As a stress relief or just relaxation of my physical self, coloring is source of great relief and release.
After a long day of running around or the need to unwind for any reason, I grab the colored pencils and one of my many coloring pages or books. Heading off into the living room with a cup of hot chocolate, flop on the sofa and aaaah. In about 30 minutes, life is far back in check. This is a form of meditation where I remove my focus on the irritants around me and, as I call it, go to LaLa Land where life is beautiful all the time.
As far as a pastime, this activity is basically free. Many of my pictures I get off the internet from free coloring page sites. Who better to get 
coloring pages from than Crayola itself. I have tried many brands of crayons but none have the consistency and texture of Crayola. Ooooh do not forget the smell of a Crayola. That alone is enough to soothe my soul me. I love their aroma! When coloring pages for personal pleasure, Crayola colored pencils are great. Easy to sharpen, smooth in texture as they are much softer than the ‘off brands’. Just picked up a pack of 36 that were on special. Love a good sale.
Even Disney will allow you to print off their pictures for personal enjoyment. Who doesn’t like Disney! As I am a Boomer, I prefer the older cartoons and movies but there are plenty for the modern day folks. In fact just type free coloring pages into any search engine and you find myriads of pages of any theme.
A fun place to check out are some of the groups on Facebook. Such as All Free Adult Coloring Books. Links lead to pages with free downloads. Many free pages are uploaded uploaded by members for everyone to try out. I have found some great mandalas to color on these sites. There are quite a few other groups regarding adult coloring. So go ahead and find the ones you like. It always gives me a warm fuzzy to see all the people that, as adults, are still coloring away. They proudly display their personalized creations and WOW. Their talent and creativity is masterful. There is a lot of talent out there to be viewed.
Sometimes the bug of fancy bites me and I head off to Dover. A whole coloring book of fantastic detailed pictures. While you color, you can learn about plants and flowers, Presidential First Ladies and their ball gowns, or return to childhood with Beatrice Potter’s Peter Rabbit. 
I just finished my Nutcracker book which was so awesome with all the ballerinas and old fashioned gowns. There I go off to LaLa Land. Swear I was born in the wrong century. If you prefer, there are modern themes to chose from as well. The paper quality is excellent. Not like like the yellowish newspaper of a coloring book. The color is white and heavier duty than just copy paper. Products go on smooth.
The fact of the matter is, I love crafting and the peace of mind I achieve. Life is too full of stress these days and coloring, walking with nature, or jigsaw puzzles…they are all inexpensive drug-free ways to find inner peace. So do not be shy…get out your crayons and pencils and lets color!
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
I chose my destiny to be inner peace via coloring.