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Can You Really See an Aura?

Since it’s spooky season, I feel like this question sort of aligns with ‘can you really see a ghost’? I instantly digress! I think we’d have to define what a ghost really is before tackling that question, so let’s stick to the topic at hand — what is an aura?

We’re going Merriam-Webster here for this one: a distinctive atmosphere surrounding a given source (as in: an aura of mystery); a subtle sensory stimulus (such as an aroma); a subjective sensation (voices, colored lights, crawling, numbness) experienced at the onset of a neurological condition; an energy field that is held to emanate from a living being.

For our purposes, we’re going to use the energy field definition, but isn’t it interesting that it’s also a part of brain conditions? I mean, everything happens in our minds anyway, right?

The kid and I were talking about auras this morning after him explaining an intense dream he had of being chased by a zombie and using lucidity to exit the dream state. This led to auras, him telling me he saw purple around me (!), and my insatiable thirst to see what Science — that’s capital S, folks — has to say these days.

Now, I don’t know if my kid really saw purple, but, full disclosure — I have seen colors around others and also floating in the air with my eyes open; I can see outlines of energy; I can see a pulsing in the sky above an ocean; I can see the little whirlies of white squiggles given the right lighting. (The latter is supposed to be an awareness of white blood cells. Who knew?)

I’ve seen some other weird things, and certainly felt inexplicable things, but seeing a rainbow of colors (translucent, not opaque) is most definitely one of the cooler things I’ve experienced on this rotating ball in the heavens.

The next question you might ask is whether or not I’m crazy. I don’t particularly think so. I’m fairly logical, rational. Yes, I’m emotional, and sensitive — which leads me to what I found on the web this morning about emotional synesthesia.

If you’ve read this blog before, you know I’m obsessed with all things brain.

WebMD tackles synesthesia here, but to sum up: it’s when one part of your brain takes stimuli and creates a unique response. Think seeing music as you hear it; tasting words as you hear or see them on paper. It’s not as uncommon as you think! Here’s another cool place to get you started on your exploration of synesthesia.

To sum up: I’m not crazy, the brain is cool, and yes, you can see colors out in the world that others cannot, but as to what exactly it is? Is it your projection from an emotion? Is it someone’s aura, or the emotions they are projecting in the moment?

Kirlian photography also exists which is supposed to photograph your aura in that moment. I’ve had it done twice, several years apart, in two distinct locations in the eastern U.S., and my “picture” was essentially the same both times. I’m wanting to get it photographed again — as well as my son’s — to see if my tightly controlled ball of red and orange have mellowed out to other colors. (Probably not, I’m still a hot head!)

Here are some fun books I’m interested in checking out. Let me know if you have read any of them in comments below or shoot me an email to further discuss. I hope you enjoy the vibes; stay swell out there!

The Ultimate Guide to Looking and Feeling Your Best Every Day

Image via Pexels

By Guest Blogger Zack Spring

In today’s society, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the seemingly endless demands of life. With busy work schedules, social obligations, and personal responsibilities, it can be difficult to find time and energy to focus on our own well-being. However, neglecting our mental and physical health can lead to negative outcomes in all areas of our lives. That’s why it’s essential to have strategies that help us look and feel our best every day.

Shared by Nani Lotus Bodywork, here are some tips that can help you on your journey toward optimal health and wellness.

Limit Your Caffeine Intake

Many of us rely on caffeine to fuel our mornings and stay alert throughout the day. However, consuming too much caffeine can have negative effects on our well-being, including sleep disturbances, anxiety, and increased heart rate. To reduce your caffeine intake, try alternative options such as tea or decaf coffee. You could also experiment with herbal supplements like ashwagandha, or ginseng, or fruits and vegetables like bananas or sweet potatoes to boost your energy levels without relying on caffeine.

