A wonderful exercise for the autumn time is to “fall into color”.
The exercise is inspired by chapter four of Cognitive Yoga by Jesaiah Ben-Aharon (a beautiful book!)
The idea behind the exercise is this:
Just as the perception of smell arises with physical particles entering our nostrils, the perception of color arises with spiritual forces of color entering our souls. The more loving attention we give to each color, the more they can work in us, teach us, nourish us.
I cannot confirm nor deny this theory. It’s not from me, but from the anthroposophists. Regardless, I choose to try it on as belief. It feels true and nice.
The way I “fall into color” is by walking outside and trying to linger longer than usual on the impressions the different colors make on me. I dwell on the beautiful orange in the leaves for as long as I can, then the dark greens, then maybe the brown of the soil, or the often neglected greys and whites of garden stones. Different colors grasp me at different times. Each color has its own personality, it’s own relationship to us. The brown calms and grounds. The grey dries my excesses, bores an empty space. The greens expand me sideways. The red-oranges are surprising, moving, full of hope, and have a delicate, almost tragic beauty, amplified by the seasonality of the experience, a gift to be savored before it’s gone.
The “falling” into color is more of a poetic gesture. You can also think of it as an attuning to, or a dwelling with, or a being with. Being, both with the color and with the impression it makes on us. That is why I enjoy switching colors as I walk. I notice what is constant and what is changing in myself as I move from one color to another, and this helps refine and differentiate the impressions.
More patient and advanced practitioners may benefit more by spending more time with each color. When I’m feeling aristocratic (a few times a year or so), I will take out my neglected watercolors and make color swatches, as slowly and presently as a can, giving my full loving attention to each color, and receiving the nourishment of aesthetic delight in return, and all the unknown mysteries hidden within this aesthetic delight.
The effects of the exercise are often physical. My cells feel filled with this light and buoyant energy. I feel more of my body.
To me, the exercise feels much less accessible with electrical light. I doubt the same subtle forces are at work. Therefore, the exercise is also a good antidote to computer use, with it’s unnatural colors and lighting.
Color therapy has a long tradition. I know it’s practiced in Ayurveda. The more modern alternative, light therapy, is also growing in popularity. Different wavelengths of light can have different effects on our body and hormonal system. Light therapy though can be a bit materialistic: blasting high wattage red light at our testicles to increase sperm production. It feels brutish because it fixates too hard on the physical. I recommend going for a walk and falling into color. I imagine people who get lost in Rothkos have a similar experience.