Beyond the Scroll: How Adult Coloring Books Can Reset Your Exhausted Mom Brain

It's 9:05pm. You're hollowed-out exhausted, the kids are finally quiet, and you're zombie-scrolling hoping the algorithm throws you a lifeline. But that "calm" you're chasing? It's not really calm - it's just avoidant numbness dressed up like peace.

What if I told you there's something better you can do with those 10 minutes? Something that actually helps your nervous system instead of keeping it stuck in fight-or-flight?

In this episode, we're talking about why grabbing your kid's coloring book might be the most practical self-care tool you're not using. Not because coloring is some magical cure-all, but because when you're too fried for meditation, too touched-out for baths, and too tired for yoga videos, sometimes the most radical thing you can do is pick up a crayon.

We'll dive into the actual science behind why coloring works for regulation, how it gives your brain the sensory exhale it's desperately craving, and why it's perfectly okay to color trees the wrong color when you're feeling everything at once.

This isn't about creating masterpieces or being artistic. It's about giving yourself permission to decompress in a way that actually works when everything else feels like more work.

Perfect for: Overwhelmed moms who are tired of feeling guilty about screen time but don't know what else to do at 9pm.

Resources Mentioned:

• Free 5-Minute Check-In guide
• The Motherload Membership
• Kayla's favorite coloring supplies (Amazon store)

Connect with me:

• Instagram: @kayla.huszar (tag me in your coloring moments!)
• Website: kaylahuszar.com

Remember: You aren't required to solve everything tonight. Your only job is to show up for yourself.

Chapters

• 0:05 Welcome and Mom Exhaustion Reality
• 1:40 The Problem with Scrolling
• 2:56 Coloring as Therapeutic Practice
• 4:40 How to Incorporate Coloring
• 6:12 Benefits and Closing Thoughts
• 7:54 Resources and Call to Action

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

Welcome back to the Chill Can Mother podcast, Thank you. Who's our creative counselor and expressive arts therapist? And today we're going to talk about something that might sound a little unconventional. Picture this 905. You're sitting on the couch completely drained. Not just that I'm tired, drained, but that deep soul level exhaustion where even your bones feel like they're vibrating from the inside. The kids are finally quiet, the dishes are, hmm, rinsed, the laundry's in that weird limbo between dried and needing to be put away, and earlier your toddler had a complete meltdown because, well, the banana was too banana-y. So here you are, scrolling through your phone like a zombie, hoping that the algorithm will throw you some kind of lifeline. But I'm going to be real with you for a second. The scrolling a lot of my clients tell me it doesn't really feel like rest. It doesn't really feel like rest to me either. So in this podcast episode, I want to talk to you about something that might sound ridiculous at first, something that might make you go wait. What Isn't that for kids? And I'm talking about coloring books. Yes, yes, yes. So before you roll your eyes, hear me out, Because as an expressive arts therapist who works with overwhelmed moms every single day, I've seen something pretty incredible happen when we trade the endless scroll for a crayon, a marker, a coloring page.

Speaker 1: 1:35

First, let's get the elephant out of the room. Let's start with what we know about scrolling. We've all been there you me, probably all the moms listening to this. You pick up your phone thinking you're just going to check Instagram for a quick second, and suddenly it's been an hour and you're no less tired, maybe a little bit more anxious, definitely not more connected to yourself. The research is pretty clear on this. Scrolling is a passive activity and it can create a bit of numbness, but that numbness is dressed up like peace. It's actually not delivering much of anything. You might forget your stress for the moment, but you're not actually dealing with it. Your jaw is still clenched and your nervous system is still stuck in fight or flight. Now I'm not going to shame you for screen time. The other morning, literally, I laughed until I cried over a comedian doing a bit about bedtime routines, but those occasions are kind of rare. Most of the time, my own scrolling sessions just leave me more conflicted and more confused, especially as a cycle-breaking parent. So if you're anything like me and my clients, you may be looking for something different, so let's get into it.

