Does your child need color therapy?

By | Wednesday, March 19, 2008

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The old proverb "Each child arrives with loaf of bread under his arms" is not so true in Hollywood, where babies apparently need much more than attentive parents and a quiet place to sleep.

Unless, of course, the loaf was specially baked by an in-house baker with organic, gluten-free flour.

Take diva Jennifer Lopez, who reportedly has spent more than $1 million on the recent arrival of her twins, Max and Emme. The high price tag includes extra security, a baby masseuse, 600-count Egyptian cotton crib sheets and a color therapist.

A what?

Yes, a color therapist. Miss Lopez "has gone all out to give the twins an amazing childhood," a source told the United Kingdom's Daily Mirror newspaper. "She hired a color therapist to paint the nursery a beautiful aquamarine and light blue — colors which are supposed to have intelligence-boosting properties."

Color therapy is actually an ancient practice currently in vogue in New Agey circles. In the scientific world, not so much.

Color therapy is based on creating balance and enhancing energy. If one uses the seven colors of the light spectrum, along with proper placement on each chakra of the body, these colors resonate with the body's own healing energies to alleviate stress, headaches or whatever is ailing you.

"Basically, color is all around us," says Lilian Verner Bonds, a British color therapist and author of 10 books on the subject. "It affects the body emotionally and physically. The human body is intensely keyed to color. We are swamped with it from the moment we are born. Every color reveals about 200 meanings."

In other words, pink and blue won't cut it for baby's room anymore. Ms. Verner Bonds says start with white or possibly cream.

"White resembles mother's milk and nourishment," she says, "but you don't want too much of any one color. You don't want to OD on it."

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