Have you ever had you aura photographed? A few years ago at a psychic fair, my friends and I all had our auras photographed, and we were amazed at how each one of us displayed a totally different shape and color spectrum. Of course, this is what you'd expect for different people. I think we were just surprised because we didn't really think it would work!

You may be familiar with Kirlian photography, the technology first discovered and developed by Russian scientist Seymon Kirlian. This form of photography captures subtle energies present in humans, plants—even small groups of cells. Many believe that the energy shown in Kirlian photography is a representation of the aura.

There have been some fascinating experiments done using this form of photography. Russian scientists took photographs of a normal plant leaf and the same plant leaf after the leafy foliage had been cut away from the stem. To their astonishment, the Kirlian photograph of the cut leaf still showed the energy imprint of the full leaf, leading researchers to wonder whether there are energetic "imprints" for health. Similar experiments with cancer cells and tumors have shown that these abnormal cells also omit a different kind of subtle energy than healthy cells and tissues.

It would be great fun if you could go around experimenting and photographing auras, but unfortunately it's just not practical—the equipment is quite costly and not very portable. The good news is that, with a little bit of practice, you can learn to see them yourself. You can also learn how to strengthen your own aura, which can help you remain happy and healthy.

If you've ever zoned out in a classroom and seen a whitish glow start to develop around the teacher's head, you've already seen a preview of the aura. For most people, learning to see the aura in this form is an easy first step, and one that often happens spontaneously if you are in a relaxed state of mind and begin to gently let your eyes lose focus. Everybody has the ability to see auras, but it's often something that must be developed through conscious practice.

Some people see auras quite easily; others "sense" the aura with a type of psychic intuition or inner knowing. Literally seeing the color of someone's aura will come naturally to one person, while the next may see the shape of the aura but may only inwardly sense the aura color.

Once you get good at seeing or sensing auras, you will notice that you also develop the ability to sense someone's level of emotional arousal and even physical health. Someone who is concentrating heavily or who is angry will have a distinct pattern and intensity to their aura; that same person's aura will look different when they are relaxed.

The same holds true for physical health. When we are healthy, our auras look healthy and whole. When we are ill, whether from a short-term illness like the flu or with a serious illness like cancer, it shows up in our auras.

Many people in the metaphysical community believe that disease actually manifests first in someone's aura before it begins to show up in the physical body. For this reason, aura reading can become a valuable preventative tool. If you get good at seeing auras, you will start to notice when you or your loved ones may be starting to develop signs of illness, sometimes before they even know it themselves. By practicing simple aura cleansing and healing techniques, you can help keep yourself and your loved ones healthier.

If you'd like to learn more about seeing, sensing, and working with auras, you might want to check out Aura Reading for Beginners by Richard Webster. This book is very easy to follow and was written especially for people who are just starting. It will also teach you how to sense and cleanse the chakras, which in turn can help strengthen both your physical body and your aura. You'll also learn how to interpret different aura colors, and even how to "program" colors into your aura to help you reach your goals.

How to Read and See the Aura by Ted Andrews is another great resource, and I like it a lot because it gives you several different methods for both seeing and sensing auras so that you can really discover what works best for you. This book also has some great techniques for measuring the overall strength of your aura, as well as how to strengthen and protect your aura from outside influences.

As with many things currently considered "paranormal," auras fall somewhere in between science and mystery. Scientists and doctors know for a fact that our nervous system is, in a sense, electric. Our brains send and receive electric impulses—without them, we wouldn't be able to properly process physical sensations or tell our muscles to move a part of our body. Without this very real internal energy, we simply couldn't function. To date, no experiment has satisfactorily proven the existence of the human aura. However, no one has disproved it either. I encourage you to experiment with sensing auras and see what you think. That's probably all the proof you will need.