self-created limitations. My twist on this idea is to use color affirmations, which involve repeating the intended energy behind the color you are working with. For instance, the color affirmation I suggest using with gold is “I am powerful and stand in my own light.”
If you have never tried doing mirror work, it might feel a bit unusual to look in the mirror and repeat positive messages to yourself. And yet those of us who struggle with self-esteem walk the planet repeating awful stories about ourselves constantly. Color affirmations are a powerful way to replace negative thought patterns with more positive, productive messages. The best part is these messages will be augmented every time you see that color in your life.
Look in the mirror and repeat the color affirmation out loud to yourself several times. Make sure to look deeply into your own eyes as you say it. I personally don’t think there is a specific number of times you must say an affirmation to yourself, but I do recommend saying it multiple times a day as you work with each color. The more you say your affirmation, the more it will penetrate into your consciousness.
PHYSICAL ACTIVATION
A color prop is any physical item we use to intentionally magnify a specific color’s energy. You will be seeing these throughout the book with every color. Physical activation can be done in a very cost-effective way and will easily bring visual delight. I also love that it allows you to really personalize your color experience with items that you already own. You probably already have a favorite green shirt, pink rose quartz crystal, or purple mug. Color props are a fun, physical way to incorporate the energy of whichever color you are using into your daily routine.
Select an item you plan to use as a color prop. This can be an item you already own or something new that you purchase specifically for this purpose.
Infuse the color prop with your intention by holding it in your hands, closing your eyes, and really focusing on the meaning behind the color. You can also take this moment to say the affirmation listed for that color. For example, with white you would say “I am cleansed by the white light.”
Whenever you want a dose of the color’s energy, touch your color prop and remind yourself of its energy. You can also repeat your affirmation (out loud or in your head) and take a deep breath to draw in more of this color’s energy.
In this highly connected world, social media is a fun way for us to increase our energy awareness. To spread this color’s energy, take a photo of the color prop that you are using and share it online with the hashtag #YourLifeInColor. I love to see the unique ways that people think of to empower themselves through color. Also, I love to interact and will probably respond to you myself!
Finally, I want to clarify my personal beliefs about color props. Although I have used them for years and have witnessed their benefits in my clients, I do not think color props possess some kind of otherworldly power. It is your intention to infuse them with color energy that makes them powerful.
OBSERVING YOUR ACTIVATIONS
When I am working with any color, I like to keep a journal to see how frequently I receive these messages. If you would like to give this a try, get a journal and list the times the color appeared. Make sure to note what you were focused on and how you were feeling in the moment you spotted the color. For example:
11:45 A.M.: Ran into Jen as I was taking a break from trying to finish designing my website. I had been feeling frustrated with myself for being so indecisive about the homepage. She was wearing an emerald green sweater. Reminder to trust my creative decisions.
The reason it is important to note how you are feeling in that moment is the color may have a message pertaining to what you are going through.
SHADOW SIDES
As you activate each color, you may notice that some feel really good, while others may feel somewhat uncomfortable. This is completely normal and is in fact a good thing. It means you are challenging your soul’s current energy to step out of its comfort zone. If you have ever gone to therapy, you know that certain topics will be painful or uncomfortable to talk about, even though doing so helps you grow. I call this discomfort the shadow sides of colors.
There is a good chance that if you really dislike a specific color, it is because you need to work on yourself in that area and bring its shadow side into the light. The universe is funny like that. Even if we want to avoid facing a certain aspect of ourselves, it shows up in our aura like a traffic signal pointing out what we need to do.
Think of it like starting a brand-new exercise regimen. If you are out of shape and start taking spin classes, your first few days will probably feel awful. You will sweat like a crazy person and may run out of breath. Your body and brain will tell you to stop torturing them. Wouldn’t it be more fun to quit this silly program and go watch some television? Of course it would be easier to do that, because challenging yourself to do something new is never as easy as staying in the same place. But if you can just keep going to the spin class for a few more days, your body will adjust. You will discover the joys of an exercise-fueled endorphin rush. Your mood will improve, and you will become healthier.
If you do find yourself emotionally triggered by certain colors, I urge you to continue exploring. You may be close to having a color-fueled breakthrough.
