What Is An Aura? And How Can You See Yours?

Open your minds and hearts and kick your skepticism out the window, my friends. Oh yeah, it’s time to talk about auras.

The aura has long been described as an electromagnetic energy field that surrounds people—like an egg-shaped ball of energy that encompasses the body. The aura consists of seven levels/layers/auric bodies, also known as the physical, astral, lower, higher, spiritual, intuitional, and absolute planes.

Each one of these subtle bodies that exists around the physical body has its own unique frequency. They are interrelated, and each body affects the others. They also affect a person’s feelings, emotions, thought patterns, behavior, and overall health. Just like with chakras, a state of imbalance in one of the bodies leads to a state of imbalance in the others.

To start us off, here is a breakdown of each layer and what our body seeks and gains from that layer.

The physical aura plane:

This layer is closest to us and is diminished through our waking hours and increased while we sleep or rest. For this layer to be in balance, we need physical comfort, pleasure, and health. If our auras are in generally poor health, we will have smudges in this layer. Also, people who are harboring negative emotions or who are dwelling in a negative space will have a darker physical aura plane.

The astral aura plane:

This plane is also called the “emotional layer,” as it stores our emotional history and experiences with friends and family. It is easy to tell when your astral aura is out of whack because you feel sensitive, unstable, and often irrational—like your aura has PMS! Your astral aura will respond best when you amplify what it needs with your surroundings. For example, to heal negative emotions, try visualizing green. Lie on grass or spend some time under a tree. This will help to add the color to your auric space.

The lower mental aura plane:

This plane relates to reason, thought patterns, and how we construct our own individual reality. Most people spend their waking hours in this plane. This plane expands when our minds are at work, when we are studying, or when we’re focused on something particularly hard. This is also where a person’s belief systems are stored, as well as their values and ideas. When someone’s lower mental aura plane is twisted and out of alignment, they will feel judgmental, down, and agitated.

Try this:

Our auras change as we switch moods. The same way smiling when we’re not happy can lift our mood, similar actions can perk up our auric fields. So, when you’re feeling out of alignment, murky, or affected by other people’s negative energies, washing away that mood from your aura can be as simple as giving yourself healthy, positive, loving thoughts. Test it out now by giving yourself an auric smile and see if you feel better.

The higher mental aura plane:

This plane connects with our lower mental aura plane but adds in a deeper spiritual element as well. This is where we store our higher-mind beliefs such as self-love, gratitude, selflessness, and unconditional love. Yep, your self-talk can be affecting your whole vibe—not only your confidence but also the energy you project into the world.

So, regardless of what that little voice in your head is telling you, make sure your higher plane is all about how beautiful, kind, and loving you are, because even though you might think it’s just an internal conversation with yourself, everyone around you can sense the conversation you’re having inside. I invite you to take this as official permission to have a big-ass aura ego—it will only help nourish and feed the energy and environment within and around you.

The spiritual aura plane:

This plane has solely to do with our spirituality and connects us to both our immediate surroundings and to the wider universe. When we are aware of this layer and connected to other people’s spiritual planes, we can better sense like-minded souls. When you have a clear spiritual aura you will find yourself connecting with other people on the same path as you, discovering the same things—basically, others you can teach, share with, and learn from.

People who have yet to tap into their spiritual auric plane tend to be overly cynical, negative, judgmental, and even threatened by your spiritual growth. Don’t worry, they’re just jealous of your radiant aural glow. In fact, when people react like this to you, you know your spiritual aura plane is rocking! They’ll catch up to your bliss in their own time. If they don’t, it’s their loss, not yours.

The intuitional aura plane:

This plane, also known as the celestial plane, is where we store our dreams, intuition, and overall spiritual awareness. This is where we store forgiveness and acceptance as well. When you think of an enlightened person, what characteristics do you think of? I tend to go to peacefulness, calm, kindness, and patience.

You can sense a healthy intuitional aura plane in complete nirvana when you are near people like this—you also start to feel more centered in their presence. Enlightened souls, sometimes also called indigo personalities, live in their intuitional aura plane—sensitive, often eccentric, profound souls who are creative, intuitive, and gifted.

When you have one of those ah-ha moments or a massive brainwave after you’ve felt blocked for ages, your intuitional aura plane is clearing the runway for major spiritual growth.

The absolute aura plane:

The absolute plane works to balance and harmonize the other layers. It houses all the experiences of a soul’s journey and is the blueprint of a person’s spiritual destiny. Think of it as the auric big red bow—the finishing touch on top of your energy field.

Try this:

View your aura colors by holding your index fingers tip to tip. Standing in front of a plainly colored or white wall, hold your arms out at arms’ length in front of you, index fingers still touching. Slowly pull them apart, relaxing your vision to almost “zone out,” and you will likely see an outline surrounding your fingers of a light blue/gray light. This is your first glimpse of auric energy. The more you practice, the more you will see and the more vivid the colors will become.