Invest in Quality Footwear

We all know that comfortable shoes are essential for a good walk, jog, or workout. But did you know that wearing the wrong shoes can cause serious injury over time? Investing in quality footwear is a key strategy for looking and feeling your best every day. Make sure your shoes fit properly, have good arch support, and are designed for your specific activity. Invest in brands that have been thoroughly studied for their safety.

Entourage Yourself with Positive People

The people we interact with each day can significantly impact our sense of well-being. Surrounding yourself with uplifting and encouraging people can boost your mood, lower stress levels, and improve overall health. You can nurture positive relationships by joining a supportive community, volunteering, or simply spending time with friends and family who make you feel good about yourself.

Online Education

Self-improvement is a powerful tool for boosting confidence and well-being, and this may help in pursuing online education or acquiring a degree in education. Going back to school can provide a sense of accomplishment and open new doors to fulfilling careers. Although challenging, the benefits of learning new things can greatly improve our mindset and enhance our lives.

Practice Gratitude

Practicing gratitude is a simple yet powerful way to increase well-being and happiness. Taking time to focus on what we’re grateful for can help us shift our perspective toward the positive, even during difficult times. Start each day by thinking about something you’re grateful for, whether it’s a person in your life, a work project, or simply a beautiful day. Write down at least three things — no matter how small or big they are — every day, and read them over before going to bed.

Laugh Often

Laughter is truly the best medicine. It has been shown to reduce stress levels, boost the immune system, and promote positive feelings. Watching your favorite comedy sketches, reading humorous books or articles, or spending time with loved ones who make you laugh can all be excellent ways to incorporate more laughter into your life. Make it a priority to find ways to laugh every day, even if it’s just a quick YouTube video or a silly text exchange with some friends.

These strategies are simple yet powerful ways to help us look and feel our best every day. By limiting our caffeine intake, boosting confidence through online education, practicing gratitude, etc., we can improve our overall well-being and lead happier, more fulfilled lives. Remember that taking care of yourself is not selfish, it’s necessary. Start small and work your way up, you’ll be surprised how much of a difference these simple tips can make.

Zack Spring works as a tech consultant which requires him to travel frequently. He also enjoys running and cycling – staying active as possible. He created TravelFit.info to encourage his readers to stay active while traveling.

Taking Your Yoga Practice to the Next Level

Photo Credit: Avrielle Suleiman via Unsplash

By Guest Blogger Zack Spring

Taking Your Yoga Practice to the Next Level

Practicing yoga is a wonderful way to improve your balance, increase your flexibility, and develop your core strength. It is also very beneficial for your mind as it helps you be more aware and focused. So if you’re trying to incorporate more practices into your busy life, here are three strategies you should implement right now, courtesy of Nani Lotus Bodywork

Create a Stress-Free Zone

Practicing yoga is best done in a quiet and comfortable environment. If you feel that your house is too chaotic to really get into a deep state of relaxation, or too messy to be able to fully engage in mindfulness meditation and really obtain any benefit from your practice, consider decluttering a space just for yourself. 

Find a spot in your home where you’ll have enough room to stretch out, as far away from the hustle and bustle of the common areas as possible. Turn that spot into a calming sanctuary by removing anything that doesn’t belong there and organizing the space so that you won’t have any visual distractions during your practice. 

You can paint the walls in a color that relaxes or inspires you, and even add drapes, room-darkening shades, or blinds if you prefer to practice yoga by candlelight. The idea is to create a space you want to spend time in, where you can be fully focused on your breath and your flow.           

Carve Time Out for Practice

If you work from home, it’s easy to forget about taking breaks throughout the day. But spending all your time hunched over your desk – or worse, slouching on the couch while typing on your laptop keyboard – will do a number on your back, neck, and shoulders. So make sure to break up your workday by incorporating yoga exercises into your routine. 

Take a few minutes to practice poses that promote good posture and strengthen your core. Not only will it be good for your body, but it will be great for your mind as well. You’ll have better focus and clarity, and regular practice can even lead to better emotional balance and resilience. Stepping away from your desk for a handful of minutes and taking a few cleansing breaths or doing some yoga stretches may be all it takes to give you a renewed boost of energy that will help you get through the day. 

