The human aura is a three-dimensional energy field that surrounds the bodies of all living-beings and things. It extends in all directions, normally in an elliptical shape around the body. The healthier you are, the further the aura will extend out from the body.

There was an era when many people were able to see auras. In paintings of Spiritual leaders like Christ and the Buddha, we often see golden haloes around their heads. These haloes are nothing but their auras. The artists and painters of that age were able to see the auras, and hence reproduced them in their artwork.

Seeing the aura has got nothing "paranormal" about it. It is very normal, and one of easiest things to learn. With some time, practice and perseverance, anyone can see auras to some degree.

Why do we need to see auras ? :
Learning to see the aura can reveal a lot about a person. The colors and intensity of the aura can tell us what the other person is thinking. Since the aura cannot be faked, the person's true nature and intentions become clear as a mirror.

Someone has said that the aura is our spiritual signature. How true! A person with a radiant, clean aura is spiritually advanced and a person with a dark, murky aura is someone with unclear intentions. So if we know how to see and understand the aura, we know whom to befriend and whom to steer away from.

Also, by reading the aura it is possible to diagnose diseases even before symptoms become evident. If all doctors were trained to see the aura, it would be a boon to mankind.

How to read the Aura :
Preparation :
Find a place where you can practice undisturbed. Relax your mind by doing some deep-breathing exercises. Make sure the light in your room is neither too bright nor is it totally dark. A soft dim light is ideal. It is also important to have an open-minded attitude. The belief that you can see the aura will give you success faster.

Experiment 1 - See the aura around your hands :
The background color, against which you will practice viewing the aura, should be preferably black, white or gray.

Hold one of your hands out in front of you and gently spread your fingers. Your palm can either be towards you or away from you. Take a few deep breaths and relax. Now, here is the trick... look at your hand but keep your focus on the background. That is, you do not focus on your hand, but you look beyond, and gaze at the background.

I repeat, relax your gaze and don't try too hard. Don't look at your hand. Look at the background beyond your hand. Try not to blink. In a few moments, you will see a fuzzy haze around the fingers of your hand. It will be a kind of a glow surrounding your hands. The color is generally white, silver or gray. Congratulations! You have just seen your aura!

This haze will disappear if you focus on your hands, and re-appear if you focus on the background. You will soon learn to hold your attention so that you can see the aura for a longer time.

Experiment 2 - See the aura around your body :
With practice it will be very easy to look at the aura around your hands. Once you are good at it, you can try to look at the aura of your body. For this experiment, stand in front of a mirror. It is advisable that you are not wearing any clothes. Just like the previous experiment, have a dark or white background behind you.

Look at the mirror, and don't focus on your body. Focus on the background. As you stare past your body, you will very quickly notice a fuzzy silver or gray outline surrounding your body. This is similar to the aura you saw around your hands. The aura will appear and disappear. You have to train your eyes not to revert to the normal focus. The trick is to stay de-focused. With practice you will see it quite prominently and it will stay for a longer time.

Experiment 3 : See the aura around other person's body :
When you are good at seeing your own aura, you can train yourself to look at other people's aura. The process is similar to looking at your own aura, but this time, you will be not be requiring any mirrors. The person will stand in front of a background, and you look beyond the person, and focus on the background. De-focus your eyes so that you can see his aura.

For the advanced student :
The layers of the aura :
If you venture to get deeper into the subject of Aura-reading, you will find more interesting facts about the aura.

You will see that the aura is made up of several layers. The first layer, called the Physical aura, starts from just above the surface of the skin and tells you about the physical well being of the person. The second layer, called the Mental aura tells you about the mental state of the person. The third, called the Spiritual aura gives you information about the spiritual advancement of the subject. All the three layers overlap each other. Together, they might extend up to 4-5 feet from the human body.

The common colors of the aura :
When you advance sufficiently, you will start to see and distinguish the various colors in the aura. The location of the color, the intensity, and the shade can tell a great deal about the subject. But it takes sufficient practice to understand and interpret the colors. Each color can tell you something about the subject.

The most common colors that can be seen are :
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet, Black, Pink, White, Silver.

Conclusion :
When we were infants, we all could see auras. Most children up to 3-4 years' of age see auras naturally. If a child doesn't like the color of the aura of a person, they start crying! If they like it, they smile and readily go into the arms of the person. As we grew, the materialistic world enslaved us. We forgot to use our innate abilities to see the aura.

If we want to re-learn to see the aura, we need to give ourselves some time. We should not expect to become experts overnight. But have heart! Learning to see the aura is not a mystery. If you have the desire, and really want to see it, follow the experiments outlined above. And you will see your aura within a few minutes!