As soon as I place my fingers on the contact points of a biofeedback reader attached to a computer and monitor at Aura Therapies Gallery in Old Orcutt, colors begin to dance across a still image of my face, captured moments before. Reds, oranges, and violets take turns on the screen, accompanied by text that lists the various traits connected to each color. The overall effect is then recorded by Aura Therapies Gallery owner Mikki Alhart, who excitedly reacts to the information the technology and software provide.
“Whoa, look at those, look at your colors!” she says. “Look at how big your aura is! Oh, my dear, you have tremendous power!”
Whatever power Alhart is referring to, it can’t be the power to quickly understand auras. Much of our time in my aura and chakra video photography session is spent on Alhart explaining what an aura is.
“There is an electromagnetic energy field around all people and animals,” she says. “We are body, mind, and spirit, and now, with science, we can see and feel the spirit.”
Words like “spirit” and “energy” tend to raise skeptics’ hackles in most scientific discussions, but Alhart uses her technology to help people relate to themselves. A retired therapist and counselor, she often surprises people—this reporter included—with knowledge about their personality minutes after an initial aura reading.
“Auras don’t lie; they can’t, because it’s pure energy,” she says. “It’s so much fun. People always say, ‘How did you know that?’”
Each person’s aura is a result of the health and balance of his or her chakras, Alhart explains. A session with her includes a reading of your aura, the size of your chakras, and the balance between your chakras. Depending on your aura colors and chakra balance, you may land anywhere on a diverse spectrum.
“Everybody is very, very individual,” she says. “No two people are alike.”
Along with your results, information pertaining to each aspect of your aura and chakra reading are included in a 24-page packet for your reference. Each chakra is connected to different aspects of personality, emotion, and spirit, Alhart explains, and help determine your aura color and balance. The entire package is a kind of psycho-spiritual Myers-Briggs test.
“It’s very exciting because for the first time our technology is allowing us to look at this energy,” she says. “No one is saying we know exactly what it is, because it’s beyond our physical intelligence.”
Though Alhart worked as a therapist and counselor, she stresses that her aura readings are meant for personal understanding of emotional and spiritual well-being, something that’s helped her understand herself. It’s also helped her realize her gift and love for painting, with many of her works hanging in her gallery for sale.
“All of my painting is guided visualization,” she says. “I meditate in color.”
Alhart hopes to help people who are open to the idea of auras and chakras for personal understanding and development. Her gallery also includes a lending library full of books relating to auras, chakras, dreams, and spirituality. She’s not afraid to ask deep questions—and hopes others will help her seek answers—but she also has plenty of information to share about biofeedback, auras, and energy.
“You are the expert on you,” she says. “What do you feel? Who are you? How do you resonate? What color are you?”
This article appears in Jun 12-19, 2014.