You may have seen TikTok posts in which people reveal their aura colors — but what exactly do they mean? DailyOM spoke with intuitive experts for advice on how you can discover your own true colors, and in doing so, gain valuable life insights.
What color is your aura? Not to brag, but mine is a nifty indigo and yellow combo.
This was revealed to me through a recent reading by Mystic Michaela (Megan Firester), host of the Know Your Aura podcast. The former high school Spanish teacher is now a full-time intuitive. (“My third eye never closed,” she told me.)
Auras are downright buzzy lately, thanks to social media. The TikTok hashtag #aurachallenge, in which users share their trippy-looking kaleidoscope-colored selfies, currently has more than 7 billion views. But knowing your aura colors offers more than just a gee-whiz — it can give you valuable insights into your life, enthusiasts believe.
Aura colors can be compared to other typing systems, such as the horoscope or the Enneagram. Having a professional aura reader determine your colors — or experimenting with reading your own (more on that in a bit) — can help you better understand what makes you tick.
Knowing your colors can help you understand your motivations and tendencies and nudge you to live a life that better aligns with your true self.
Mystic Michaela did my aura color reading remotely. I sent her two photos at her request: a candid black-and-white of 6-year-old me, fooling around in an enormous pom-pom stocking cap; and a current unvarnished selfie, snapped against the white wall of my kitchen cabinets. She needed both for a full picture.
"Your childhood aura is most authentic, before you are pushed by others to edit the true you to fit others’ expectations,” she said.
After studying my pictures, Mystic Michaela told me what my two main aura colors are and interpreted what she saw: “As an indigo, you are emotionally absorbent and empathic. You feel others’ feelings as your own.” Check. “You are very energetically responsible, meaning you keep inside what is going on with you and don’t share often with others.” Check. “You are good at being a hermit when you want to be.” Check.
After this uncannily accurate description, Mystic Michaela offered me some valuable advice. My aura suggests I can get too caught up in being nose-to-the-grindstone productive in order to prove my worth to the world. She encouraged me to actively seek out ways to experience “fun for its own sake” and not feel like I am wasting that time.
If I do so, I can likely bring back the joyful “sparkly yellow” of my childhood aura, which has dulled a bit over the years.
What Are Auras?
Auras are the energy that surrounds each of us. Think of them as your own personal force field.
All living things are made up of energy, says Cassie Uhl, an energy healer and author of The Zenned Out Guide to Understanding Auras. If you have ever felt strong vibes from someone as soon as they entered the room, perhaps you’re picking up on their aura. “You might be drawn to them or repelled before any words are exchanged. Your aura acts as the first ‘hello,’” says Uhl.
Mystic Michaela adds, “Think of auras as your individual energy fingerprint. I’ve never seen the same one twice.” While auras are typically invisible to the naked eye, to those practiced in seeing them, auras appear as clouds of different colors billowing around a person. “When you understand your own vibrational energy, you gain more self-awareness and more control in your life,” she says.
We all have one or two dominant aura colors that represent our most authentic nature, and they remain constant throughout life, Mystic Michaela says. “Reds are driven, for example; blues are sensitive; yellows are curious.”
When we run into obstacles, it can show up in our aura. Our aura colors might look faded, show holes, or be covered up by another “inauthentic” color, she explains. Checking in with your aura regularly can help you keep on a path that reflects your true purpose — or make course corrections as needed.
Our aura colors, intensities, textures, sizes, and shapes can also vary according to our ever-changing moods, health, and life circumstances. That is why having our auras read (or observing our own) can act as useful snapshots that capture our current emotional, physical, and spiritual states.
“Paying attention to your aura is about reconnecting with your soul’s identity,” says Mystic Michaela. “That’s the part of you that is most authentic and eternal. When you are in touch with your authentic self, your life moves with more abundance and ease. You can create pathways in your life that better align with who you are — in your career, relationships, how you talk to yourself.”
Interested in learning more? Check out The Pineal Gland Miracle to Unlock Your Third Eye
An Ancient Concept
Despite the current buzz, the concept of auras dates far back in time, Uhl explains.
“You can find cave paintings that depict auras. Some believe that the depictions of the halo in religious paintings are actually auras,” she says. In modern times, seeing auras was popularized by the New Age movement in the ’70s and ’80s, when thinkers and mystics described it as a way to gain greater insight into our true selves.
Uhl explains that auras are related to the concept of vital energy — found in yoga, acupuncture, and other modalities. “Auras are connected to the much larger system of energy within you — what healers call the subtle body. That system includes your internal energy centers, known as chakras. Auras are the outward manifestation of this energy inside your body,” she says.
