What does an aura feel like? In that soft space just beyond the skin, energy moves. It hums, flows, and reacts to everything we do. That living field is the aura. It reflects mood, vitality, and spirit. When we learn to feel it, we begin to understand how alive energy truly is.
This series is about learning to see and feel auras. If you haven’t, read the first post; What is an Aura? Learn about the different auras we humans have.
What Does an Aura Feel Like? Feeling vs Seeing
Everyone wants to see colors right away, but feeling is the real foundation. The body already knows energy before the eyes catch up. When we focus less on seeing and more on sensing, we notice warmth, coolness, tingling, or a subtle pull. Those sensations tell stories the eyes might miss.
Feeling first also helps build trust. It teaches quiet listening instead of forcing results. Over time, the body’s awareness becomes sharper and more intuitive, and sight often follows naturally.
A Simple Exercise
Sit comfortably and take a few slow breaths. Rub your palms together until you feel a gentle heat. Then separate them a few inches and hold still. Pay attention to the space between your hands. You might notice a pulse, pressure, or light tingling. That is your energy field.
Practice this daily. When you become familiar with your own energy, you can sense others more easily. Hover your hands a few inches above someone’s shoulder or arm. Stay relaxed and notice any shift in temperature or texture. Trust what you feel, even if it seems small. Sensing is part of seeing, and this is just the next step in learning.
Pay close attention to things that pop in your mind when you’re doing it too. Find someone to practice with, they don’t have to know what you are doing. You can then ask “are you ok?” or other simple questions to get validation of you think you’re picking up.
I do this all the time, sometimes people see me doing it, but I place my receptive hand outward, like a satellite dish when I am tuning in to someone’s energy.
Dowsing Rods to Explore Auras
Product from our metaphysical shop. Dowsing rods on our site come with a protective bag.
Dowsing rods are a great way to learn to feel and see auras. They are more than tools for finding water or minerals; they can map energy fields around people, animals, and sacred spaces. The secret is focus and patience. When you relax and hold them lightly, they respond to the energy shifts your body detects subconsciously.
We have copper dowsing rods if you need, and free shipping on all orders $50 and up. The product at left is from our brick-and-mortar store. The dowsing rods on our site come with a protective bag.
Start by centering yourself. Breathe slowly until your body feels calm. Hold one rod in each hand by the short end so the long sides extend forward. Keep your elbows close to your body and the rods parallel to the floor. They should move freely but not wobble.
Invite a friend to stand in front of you in a quiet room. Begin several feet away and walk toward them slowly. Notice when the rods cross or drift apart. That movement often marks the outer edge of their aura. Step back, and the rods usually return to their resting position. Move forward again to confirm where that boundary begins. You can repeat the same motion from the sides or behind to sense how even or strong their field feels.
If you walk around your friend with the rods, you’ll discover their aura has a circular boundary.
Changes in Aura Energy
Now that you know where the outer edge of their aura is, try and notice what you feel or sense when you’re touching the edge of it. Put the rods down and use the open -hand method of sensing. What comes to you, ask questions and you may be surprised at the confirmations you get.
Next, ask your friend to think loving or joyful thoughts. The rods often widen, showing expansion. Then have them recall stress or fatigue, and the rods may draw inward. These changes reveal how emotional energy shifts the aura’s reach.
If you want to test your own field, place a chair where you stood and switch roles. Have your partner move toward you and describe what they observe. Comparing experiences builds confidence and helps you learn how your energy feels to others.
End each session by grounding. Touch the floor, breathe deeply, and thank the space for clarity. Dowsing rods don’t control energy; they mirror it. The steadier your presence, the more truthfully they respond.
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What Does an Aura Feel Like? Touch to Awareness
As sensitivity grows, you can extend that awareness beyond touch. Move your hands through the air near another person, plant, or animal. The aura can feel dense in some areas and light in others. Notice how your own emotions change in response. This gentle awareness builds connection and empathy while teaching you to stay grounded.
If nothing happens at first, stay patient. Energy sensing is subtle. Some days it feels strong, other days faint. The skill develops through consistency, not intensity.
