We live in a world of energy. There are many different ways we experience energy in our day-to-day lives—from singing out loud, while driving to work, to using hydro-electricity for our power. For the most part, we don’t notice the many forms of energy around us because we are busy and we don’t always know about them, or we can’t sense or see them.
But even the energy that most of us see, all the time, may come as a surprise. Just look out the window at the Autumn leaves changing colour from green to yellow to red. Yes! Colour is energy!
In the category of radiant energy, alongside the sunshine that fuels the very life force on this planet, visible light, or colour, is one of the more obvious ways we experience energy every day!
Colour may only occupy a small space along a much broader spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, but it really is the water most of us swim in, so to speak―so why not take a closer look at colour and how we relate with it? Besides, there is no better time of year to embrace the colour around us than the changing season.
When we focus on the visible spectrum of colour, we find that colours have varying wavelengths. When we look at a rainbow, for example, we see the different wavelengths of colour in a row—from the longest, red, followed by orange; then yellow and green in the middle; then blue and indigo and ending with the shortest, violet.
Let’s contemplate the changing colours of the fall leaves with the example of the rainbow above. We can notice that the colours are shifting from shorter wavelengths of green, to slightly longer and longer wavelengths of yellow, orange and red.
When a leaf is green, it is absorbing all the wavelengths of the visible spectrum except for the green ones. And as the leaf dies, the wavelengths of light it absorbs and reflects shift to the longer wavelengths on the spectrum.
What’s going on inside the leaves that brings about this colour change?
In the spring and summer months, the cells within the leaves have chloroplasts which create chlorophyll to aid in photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the ultimate energy transformation of light energy into chemical energy. Chlorophyll, which is needed to absorb the sunlight, has a green pigment, so it makes the leaves appear green to our eyes.
When the weather becomes cooler and the days shorter, the trees respond to the fast-approaching winter. The chlorophyll becomes dormant and the tree breaks it down into molecules to save energy for next spring. As the chlorophyll breaks down, other pigments in the leaves start to show, such as xanthophylls and carotenoids, creating yellow, orange and gold colours. Some plants produce another pigment called anthocyanins, manufactured from sugars in the leaves, which can cause the reds, pinks and purples. Then leaves turn brown when there are no more photo-sensitive pigments and only tannins left.
In addition to getting out there and admiring the colourful burst before winter, there are various ways we can understand our relationship with colour and how it might affect us. Some use intuition, some tradition, and some use western science to measure the effects of colour wavelengths on our minds, emotions and bodies.
Another way we might relate is by exploring the energy within us.
Chakras, derived from Eastern philosophy, are energy centers throughout our bodies. We have seven main centers located along the spine center, from the base of the spine to the top of the head. Each chakra has its own density, vibration and colour, as they each represent our varying needs.
Like the green summer leaves, the heart chakra of love and compassion is also green, known as a peaceful colour—maybe because it rests within the middle of the visible light spectrum, so our eyes can easily process it.
Similar to the changing colour of the fall leaves, as we move down our bodies, we move into the longer wavelengths of the visible spectrum. From the green heart, we move into the yellow solar plexus chakra located between the naval and sternum. This energy center is the home of our personal power, self-love and self-esteem. Then, we move down into the orange sacral chakra, located two inches below the belly button, the home of our creativity, emotional state and sexuality. Then farther down into our red root chakra, at the base of the spine, where we may ground and find our inner safety.
Some practitioners of yoga and the chakras believe that moving up through the chakra system is the journey to liberation, while moving down through the chakra system is the journey to manifestation. As the leaves change colours into longer wavelengths, we, too, might be inspired to venture energetically into our lower chakras and to shift our focus into manifesting what we want to experience.
With the colder weather and shorter days, along with our movement to lower chakras and warmer colours, we may feel the need to prioritize our physical well-being and make sure our basic needs are met so we can live through the winter in the best way possible. Indeed, red, orange and yellow are said to be activating colours for our nervous systems. Perhaps our activated response to these colours comes from an age-old seasonal relationship whereby the colours signal to us to hurry up and harvest and to complete our projects before the winter kicks in.Soon we will be surrounded by a blanket of white snow. The plain white of snow might feel a bit drab compared with the brilliant show of fall colours. However, one way we can re-experience the white landscape is to remember that the snow is, in fact, fully reflecting and scattering all the visible wavelengths of light―like an invisible rainbow.
