Understanding Your Aura. A beginner-friendly look at aura colours, layers, and energetic insight

Auras are often described as subtle energy fields that surround all living beings. Many spiritual and holistic traditions believe this energy holds clues about our emotional, physical and spiritual state. When you start to understand auras, their colours and their layers, it opens a fascinating doorway into deeper self-awareness and connection with others.

This post explores what auras are, how aura reading works, the different layers of the aura and what common aura colours may reveal.

What Is an Aura?

An aura is believed to be an energetic field that surrounds the physical body, extending anywhere from a few centimetres to several feet beyond the skin. It’s often described as a soft glow or halo of colour that reflects what’s happening beneath the surface, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

While science hasn’t fully proven the existence of auras, they have been recognised and worked with in spiritual traditions for centuries. Many people experience auras not by seeing them, but by sensing shifts in energy, mood, or presence.

Aura reading involves tuning into this energy and interpreting its colours, patterns, and intensity. These can change constantly depending on your emotions, health, environment and life experiences. Some people perceive auras visually, while others sense them intuitively through meditation, touch, or energy work.

The Layers of the Aura

The aura isn’t just one layer. It’s made up of several interconnected layers, each linked to different aspects of who we are. Together, they form a living, breathing energy system that responds to our inner and outer world.

• 1st Layer – Etheric (Physical Layer): This layer sits closest to the body, extending roughly 5cm from the skin. It reflects the physical body and is influenced by posture, movement, health and physical sensations. Closely connected to the root chakra, this layer supports grounding, stability, and physical vitality.

• 2nd Layer – Emotional: Extending up to around 7cm from the body, this layer holds emotional information. It’s connected to the sacral chakra, which governs creativity, pleasure and emotional balance. When this layer is in harmony, emotions flow freely. When it’s disrupted, emotional overwhelm or suppression may show up.

• 3rd Layer – Mental: Reaching approximately 7–20cm outward, the mental layer reflects thoughts, beliefs and mental patterns. It’s linked to the solar plexus chakra, associated with confidence, personal power, and decision-making. Imbalances here may relate to self-doubt or mental overactivity.

• 4th Layer – Astral: The astral layer extends around 12–30cm from the body and is associated with relationships, compassion and emotional connections. It’s often linked to dreams, deep emotional experiences and spiritual bonding. Many believe this is the layer accessed during meditation and dream states.

• 5th Layer – Etheric Template: This layer extends up to about 60cm and is thought to act as an energetic blueprint for the physical body. Connected to the throat chakra, it relates to communication, expression and truth. Balancing this layer may support both physical healing and authentic self-expression.

• 6th Layer – Celestial: Reaching roughly 77cm above the body, the celestial layer is associated with intuition, psychic perception and higher awareness. Linked to the third eye chakra, this layer supports inner vision, insight and spiritual understanding.

• 7th Layer – Ketheric: The outermost layer extends to approximately 92cm and is believed to hold the highest level of consciousness. Connected to the crown chakra, it acts as a protective field for the entire aura and supports spiritual connection, purpose and enlightenment.

Each layer can change in brightness, strength, and clarity depending on life experiences, emotional states and spiritual practices.

Common Aura Colours and Their Meanings

Aura colours offer insight into what energy is most active within a person at any given time.

• Red: Energy, passion, drive and strength. Bright red reflects vitality, while darker red may suggest stress or tension.

• Orange: Creativity, enthusiasm, and emotional expression. Often seen in social, adventurous and emotionally balanced individuals.

• Yellow: Joy, intellect, and optimism. Bright yellow suggests clarity and confidence, while pale yellow may indicate worry or overthinking.

• Green: Healing, growth and harmony. Common in compassionate, nurturing people. Dark green can sometimes reflect insecurity or jealousy.

• Blue: Calmness, communication and truth. Light blue shows sensitivity and openness, while darker shades can indicate deep reflection or emotional heaviness.

• Purple: Spiritual awareness, intuition and wisdom. Often linked to creativity and psychic sensitivity.

• White: Purity, protection, and high spiritual connection. This colour may appear during periods of spiritual growth or healing.

