More than likely if you have chosen to read this article, you know something about chakras and auras – or at least have heard the terms. I first heard of auras my second year of college when a friend told me she could read them. I had no idea what she was talking about. She then described it as colors emitting themselves as light from the body, surrounding it in an oval shape. Later on we discussed this further and I found out that some aura readers are stronger than others. For some, the colors blend together, making it difficult to recognize what each separate layer is trying to represent. Others are able to make out each color in all its vibrance or even murkiness.

The idea is that this is energy. So before you write it off as magical or mystical I want to just mention that everything, every bit of us is made up of energy, and that while scientists argue that we use or have used every part of our brain at some point in time, that does not mean every area is fully, or even partially developed.

How do our brains develop? Awareness, education, and experience. Awareness could be the realization that something is right or wrong, or it could be simple evolution, for instance: a toddler becoming aware of body parts, problem solving, and comfort – making it easier for them to progress in the understanding that walking gets me there faster, I get what I want when I cry, and I don’t like that my diaper is wet. The education portion would be learning how to walk, knowing when to cry, and potty training – basically, the work. Finally, experience can come in at any point, i.e. it could be what lead to awareness, or what comes with the process of education. The experience could be bad or good, and either could lead to brain development. Even trauma can trigger portions of the brain that may not have been developed otherwise.

Auras would be a product of our chakras and being able to read them would most likely be a symbol of higher emotional development, probably within the limbic system, more specifically the amygdala. This could also explain other sensitivities, or psychic abilities. Basically, when you get the feeling that the girl at the grocery has a lot on her plate, or your boyfriend is going to cancel on you, we call that intuition, but we certainly don’t consider ourselves psychic. Just imagine that very intuition being heightened or more fully developed. I think we’ll find that reading auras, knowing future events, or even feeling the physical pain of others is not so mystical at all, it is the adept ability to recognize, learn, and communicate energy.

This may be a lot to swallow. And I am by no means a psychologist, doctor, or scientist of any sort. I am someone who became an avid yogi, then became aware of chakras and their connection to auras. Now I am educating myself, and sharing my experiences with you and what I think they could mean.

In part 2 of this post, I will go further into chakras and auras, and what they mean. So meet me back here next week.

Image from Chakra Balancing