Grab Some Crayons! Your Inner Child Is an Artist

We just returned to our desks after our first lunch-and-color event at HCI. Pizza boxes and salad dressing bottles aside, and an intermittent buzz of small talk, the mood was tranquil. Colored pencils, felt pens, crayons, and coloring pages covered a typical oak-veneered conference table, and silence mostly ruled the room. In the middle of another hectic Thursday at the office, we elected to pause, focus and create beauty during our lunch hour. Now that HCI has developed a line of coloring books for adults, staffers wanted to test out the first product in the line, Inkspirations for Recovery, to experience first-hand the many benefits of the hottest trend in publishing.


Said HCI President and Publisher, Peter Vegso, “Why recovery? We marveled that this audience didn’t already have its own coloring book. Given the stress-relieving, calming side effects of the practice and our long track record in this market, it feels natural for us to provide another helpful tool for the arduous recovery journey.”


HCI also tested the books with professionals at a recent conference in Clearwater put on by its US Journal Training (USJT) division.


“We shared the coloring books with therapists, clinicians, and treatment center owners and they were delighted,” said Gary Seidler co-founder of HCI and Director of US Training.  “Not only did we sell out and need to have additional copies of Inkspirations shipped to our bookstore, our people were actually sitting down and coloring with us.”


Many attendees were already familiar with coloring as a form of art therapy. Studies show that the act of coloring is known to shift one’s state of mind and even Carl Jung, well-known for his work and the creation of mandalas with his patients, is purported to have prescribed coloring. With the addictions community in mind, Inkspirations uniquely includes prompts, affirmations, and messages derived from the Twelve Steps to the coloring images.

Recovery icon Rokelle Lerner, Senior Clinical Advisor of Eric Clapton’s treatment center, Crossroads Centre Antigua, best known for  her bestselling book, Daily Affirmations for Adult Children of Alcoholics, said, “The effect of coloring on the brain for relieving stress is amazing and that is key in the healing process of anyone suffering from addiction.” Lerner adds, “I plan on incorporating the coloring books in my practice.”


The beauty of coloring is that everyone is on a level playing field. “You can’t do it wrong,” said Inkspirations illustrator, Judy Clement Wall. “While I’m toiling away at creating a variety of images, everyone becomes an artist the moment they pick up those crayons or colored pencils.” Watch Judy creating her masterpieces here: http://bit.ly/1OVawOP

While everyone could use a little “inkspiration,” HCI’s first coloring book for adults offers unique benefits to people in recovery.  Here are some examples:


  • The inability to find peace without the use of alcohol or other substances is a well-known side effect, and coloring calms the mind and helps you de-stress.

  • Being in the moment is attainable since coloring can be meditative in nature.

  • Coloring allows you to stop overthinking.

  • For those who grew up in chaotic alcoholic homes and missed out on the simple creative pleasures of childhood, like coloring, here they can explore their playful, creative sides.

  • The “void” that often comes when one frees themselves of addictive substances, can be filled with coloring

  • Coloring is an artistic activity that requires no skill set or mastery—it’s just fun.


Look for the additional titles in the Inkspirations series on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. Check us out at: www.inkspirations.com  Available wherever books are sold. Order here from amazon: http://amzn.to/1RzYnDm or Barnes  & Noble: http://bit.ly/21DvNpe or to order directly from the publisher, contact: (800) 441-5569.


PR Contact: Kim Weiss (800) 851-9100 x. 212 or kimw@hcibooks.com

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