Unique therapy uses color to heal

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Unique therapy uses color to heal

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In the 21st century, color therapy is gaining popularity. Phark has created his unique style of therapy that involves applying 12 colors to the body on the corresponding 12 meridian lines from oriental medicine. He says the therapy can cure illnesses. [PARK SANG-MOON]

Colors have huge impact on people today. Waves of colorful light surround us everywhere at every moment. The minute we open our eyes in the morning, colors enter our mind.

Amid all of these colors, people are focusing on the health effects. Recently, the area of color therapy is booming. The energy and the character of color are utilized in psychotherapy and other medical treatments.

Not only psychological illnesses but physical diseases are being treated with colors. These therapies are being used to complement treatments such as surgery or medication. Thus, color can be used as the means of assistance like alternative medicine.

Phark Kwang-soo, the head of the Color Therapy Laboratory, is gaining popularity for his unique color therapy. He has created his own style of treatment that goes beyond the original type. After locating the places of energy on the human body, he applies colors as one would use body paint or colored makeup. He says it balances the colors of the body.

Originally, he was an English teacher at a high school. His interest in people’s health was a coincidence. He cured a student suffering from acute indigestion through hand acupuncture. From then on, Phark decided to self-educate himself to be professional acupuncturist. As a result, in 1988 he published “Koryo Hand Acupuncture” in English.

Later, Phark gave up teaching to wholeheartedly concentrate on color therapy. In 2002, he met Yang Ae-ran, a woman who drank only water for more than 50 years. She told him at first sight that he has the ability to cure people. In addition, she told him not to use any kind of painful methods but find treatment that uses light and love. It was a big assignment for him.

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Clockwise from left: Phark Kwang-soo, the head of the Color Therapy Laboratory, colors the body of a patient with a special marker; He applies yellow marker to both legs; Phark’s color therapy uses 12 colors. [PARK SANG-MOON]

In order to understand what Yang said to him, he spent time searching for an answer. Not only did he read Korean traditional medical books, but also researched texts from ancient India. One was on Ayurveda, a system of ancient medicine. In the book, there were instructions on how to use the seven colors of the rainbow. The treatments are generated through combining the colors with the human body. After reading these texts, Phark realized that light means color.

In Korea, there are main five colors: red, yellow, blue, white and black. These five colors represent the five major organs and are used to heal the body by matching the appropriate color to the corresponding organ: blue for liver; red for heart; yellow for spleen; white for lungs; and black for kidneys. In the past Koreans applied these colors through food and herbs to maintain their health. Later on, the traditional color therapy was applied to the decoration of homes as well.

Phark expanded his studies to include the body’s system of 12 meridians from oriental medicine. The passages where the meridians flow have different representative colors. He organized the 12 colors and conducted experiments by painting these colors on the passages instead of using acupuncture. He says he then discovered that these colors help improve the body’s health.

In ancient Egypt, the pharaohs painted their eyes in blue. Blue is a symbol of wealth and power, but people also believed it has the ability to cure eye diseases. So for a long time it was a common color for eye makeup.

In India, colors are also used to treat the body. It is believed that yellow food like curry helps prevent stomach disease. Hence, Phark explains, various cultures have traditions related to colors and health.

But now he wants to turn color therapy into a cultural activity. Going beyond the realm of medical treatment, he believes color can be applied widely in our daily lives. For example, people can wear clothes of certain colors to bring wealth, or place special colored items in the office to increase energy.

The first step toward beauty is making the body healthy. Many people neglect the importance of color but only focus on the act of using makeup, Phark says. If we focus on color as a healing element, then all kinds of colored makeup can be regarded as tools for healing. Thus, if such a belief increases, then the efforts of Phark will not be in vain.

BY PARK SANG-MOON [moonpark@joongang.co.kr]
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