Understanding Your Aura

What is an Aura?

Imagine being surrounded by a colourful field of energy that can provide insight into your spiritual and emotional health; according to many spiritual traditions, you are! It's called your aura and everyone has one. Your aura surrounds your entire body like a protective force field. It is made up of energy created by your thoughts, words and actions. This energy appears as coloured light to psychics and healers who say they can see it. The hues of your aura depend upon your spiritual or emotional state. In the same way that you might say, 'I was feeling blue' or 'I saw red', the colours of your aura reflect the way you are feeling.

The idea of auras is common to both Eastern and Western spiritual philosophies - think of the Buddha with light surrounding him, or Christian saints depicted with halos around their heads. Your aura protects you but it can also pick up negativity from other people, so it's important to cleanse it to keep it strong.

Understanding your Aura

Your aura consists of energy emanating from your physical, emotional and spiritual self. It surrounds your physical body and is an energetic expression of your current state. Its characteristics change according to the health of your mind, body and spirit. One theory about auras is that every thought you have creates a subtle vibration and it is the energy from this vibration that affects the appearance of your aura. Your aura exists to protect you but it can be weakened by your own negative thoughts, acts, stress, addictions and worries. Your aura can also be influenced by the energy from other people either in a positive or a negative way.
 
Aura Strength Sappers
*Negative thoughts: such as 'I’m not good enough' or 'I will never be able to...' take a toll on your aura's strength.
*Addictions: binging on food or drink as well as substance abuse hurts not only your physical body, but your energetic self, too.
*Influences: giving someone or something power over your thoughts and feelings can weaken your aura.
*Being around people who behave in negative ways will deplete your aura's strength.
*Not looking after yourself and consequently feeling tired or stressed drains your aura's protective power.

Cleanse your aura

Keep your aura strong and healthy by trying these cleansing techniques

Protection Bubble
Visualise a bright, white light around you, starting from the crown of your head and flowing down to cover your body completely.
*Imagine it cleansing and purifying the energy around you. Any negativity is turned into white light.
*You are protected and surrounded by loving energy. Imagine the energy in the colour of your choice: blue light for calming; red for strength; green for restfulness; pink for love; orange for energising; purple for spirituality.
 
Deflect negativity
If you are going to a place where you may encounter negative energy, imagine yourself surrounded by a curved reflective surface. You could visualise a curving mirror or a precious metal, or a glass surface or a crystal surface. Whichever you choose, this reflective surface will deflect any negative energy away from you.
 
Crystal Cleanse
Black or darker-coloured crystals, such as onyx, black obsidian, jet, smoky quartz and hematite dissolve negative energy, so are good aura cleansers. Carry your favourite around with you to feel protected.
*Or use it directly on your aura by slowly tracing the crystal around your aura (about three inches away from your body is fine). Imagine the crystal healing up any holes in your aura and strengthening it as you move the crystal around.
 
Sound Clearing
The clear, high ringing sound made by a singing bowl, a bell or even a metal fork tapping a glass jar has the power to clear your aura. If you are feeling drained or 'fuzzy' and can't find a physical explanation, try tapping a surface that creates this sound a few times and letting it resonate around you. It should help you to feel more clear-headed as it cleanses your aura.
 
Smudging
In the same way that burning sage can clear a space of negative energies, it can also clear your aura. Light a sage incense stick or a bunch of sage and direct its smoke around your body, taking care not to burn yourself. Imagine the smoke from the sage carrying all negativity from your aura away from you into the air where it dissipates.