A Kundalini Yogini View | The Eighth Chakra | The Aura

auraWhaaaaat? The eighth chakra? What is this madness! How is the eighth chakra the auric field? Read to find out!

Alternative names: The aura

Colour: White

Location: It is your electromagnetic field

Element: N/A

Demon: N/A

Goal: Radiant projection of the I AM

Basic Rights: To exist

Language: Beyond words

Positive qualities include (but aren’t limited to): The aura protects and projects the combined effect of all the chakras.

Shadow qualities include (but aren’t limited to): Shyness, withdrawn, vulnerable

Yoga Exercises to Balance this Chakra: Ego eradicator, Triangle pose, Archer pose, all arm exercises and all meditation.

Issues Dealt With Here: Projection, feeling protected and safe

Helpful Crystals: Amber, amethyst, apache tear, bloodstone, carnelian, citrine, jet, magnetite, quartz, green tourmaline

“The aura combines the effects of all the other chakras. To experience this, imagine yourself rising high above your physical body. As you look down at the radiant light of the aura, it appears to be an oval or a circle of light. This chakra is often referred to as the circumvent field or circumvent force, the strength of the energy shell that surrounds all the other chakras. It, too, is a chakra, a circle, a vortex of energy, a place to focus the universal energy.” – Yogi Bhajan, page 195 of the Level One Kundalini Yoga Instructors Manual

When this chakra is strong negative influences are automatically filtered. We feel connected to the Universe, and have a sense of balance. Your presence seems to do a lot and it seems effortless to fulfil your desires and needs. You feel like you are. You are being. In any space, in any room, you are.

When your aura is weak everything seems to affect you. It seems you are constantly taking on other peoples stuff, and a weak aura means you don’t shine as much. It is more likely you will become physically sick as well.

We strengthen our auric field through meditation, yoga and other energetic practices such as chi gong. When I was much younger I had a lot of trouble with this. I felt I was constantly picking up other peoples stuff. I couldn’t tell what was mine and what was not. I couldn’t even identify my own auric field!

I felt that I couldn’t handle the world. I also began shielding, the art of placing an energy shield around the auric field so nothing can come in.

One day it occurred to me that a person should be able to walk around without shielding. Shielding creates strange vortexes at times doing odd things, and sometimes it also keeps out the positive stuff I wanted to let in I had observed. So how does one walk around without shielding?

I stopped shielding in the small city of Victoria, BC (around 330,000 people in the Greater Victoria area) and found myself overwhelmed within two days. I had to practice boundary setting. I got really good at knowing what was mine and what wasn’t. I practised feeling my field. I meditated a lot and did yoga daily. I developed methods to pull or push energies out of my field and mental bodies. 

Gradually we come to today where I now live in Vancouver, BC surrounded by 2.1 million people living in the Greater Vancouver area. I don’t shield often any more – its no longer a daily survival tactic. I use it only when I begin to feel overwhelmed in a sea of people in close quarters I’ve noticed.

I’ve had a daily yoga and meditation practice for over a year and a half. I’ve not skipped a day of practice since August. And it is benefiting me in ways that I’ve not always consciously noticed like this lack of needing to shield. YAY!

Further Resources on This Chakra:

A Detailed Article on the Auric Field

The 3ho article

A Kriya to Strengthen the Auric Field

** Normally a different chakra is referred to as the Eight Chakra. The aura is usually kept separate, except in Kundalini Yoga.