By CYN LoPINTO
Editor-in-chief, gerontologist

As children, most of us spent hours on the floor coloring in our favorite coloring books. These books depicting cute animals, cartoon characters, and superheroes. For special holidays, we were given coloring books with pictures of Santa, the Easter Bunny and Halloween creatures. Crayons were usually our tool of choice. We loved our Crayola 64 ct. box of crayons with the built in sharpener.  Coloring gave us many hours of pure pleasure.

Now, as adults, we can go back to this loved activity. Adult coloring books have flooded the market and both men and women are enjoying this revitalized art form. Coloring is seen as a stress reducer and unlike pharmaceutical anxiety solutions, coloring has no real side effects. You can keep a book and a box of colored pencils, markers or crayons on hand and take it out whenever the mood hits you. Color on your lunch hour or after a stressful day to help calm your nerves. Let your creativity take you back to those childhood days of  artistic freedom.