Try colouring to relax

Sitting and colouring helps people focus and reduces anxiety

Relive your childhood and break out the colouring books. Photograph: Thinkstock
Relive your childhood and break out the colouring books. Photograph: Thinkstock

The adult colouring book market is booming. The books are marketed as stress reducers and play to our sense of nostalgia. Many people claim that sitting down with some coloured pencils helps them focus, reduces anxiety and is akin to mindfulness meditation.

The original – Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Colouring Book by Johanna Basford – has sold more than two million copies worldwide.

To test it out, try one of these free, printable colouring pages available online.