Mindfulness courses are the best way to get to grips with your anxieties and learn to become more aware of your thoughts and actions, but there’s also a new tool that many practitioners of mindfulness have really taken to heart in their quest to better their life – the humble colouring book.

At the time of writing, Harper Lee’s new novel may well be at the top of the Amazon bestsellers list, but at number two, you’ll find the first of four colouring books in the top ten, including Emma Farraron’s The Mindfulness Colouring Book.

Emma, an illustrator who has practised mindfulness for over three years, is particularly focused on the ways that colouring, or art therapy, can help promote mindfulness. “

[When I’m drawing] I’m in the moment, feeling the blank sheet underneath the nib, hearing the sound of the lead scratching the surface of the paper. To me, it’s the same with colouring-in,” she says on her blog, Un Petite Blog.

If you’ve not seen an ‘adult colouring book’ before, they follow a rather standard format – beautiful and intricate pages of abstract designs and illustrations that a person can wile away hours on, giving space for thought and mindfulness in a busy world full of anxieties and overexposure to technology.

In fact, it’s become such a popular trend that in the US August 2nd is set to be the first ever National Coloring Book Day – with a special focus on colouring books for adults and their mindfulness properties. Explore it a little further on social media using the hashtag #NationalColoringBookDay.