Rainbow Therapy: The Power of Color to Shift Our Moods and Inspire Our Desires

Photographs by Chef Christine Moss

Whether the season or your mood feels a bit flat, an infusion of color in your diet and/or space can uplift, shift and inspire

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I love all colors and colorful things. I suppose that’s partly why I was given the nickname of the ‘Resident Unicorn’...no complaints here, I’ll take it.

During the month of February in the Hudson Valley in upstate New York, things can begin to feel a bit monochromatic — life, our moods and even our food. Everything seems to be in the range of browns and grays; bare tree branches, cold crisp pavement, and that layer of brown silt that seems to coat everything from boot bottoms to cars. I say a little rainbow therapy is just what the doctor ordered to keep our spirits uplifted and our insides healthy and strong.

Rainbow therapy can be interpreted in many ways. For me, it’s about delighting the senses. For someone else it could be associated with energy techniques that are designed to bring the body into higher frequency and balance. Maybe it’s all of it — either way I believe that color is medicinal.

Maybe it’s why when I’m not in the kitchen, I’m also creating art: mosaics amongst my favorite. There’s something magical about taking broken pieces of color and reassembling them into art. My kitchen is often a symphony of color as well, especially when I bring the outside natural world inside. Mushrooms in particular amaze me — they can literally be found in every color under the sun, whether edible or to simply be admired as nature’s beautiful eye candy.

What’s your favorite color? Are you surrounded by it? If not, why? Life is meant to be celebrated. Listen to your soul’s whisper and indulge yourself. Maybe you even want to go so far as to paint a wall in your house with a burst of color? Below, is a list of colors, foods and things that I personally like to incorporate into my diet, view on my plate or that I just find visually pleasing. Write your own list and see what feelings emerge. Don’t judge it, just put it down on paper and witness how it makes you feel.

Here’s mine:

Red: raspberries, pomegranates, cranberries, radishes, crayons, carnations

(love, passion, energy, action, motivation, emotion, creativity)

Orange: carrots, papaya, tomatoes, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, daylilies

(warmth, balance, abundance, happiness, optimism)

Yellow: sunflowers (seeds), squashes, bananas, lemons, starfruit, butterflies

(sunshine, creativity, uplifting, confidence, joy, sparkles)

Green: broccoli, celery, pistachios, pine trees, ferns & fiddleheads, hummingbirds

(renewal, growth, harmony, refreshing, radiant)

Blue: blue potatoes, blueberries, blue corn tortilla chips, denim skirts, the ocean

(calm, expanding, soothing, peaceful, rest)

 Indigo: purple yams, purple asparagus, blackberries, figs, indigo (dye plant)

(wisdom, spiritual, intuition, satiated, meditative)

Violet: purple cauliflower, purple cabbage, lavender, candles

(kindness, mystery, magical, sensitive, tenderness)

Go on, add some color to your plate or within your living space. Witness how a burst of color can infuse new vibrancy into your spirit. While winter’s color palette has its own depth of beauty, there’s nothing like a burst of color to shake things up. Give it a whirl and I’ll meet you somewhere over the rainbow!

—Chef Christine Moss, The Garden Cafe Woodstock