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Color Your World

May 24, 2010 •

Interview view of Seattle Yoga Arts' new studio

Col­orists, inte­rior design­ers and other experts know how to influ­ence moods and atti­tu­di­nal state by the col­ors that sur­round peo­ple at work, at home or at play. I was reminded of the power of color at yesterday’s Anusara yoga class.

Before class, we were all buzzing about the energy we feel in Seat­tle Yoga Arts’ new venue (shown above).

The stu­dio is vibrant, alive with heart-warm­ing hues: reds, oranges, pinks, mus­tard yel­lows, and pur­ple accents. The play­ful inte­rior offers a huge (and wel­come) con­trast to the orig­i­nal stu­dio a few blocks north. While this ener­giz­ing palette may not be opti­mal for inspir­ing med­i­ta­tion or con­tem­pla­tion, it fires our asanas. An appro­pri­ate choice for Anusara’s heart-cen­tered phi­los­o­phy.

As one color expert writes,

…Red sug­gests the very ebb and flow of life. It is the most vis­cer­ally alive hue, the sym­bolic color of the heart, strong-willed and express­ing strong emo­tions. It may com­mand us to stop but at the same time encour­ages move­ment. Phys­i­o­log­i­cally, red is a call to the adren­a­line glands to get the body and senses acti­vated.

—Leatrice Eise­man, Color: Mes­sages and Mean­ings

Dri­ving home, still pon­der­ing the impact of color, I recalled two starkly dif­fer­ent office envi­ron­ments from ear­lier in my career, back in my Sil­i­con Val­ley days.

Apple’s col­or­ful, care­fully designed office envi­ron­ments were a play­ful but ener­giz­ing con­trast to HP’s drab office spaces and linoleum floors. HP’s office always made me think of a house that was func­tional, but unloved. Although sep­a­rated by only 2 miles, they were oceans apart in terms of cor­po­rate cul­ture and design sen­si­bil­i­ties. Apple’s envi­ron­ment stim­u­lated my brain and inspired me to do my best; HP’s depressed me into a low-energy, dull and plod­ding state — one I couldn’t wait to leave.

About This Blog

Reflec­tions on life, travel, books, and yoga. Think­ing out loud about the pur­suit of mind­ful­ness and well-being.

Learn­ing how to recover from the loss of a beloved spouse, and then to find a trans­for­ma­tive path for­ward.

About Me

Semi-retired marketing exec, transitioning from a career in high tech. Now "managed" by two Tonkinese cats. Missing travel and friends on the West Coast. Avid reader and foodie. Staying active with long walks, biking, kayaking and yoga.

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