CHAPTER 2
WHITE
QUALITIES: Spiritual cleansing and clarity
SHADOW SIDE: Feeling overwhelmed by responsibility; having difficulty releasing clutter
Providing a burst of spirituality and clarity, white is the universe’s all-purpose cleanser. We all have a product in our home that can clean just about every surface. It works in the kitchen, in the bathroom, and on the windows, and can even remove stains from our clothes! White has similar properties in that it helps to neutralize and balance every aspect of our being. White shines so brightly and at such a high vibration that it is the perfect place to begin our journey with color.
I always advise my clients to start the process of working with color by utilizing white. I find it to be the easiest color for beginners to envision because, as Isaac Newton discovered through his use of a prism, white is actually composed of various other colors in the visible spectrum. Therefore, white contains a balanced combination of each color’s traits. I have found that everyone who focuses on white will find an element that resonates for them.
White is an important color for almost all major religions, often worn as a symbol of purity. Christian babies wear white during baptism, and the Pope wears white during public ceremonies. Jewish men wear a ceremonial white linen kittel to symbolize purity, while Kundalini yogis wear white cotton caps to help expand their auras and practice
mindfulness. Outside of religion, doctors wear white lab coats to emphasize their meticulous attention to cleanliness and to instill a sense of calm competency. I enjoy wearing white when I am writing, as it clears my mind and primes my consciousness to share my truth. White is also the color most commonly associated with cleanliness, new beginnings, and the greater good.
White can be used whenever we need to cleanse our energy quickly, such as while stuck in a stressful traffic jam or when nursing a cranky baby. It has saved me during a flight, when the airline passenger next to me decided to paint her nails. If you are feeling lethargic, uninspired, or run-down, white can help.
Imagine you want to clean out a cluttered room in your house. You would walk into the room and turn on the light. This white light shines on everything, allowing you to see which items need to be kept and which ones should be thrown out. This is exactly how it works when we use white on ourselves. The white light illuminates the parts of our being needing attention as well as the parts that can be released.
Various cultures incorporate white to symbolize transition. In the United States, brides wear white to invoke a sense of purity and new beginnings. Most of us look at a radiant bride beaming at her new partner and cannot help but feel hopeful at the life they are embarking upon together. In addition, people who survive a near-death experience will often describe a vision of being pulled toward a white light. In Asian cultures, white is often associated with death and mourning. I have many Japanese clients, and some of them are hesitant to work with white due to superstitious associations with death. But to me, birth and death are two sides of the same coin. Each event marks the end of one chapter and the renewal, or beginning, of another.
When using white, we intend to create a fresh start in whatever we focus on. White represents a new chapter and a new set of intentions, creating a sense of clarity in our lives.
White was particularly useful for Charmaine, a new coaching client who had made an appointment with me through my website. New clients start with an introductory session over the phone, where we discuss their goals and I intuitively connect with their energy to find the best path forward. The colors I see around them will often tell me the areas where we should focus. At the stroke of 1 P.M., I dial her number to connect for our first session.
“Hello, is this Dougall?” says a soft voice, slightly breaking up on the other end.
“Hi Charmaine, this is Dougall. Are you on a cell phone?” I ask.
“I—don’t—have—a landline,” she responds.
Cell phones are a growing pet peeve of mine, as clients will sometimes use them to have sessions in the most random places. I’ve had clients call me from the mall, from a crowded carpool full of people, from the supermarket, and even in line at the post office! But the best way to benefit from a session is to be in a quiet place where you can really focus on the information coming through.
As Charmaine speaks, I can immediately sense that not only is she on a cell phone, but she is also distracted. I can hear the sound of rushing wind as well as a radio playing in the background.
“Charmaine, are you driving right now?”
She immediately bursts into tears. “I couldn’t . . . find the time. I have to pick my kids up from school, and I got a late start to the day. Everything feels upside down and . . .”
Charmaine explains her current situation in less than three minutes. I ask her to pull over for a moment so we can focus for a bit. I have always found the first three minutes of a session, whether it’s coaching or a reading, are very telling of a person’s life. In this situation, we have a client who can’t find 30 minutes for herself. She is already emotional, and all I have done is greet her. We haven’t even begun the process of working together yet, but energetically, things are already happening. This is the part of energy work that I love. Our life circumstances often bring about the learning process our souls need in order to evolve, all without our even knowing it.
“Okay, I just pulled into my kids’ school parking lot. And I have about twenty-five minutes before they come out,” Charmaine manages to say through her tears.
