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By Gao Yinan (People's Daily Online) 10:17, July 17, 2015
Coloring books appear to be taking over bookshelves this summer in China. While drawing between the lines was once reserved for children, coloring is now being used as a form of alternative therapy to help adults relieve stress and anxiety. 25-year-old Yuan Jingya shared her story between her mother and coloring books. Reaction of inner feelings Yuan’s grandmother passed away in January this year. With her mother's death, Yuan’s mother lost all her moorings. She was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. "My mother suffered a lot from insomnia after my grandmother died. With the help of sleeping pills she barely had 2 hours sleep every day. She couldn’t stop crying and refused to speak to family members." Yuan once suggested her mother to see psychiatrists but the suggestion was turned down by her mother because she felt it is embarrassing to talk about family affairs with strangers like most of Chinese people. At that time, Yuan was on the marketing research of coloring book. She learnt that in Europe, adults relieve stress and cure anxiety with coloring books, so she decided to try the art therapy on her. Therefore, Yuan brought home some western coloring books, in which there are 62 simple black and white drawings, including mandala, flowers and birds. Yuan's mother did not reject the proposal and started coloring those patterns with traditional brushes and paints. "I am surprised to see that my mother was fascinated by coloring. Sometimes, she could sit down and be still for hours, coloring one page after another. After two months, she regained smile. And now she is fully recovered." Yuan recalled: "It was out of my expectation completely when my mother chose black color when painting a pattern of sea curl. She told me those waves looked like broken hearts and tears." Meditative effects of coloring After curing her mother, Yuan picked up her own brushes and did coloring. "I put green on surrounding patterns, then I unconsciously turned to yellow, then brown." All of a sudden she seemed to see a circle of four seasons from spring to winter. "In coloring, you’ve got this physical sensation of the tool you’re using touching on the paper. You also have the feeling in your hands and fingers holding pens or brushes, and moving in different rhythms as you fill in the space," Yuan said, "It was like a wonderful meditation when I was totally lost in coloring."
(For the latest China news, Please follow People's Daily on Twitter and Facebook)(Editor:Gao Yinan,Bianji)
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