Speaker 1: 2:58

Coloring I need to put my therapist hat on for a second and just tell you that coloring books aren't inherently therapy, even though a lot of the titles say art therapy on them. But done with intention, they actually can be deeply regulating and therapeutic, and there's some research to back this up. In 2017, there was a study that found just 20 minutes of coloring mandala significantly reduced anxiety levels in adults, and a lot of other studies show that coloring activates your brain's prefrontal cortex. That's the part that helps you regulate emotions, aka reducing that fire alarm panic button in your amygdala. You can think of it as a bit of a sensory exhale by your nervous system.

Speaker 1: 3:42

So my client who came to me recently and was absolutely fried her words, not mine. She was waking up anxious, snapping by noon and going to bed really numb. Her partner worked out of town and she felt like every meltdown the toothbrushing, the morning routine, the bedtime routine ended with some kind of phrase in her head of I can't keep doing this. What she didn't need from me was another lecture about self-discipline or self-care or more time or more whatever. She didn't need to download another parenting PDF. She needed something, anything to actually get herself out of her head. So we started one of our sessions with coloring because for her it was the only thing that didn't feel like work. She started scribbling, making little notes in the margins using angry words and angry colors, and coloring trees a completely wrong color and little by little she started to feel like herself again. She used those coloring pages to offload what was too heavy to carry inside. Most of the time it only took 10 minutes. What it gave her was balance, release, presence and connection with herself.

Speaker 1: 4:58

So how do you actually do this when you're a mom who is tapped the fuck out? It's simpler than you think. First, grab whatever you've got. Your kid's Paw Patrol coloring books work just fine, but there are some pretty cool, amazing ones on Amazon and maybe your local bookstore. Maybe you've got one that you got for Christmas and you never opened. Just grab that, Choose a page, any page and start coloring.

Speaker 1: 5:24

But this is how you might do it differently Choose colors based on feeling, not logic. What color are you drawn to? What feels right in this moment? And after you've done your coloring like I said, only about a 10-minute video, 10-minute window reflect and ask yourself what color did I reach for first. What emotions might have been showing up? What was I thinking about? Maybe there was a word I had to write down in the margin. What might that mean? How might I define that to somebody else? Or don't reflect at all, Just color, walk away and go to bed. Both approaches Amazing.

Speaker 1: 6:04

A few ways to maybe make this a little bit more helpful for you is to set a timer. Even five or ten minutes can help. Keep your supplies in an accessible place. It helps if we can reach for them just as quickly and easily as we can reach for our phone. Mix it up and maybe get a couple of different coloring books. Or making a ritual and pairing it with tea or some soft music.

Speaker 1: 6:29

Remember that art and creativity isn't about creating a masterpiece. It's about giving yourself permission to decompress in a way that's different than scrolling. And so what makes coloring so therapeutic? Or maybe why were you drawn to it as a young person? It's repetitive and it soothes your nervous system. It's getting your hands involved, which actually helps discharge anxious energy, and it gives you a creative outlet without needing to be artistic. And, most importantly, it doesn't ask you to do better, it doesn't give you unsolicited advice, it doesn't dismiss your feelings. It doesn't shame you into thinking you're a bad mom. It just lets you be exactly who you are. So the next time you're feeling drained and your phone is feeling like lead weight in your hand, maybe you want to try coloring. Instead, Let yourself feel whatever comes up. Maybe you need to color in some frustration, find some peace, or maybe just notice the simple pleasure of staying in or outside the lines, Because sometimes the most powerful thing we can do as moms is to not try to solve everything or be everything.

Speaker 1: 7:37

Sometimes it's just sitting down with some creole markers and letting ourselves be exactly who we are. Even on the hard days, you might still be creating something beautiful. If you tried this, I'd love to hear about it. And, Hank, please tag me in your stories or message me on Instagram to tell me how this all went. And if we've never met, I'm Kayla, creative counselor and expressive arts therapist for moms, and I help moms get to the root of what's really bothering them and to help them express it so that they can feel more like themselves. If you'd like more resources like this, you can check out my website. I've got tons there, KaylaWhosRcom. I even have a five-minute guide on how to check in with your feelings with a gentle creative exercise in it. Thanks for listening. Remember you don't need to solve everything tonight. Your only job right now is to show up and show up for yourself. See you later.