Many of us have happy memories as children spending untold peaceful hours coloring in books with crayons. Today, that relaxing pastime is coming back for adults, who are now using colored pencils and markers as well as crayons. Americans purchased about 12 million adult coloring books in 2015, according to Nielsen Bookscan and this new trend is all the rage.

Craig Sawchuk, a clinical psychologist at the Mayo Clinic says that coloring books function like other mindfulness techniques, such as yoga and meditation, explaining that these techniques work “almost like a volume knob to turn down the sympathetic nervous system, the stress response.”

This article covers:

1. Benefits of mindful coloring
2. Options to choose from in buying a coloring book