• Black or Grey: These shades can point to energetic blockages, emotional distress, or areas in need of healing and cleansing.

How Aura Reading Works

Aura reading is a skill that develops through awareness, practice, and intuition. Some people see colours clearly, while others feel sensations, emotions, or impressions instead.

Common approaches include:

• Meditation and visualisation, focusing on energy and subtle sensations

• Using crystals or tools to amplify energetic awareness

• Intuitive sensing, interpreting impressions and emotional cues

• Photography techniques, such as Kirlian photography

Aura reading isn’t about judgment. It’s about noticing patterns, identifying imbalances and understanding where support or healing may be needed.

How to Read Auras: A Step-by-Step Beginner Guide

Aura reading is basically “energy awareness with training wheels.” Some people see colours, but most people sense them first through mood, texture, temperature, or intuitive “knowing.” The goal isn’t perfection, it’s pattern recognition.

Step 1: Set the room (and your nervous system)

• Choose soft lighting (harsh LED = aura reading’s natural enemy).

• Stand or sit comfortably, feet on the floor.

• Take 5 slow breaths, longer exhales than inhales. This calms your system so you’re not just reading your own stress.

Step 2: Clean your “lens”

Before reading anyone else, do a quick reset:

• Rub your hands together for 10 seconds.

• Shake them out.

• Imagine a gentle waterfall of light rinsing your energy from head to toe. You’re basically telling your brain: “We’re observing now.”

Step 3: Pick your method (seeing vs sensing)

Choose one and stick with it for a week:

Option A: Soft-focus vision (the classic)

• Ask the person to stand in front of a plain light wall.

• Look at the space around them, not directly at them.

• Focus on their forehead or shoulder, then soften your gaze.

• Watch for a faint glow, haze, or colour shift at the edges.

Option B: Sensing (honestly easier for most people)

• Stand a couple of feet away.

• Notice what you feel: warm/cool, buzzing/heavy, expansive/contracted.

• Pay attention to where you feel it (head, chest, gut, hands). Your body is a surprisingly accurate translator.

Step 4: Scan in zones (don’t try to read everything at once)

Work top to bottom, like you’re slowly “tuning a radio”:

• Head/upper aura: thoughts, intuition, spiritual connection

• Chest/heart area: emotions, relationships, self-worth

• Gut/solar plexus: confidence, stress, boundaries

• Lower body: grounding, safety, physical energy

Pause at each zone and note: colour, density, movement and how it feels.

Step 5: Translate what you notice (colour + texture + vibe)

This is where beginners go wrong: they treat aura colours like fixed labels. Instead, use a simple formula:

Colour = what energy is active

Texture (smooth, spiky, cloudy, bright) = how it’s flowing

Location = what life area it’s affecting

Examples:

• Bright yellow near the head: mental clarity, ideas, focus

• Cloudy blue around the throat: unspoken feelings, holding back truth

• Heavy grey at the chest: grief, emotional fatigue, heart protection mode

• Red pulsing around the lower body: drive, survival energy, stress response

Step 6: Ask a grounding question (to confirm, not to force)

If you’re reading someone else, keep it gentle:

• “Are you feeling mentally busy lately?”

• “Have you been holding back what you really want to say?”

• “Does your body feel run down or overstimulated?”

If you’re reading yourself, journal one line: “Today my aura feels like ___ because ___.”

Step 7: Close the reading (so you don’t feel ‘spongy’ after)

Do one of these:

• Wash your hands with cool water

• Visualise your aura sealing like a soft gold bubble

• Touch the floor/wall and exhaleYou’re ending the session, not staying energetically “open.”

Practical Ways to Use Aura Knowledge

Understanding your aura can be incredibly empowering in everyday life.

• Self-awareness: Spot stress or emotional shifts before they escalate

• Relationships: Communicate and support others with greater sensitivity

• Healing work: Identify areas needing balance or energetic care

• Personal growth: Track emotional and spiritual changes over time

Your aura is always responding to you. When you learn to listen, it becomes a quiet but powerful guide.

Sarah B