“Perfect. Why don’t we take a moment and just center our energy together for a minute. Let’s close our eyes. Take a few deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. And very slowly, in your mind, I want you to repeat your own name.”
Charmaine stays quiet for about one full minute and struggles with my request. “It feels strange to say my own name, like it’s egotistical somehow. I’d prefer to say the name of my spirit guide.”
“I appreciate that, Charmaine, and normally that would be a great way to connect with higher consciousness, but let’s talk about what’s going on in this present moment. This is our first session together for coaching, and what I know so far is that you started crying because you clearly have a lot on your plate. You stated you don’t have any time for yourself, and that is why you called from your car. You mentioned your life feels upside down, yet once you got to school to pick up your kids, you realized you were twenty-five minutes early. What does that say to you?”
Charmaine starts laughing. “I guess I do have the time. I just didn’t realize it because I am always rushing to be early.”
“Exactly. This is why I want you to breathe and chant your own name. When we enter into a space for a reading, coaching, therapy, or even exercise, we must first align and center our energy. By repeating our name to ourselves, we connect to our own energy and not the energy of those around us.”
During an introductory coaching call, I always ask my new clients what their goals are. They list the parts of their life they would like to change, and together we come up with a plan. Charmaine gives me a synopsis of where she is right now. Recently separated, she has been a stay-at-home mom for the past eight years. Charmaine also takes care of her elderly mother, who lives near her.
“My main goal is to find a career. I don’t know what to do with my life. I will be receiving alimony from the divorce and a small settlement, but it’s not enough for me to live the life I want to live. I have been out of work for years, and I just feel like I have nothing to offer the world.”
“‘I have nothing to offer the world,’” I repeat back to her. “Those are very strong words. Is that really how you feel?”
Charmaine starts crying again. “I don’t know, Dougall. It sounds terrible when you repeat it, but I have been in a failing marriage for so long. I wanted so badly for it to work, and yet I know in my heart it wasn’t right for me. I just can’t seem to remember who I am without being a wife or a mom. That is my identity.”
As Charmaine explains her life, she instantly becomes a perfect candidate for white in my mind. Here we have a clearly productive and compassionate woman. She is early to pick up her kids and is a loving mother. Even the words she uses to describe her soon-to-be ex-husband are kind and understanding. However, her energy is cluttered with the needs of other people, resulting in a sense of not knowing who she is. What she needs is clarity.
“I just want you to tell me what to do,” she says.
I understand her feelings, but my goal with clients is always to empower their innate intuition. “Charmaine, the first thing we need to do is to reconnect with your energy. From what I have heard so far, you seem very overstimulated. You are going through a divorce. You have several people in your life that need your attention, and, most importantly, you need a job in order to provide for your family. Is this correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Okay, our first homework assignment is for you to just work with the white light.”
I explain to Charmaine that white is the color of spirituality and clarity. White would be perfect to use in this confusing time. Charmaine is so busy with the needs of others that our first focus is to teach her how to spend some time during the day connecting with herself. I instruct her how to activate the white light and ground it through her body.
“After we ground the white light, I think
it would be interesting if you asked the color to remind you what you have to offer the planet.”
“You mean ask my spirit guides?” Charmaine asks.
People love spirit guides. All day long, I am asked for names of people’s spirit guides and descriptions of what these guides look like. So here’s the thing: I love the idea of traveling with a spiritual glam squad as much as the next person. It seems totally fun to have a team in the ether supporting me, helping me along my journey, and connecting me to higher wisdom, and to have my archangel spirit guides protecting me from bad decisions.
However, while this is perhaps a controversial statement, I think our brains sometimes invent spirit guides because we subconsciously want to give our power away. We want to believe someone out there is always watching over us and making things happen. And while I do believe a greater power is always protecting us, this universal energy exists inside of us and always has.
What I am trying to say is you can be your own spirit guide if you are open to it. Ultimately, we are all made up of energy. Our essence, our soul, our vibration are part of a much larger universal framework, and I feel it is the same with our intuition. We are all surrounded by a tremendously loving voice of guidance. It is not broken up into separate entities that only exist outside of us. We can absorb this guidance whenever we want, just like a plant that is nourished by the light of the sun.
Back to Charmaine.
“No, not your spirit guide,” I tell her. “You are going to ask the energy, or, in this case, the color that we choose to focus on, for wisdom.”
“That’s it? That’s all I have to do?”
“That’s it.”
Your Life in Color Page 3