Aura readers differ widely in their approaches and philosophies. Janet Rae Orth, an intuitive coach in Tucson, Arizona, who does readings at Miraval Life in Balance, sees and reads auras as seven separate layers, each corresponding to one of the body’s seven chakras. Each layer can give you insight into a different area of your life — what’s going on with your work, your health, your relationships, and many other aspects of your life, she explains.
“For instance, the first chakra relates to money and work. If your job is sapping all your energy, that aura layer might appear washed out in color,” Orth says.
What Your Colors Can Reveal
Knowing your colors can help you understand your motivations and tendencies, explains Mystic Michaela, and can nudge you to live a life that better aligns with your true self. For example, Mystic Michaela recalls doing a recent reading for a “purple” client.
“Purple aura people thrive on change,” she says. “Without it, they can get restless and can start poking the bear of their primary relationship. While this restlessness is part of who they are, it can take a toll on the partner, as my client was experiencing. I encouraged him to channel that natural energy into healthy change instead, [such as taking] an art class and traveling.”
Changes in your aura can alert you that something significant is going on with you. “It’s like your skin: When you’re not drinking enough water or you’re not sleeping enough, your skin will reflect that,” says Mystic Michaela. “If I see an aura with tears in it, it might be that this person is going through a trauma. If it is very aired out and spacey, you might be drifting away from your true self. If I see sparkles, you may be in a really good place, really focused on self-discovery.”
How to Discover Your Own Aura Colors
Perhaps the most direct way to determine your own aura colors is to have a reading with a professional aura reader. Readings are offered in person or remotely. You may be asked to do a video conference and/or send photos, though some intuitives are able to see your aura through their clairvoyant powers alone.
“If you have a pressing issue, a health challenge, a fork in the road of your relationship, you can mention that. Otherwise no preparation is needed,” Orth says. The aura reader will explain the colors they see around you, and talk with you about their meaning in your life.
“In the process, you are truly seen. That alone can be very healing,” says Mystic Michaela. (The aura readers whom DailyOM spoke with said they often have clients come back repeatedly for guidance and insight, often when going through a big life transition or during other periods of uncertainty.)
Mystic Michaela often does readings for couples to provide insight into relationship issues. “Someone who is a very emotional blue may be feeling disconnected from a partner who is a more rational yellow, for example,” she says, and understanding these differences in how you see the world can inform strategies for better communication.
You can also practice reading your own aura. While this might sound daunting, Orth believes everyone has the ability to develop this skill. She regularly teaches beginners in her workshops. “After a few classes, everyone can see something. You don’t need to have a gift. We can all practice tuning in,” Orth says.
Mystic Michaela suggests one beginner strategy you can do by yourself at home. First, set your phone up to record yourself with a white wall as the background. Then “spend a few minutes just breathing or meditating as you close your eyes and tune in. Envision your walls going down. You want to imagine projecting your essence out. ‘Here I am!’ Afterward, watch the video you recorded. Do you see a main color surrounding your head or body? Or send it to a friend and see if they can see a color [or colors] around you.”
Another approach: Uhl suggests finding a white or neutral-colored wall. Spend a few minutes quieting your mind through meditation or breathing. Hold your hand out in a comfortable position so that it appears in front of the blank background wall. Relax your eyes as much as you can and keep your gaze gently focused on the area around your hand. You may be able to see a colored haze around it. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see anything at first. “It can take time to learn to tune in,” the expert says.
Make time to practice each day for at least two minutes. Tuning in has its own benefits, even if there are days when you aren’t “seeing” your colors. “Simply by trying to reconnect with your aura, you are asking yourself questions and paying attention to your essential self,” says Uhl.
What Do the Different Aura Colors Mean?
Online charts and guidebooks that list aura colors and their related meanings abound. Each one has its own unique spin. While these can be a useful start, Orth suggests you also reflect on what the colors mean to you personally. If you see a yellow aura around you, do you associate the color with the joy of your sun-splashed childhood bedroom — or with the anxiety of highway caution signs? Does the orange you see around your head suggest vitality to you — or stress? “If you notice changes in your aura, contemplate, What is going on in my life to create this shift?” says Orth.
Here are some of the main colors and their commonly ascribed qualities to get you started. (If you have more than one primary color, you have qualities from both.)
Red: Direct and assertive. Intense nature lovers.
Blue: Naturally empathetic and sensitive. Talented communicators.
Yellow: Organized and curious multitaskers. Lovers of learning.
Purple: Creative intuitive rebels who crave artistic outlets.
Green: Logical and detail-oriented folks who like a challenge.
Indigo: Empaths who try to heal others. Happy challenging the status quo.
As for indigo-and-yellow me, I’m trying Mystic Michaela’s suggestion that I make time for more silliness and fun. Is it my imagination … or is my aura looking sparklier already?