Preparing the Mind and Spirit
Energy responds to your inner state. When you feel anxious, doubtful, or distracted, the aura contracts. Calm focus allows it to open. Before each practice, breathe deeply and set a clear intention to feel, not to judge. Release the pressure to perform. Curiosity works better than effort.
Boundaries matter too. Imagine your own energy anchored and secure before you reach toward another person’s field. That simple act keeps your aura clear and your readings cleaner.
Blending Feeling, Knowing, and Seeing
Energy awareness happens in more than one way. Sometimes you feel it in your hands. Other times you simply know something about the person’s mood or body without touching them. Sometimes you see flickers of color. None of these is better than the others. They are just different doors to the same house.
Let your own senses decide which door opens first. If you feel warmth, accept it. If you get a quiet knowing, trust it. The more you practice, the more those experiences overlap.
Common Challenges
Everyone hits blocks. Hands may go numb. Doubt creeps in. Some days you feel nothing. That does not mean failure. Take breaks when needed. Go outside, breathe, or touch the ground. Start again later with fresh energy. Keep a small journal of what you notice each time. Over weeks, you will see patterns.
Remember to stay hydrated, rest, and practice balance. Strong energy work starts with a healthy body.
What Does an Aura Feel Like? A Personal Reflection
When I began learning about auras, I wanted colors, lights, and big revelations. Instead, I found quiet tingles and tiny waves of heat. The more I respected those small signals, the stronger they became. Eventually, I stopped chasing proof and started enjoying presence. Feeling energy became less about “getting it right” and more about simply being awake to life moving around me.
I also have always naturally picked up on emotions and the thoughts of people around me. Auras add a whole other dimension to it for me. I would also advise you to learn to shield if you’re “sensitive”.
Empath Protection, Shielding for Psychic Sensitives.
Bringing It into Daily Practice
You can use aura awareness anywhere. When you meet someone, pause for a second and notice how your body feels near them. When you walk into a room, sense whether the space feels heavy or bright. These moments build confidence and teach discernment.
If you teach others, start with these small steps. Encourage patience, clear intention, and regular practice. People learn faster when they stop judging themselves. Keep the space calm and supportive.
Final Thoughts
Feeling the aura is not a trick or performance. It is a conversation between your energy and everything around you. It asks you to slow down, listen, and trust subtle truth. Before color and light come sensation and presence. Start there, and the rest will unfold naturally.
So today, take a few minutes to quiet your mind, rub your palms, and feel the gentle current between them. What you sense may be faint at first, but it is real. Energy is always speaking. The question is, are you listening?
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Ill trust my gut instincts over trying to feel someones aura any day.
Hello Jimmy 🙂 author here …. “gut instincts” – those are so important, the spirit often speaks through the gut, Ventre Loquis …. but that is only the beginning of what one can learn to see and know. I recommend looking in some quality books on auras and do some research and experimentation before dismissing or dissing the practice. My tarot clients, even the live video session clients, are always astounded by the things I know, but a huge part of that is their energy. It’s worth it to learn and be open-minded. 🙂 Blessings!
Trust your gut, but dont knock it till you try it. Auras are more than meets the eye. Reading auras takes practice, like anything else, but can tell you/reveal so much more.
I don’t want to insult anyone’s beliefs, but auras? I mean, like is it for real? … 🤔
Maybe you haven’t experienced it yourself. Auras are real energy fields, not illusions. I found the category page for these posts interesting, lot of history of people expressing belief in and explaining auras from way back. I didn’t know Isaac Newton was a “quiet champion” of auras. Read it and see for yourself, a lot of documented history there.
Thank you for explaining what has been happening my entire life. Now to learn to see them visually.
Are there any advantages to seeing auras versus just feeling them?
Yes, good question Mary!:) Yes, because it adds layers of understanding, increases context and help you read an aura with more depth and accuracy. Think three parts about auras; feeling, seeing and reading. Feeling and seeing help you read an aura. We get the sense of a person’s energy (feeling) and seeing (color begins to tell you a lot) and then better “reading”. If you recall from earlier lessons, I let my clients choose a color chime candle when I read to tarot and throw the bones for them. Their choice of color already begins to tell me so much. In the same way when we perceive colors in auras, those colors help show us things and increase context and open us up to more specific details. It all works together.