Mental Health and Color Walking

Mental health can be unpredictable: one moment you’re fine, and the next, it feels like everything’s falling apart.

I’ve dealt with generalized anxiety and panic disorder for more than ten years. Although I’ve learned to cope better through medication, mindfulness, and therapy, there are still times when my symptoms resurface unexpectedly.

This happened recently, after several months of feeling quite stable.

My anxiety often shows up physically with discomfort, nausea, and heart palpitations, alongside the racing thoughts and fear typical of the condition.

However, life doesn’t pause for these episodes, and, importantly, my dog still needs his walks.

Having struggled with agoraphobia before, it’s crucial for me to keep leaving the house, even if it’s just for short trips, to prevent my world from closing in. Walking my dog not only helps with this but also serves as a bit of exercise and quality time together.

In the mental state I was in, I really needed something to divert my attention from my spiraling thoughts and make the idea of going outside less overwhelming. That’s when I discovered color walking.

What is Color Walking?

The concept of color walking is quite straightforward: you pick a color and try to find it as you walk.

A TikTok creator named Jaz Hand illustrates this well by searching for yellow during her walks.

You can take pictures or simply take a mental note of where you see the color, taking a moment to appreciate it as you go.

This trend encourages participants to reflect on the color, observe its various shades, and consider how it interacts with the surrounding environment, light, and texture.

Engaging in this way helps you connect with your surroundings and notice the finer details.

How Color Walking Helped Me

After successfully trying out walking yoga, I thought I’d explore a similar mindful approach, but one that would keep me less aware of my physical discomfort.

Seeing some colleagues dabble in color walking, I figured it might be a good fit for me. So, I put on my walking shoes, grabbed my dog’s leash, and set off to find yellow items.

It Gave Me Something to Focus On

I can trigger panic attacks while just sitting in a dark room—it’s a result of my thoughts spiraling without a clear cause.

Mindful practices are beneficial here because they can break the cycle of those thoughts before they escalate, replacing the worry with something more constructive.

Instead of fixating on my anxiety, I was focused on spotting yellow. And I found it in unexpected places: yellow centers in blue flowers, a flash of yellow on a green woodpecker’s tail, even some graffiti on a bin. I became so engrossed in my search that my anxiety faded into the background.

By the time I returned home, I felt calmer, happier, and accomplished—all significant wins for a tough mental health day.

It Cheered Me Up

I picked yellow as my color because it’s been my favorite since childhood. The bright hues reminiscent of sunflowers and lemons always brighten my mood, and I tend to paint my nails yellow when I’m feeling low.

It’s also one of the first colors of spring around here, popping up in daffodils and buttercups, and symbolizes the promise of brighter days ahead.

Looking for little splashes of yellow made me realize just how prevalent it is, and that lifted my spirits despite the ongoing anxiety.

It Helped Me Manage My Anxiety

Managing anxiety can take many forms. While I lean toward holistic methods like mindfulness, I do require medication as well.

Yet, relying on a strong benzodiazepine every time I step outside isn’t practical or healthy—it’s a dependency-building medication that I avoid unless absolutely necessary.

So, instead of taking a pill before heading out, I started in my kitchen, which is filled with yellow pots, pans, and plants. I began my color walk indoors, searching for yellow in my home before making my way outside.

This transitional phase helped ease me into the experience without feeling overwhelmed. By seeing it as simply “looking for yellow” rather than facing the daunting task of “going out into a world with all sorts of potential triggers,” the fear dissipated, making it manageable.

I relied on color walks during that challenging week, and plan to continue using them on difficult days to help maintain a sense of calm, comfort, and maybe even a bit of joy.