You can also set up an appointment with Nani Lotus Bodywork for guided yoga, massage, or reiki to refresh your body and mind.

Make Use of the Latest Technologies

Digital technologies have allowed us to take our practice anywhere, and they can even let us learn new techniques from the comfort of our own homes. If you don’t have time to go to a studio, you can sign up for online yoga classes and virtually meet up with a teacher

Look for a teacher that is not only passionate about yoga but is also able to clearly explain how to direct your body for every asana. Your yoga teacher should be safety-conscious and ask you if you have suffered an injury before starting a class. 

You can also download apps that will keep track of your progress and monitor your sessions as you practice. Choose an app that is easy to use, has valid and current information about poses and their benefits, and that will allow you to give and receive feedback. Some apps even suggest reading materials and videos you may enjoy and learn from, as well as healthy foods and supplements that can enhance your practice.      

Let Tech Enhance Your Yoga Practice

Yoga offers many benefits for the body and the mind. So find the time and space to practice regularly. And take advantage of the latest technologies to help you maintain your mental and physical health!


Zack Spring works as a tech consultant which requires him to travel frequently. He also enjoys running and cycling – staying active as possible. He created TravelFit.info to encourage his readers to stay active while traveling.

Here’s How My Harmonic Egg Session Went

Wait, what in God’s name am I referencing? 

An egg? 

An egg that is harmonic and can create a session?

Okay. So if you’ve listened to my podcast, you know that, along with my friend, we consider ourselves skeptical of woo woo ideas, notions, services and talismans. And since I’ve been inside the World of Woo for so long, I recognize the fact that my level of skepticism has waned and I’m far more open to try new, random things without needing to take a deep dive into believability.

And also, because, at the very least, these things create an experience of the senses, which ultimately is what life is about.

This is how I found myself resting inside a giant, sacred geometrical wooden egg with a soft, whitish lavender light above me, cushy zero gravity chair below me. I was covered underneath a sky blue and white plaid blanket, squished between two soft pillows, and had speakers pumping tunes from each side of the egg.

That’s right.

I sat inside an egg-shaped dome contraption thingamabob for 50 minutes to relax, and “heal”.

Here’s some info from Harmonic Egg’s main website:

An ancient technology rediscovered – Ancient Egyptians and Greeks used the healing properties of sound in their healing rituals, and the Aboriginal people of Australia to the present day still use their didgeridoo and drums to heal broken bones and muscle tears. ​

In the Harmonic Egg three powerful elements are combined. Energy frequencies of light (color) and music brought together in a geometrically shaped space with the aim of balancing body, mind, and soul with each other. This stimulates the self-healing ability of the body.

As of the herbal world, I have a tendency of believing combinations of – whatever – have a more lasting impact than a single entity. Theoretically speaking, combining the right music (scientifically proven to chill a person out), light therapy (again: science is backing the healing effects of certain tones) and the sacred geometrical shape of this egg could activate healing. 

Alright: I’m unsure if science is backing this one, but I KNOW in my heart of hearts, there is magic in the shape of a perfectly formed water droplet, in curvatures of a leaf, a sea shell, the perfect dimensions of… an egg?

Okay, maybe I need to research that one.

The website further tells us that:

Data suggests that energy therapy balances the Autonomic Nervous System, detoxes the body, reduces inflammation, increases circulation, and clears trauma at a cellular level.

The resonant frequency used by the Harmonic Egg® / Ellipse® has an ability to detect the vibration of your body and any imbalance. That imbalance is harmonized with the exact opposite frequency.

And as an aside, the creator of the egg had an experience inside another type of chamber, has a background in engineering, and TA DA! She created this Harmonic Egg.

Back to my Egg-sperience:

I was brought into the egg room by a technician-in-training. I was introduced to the person who co-owned the egg–a hypnotherapist, Reiki master and psychic among other things–and she introduced herself and plainly asked me to tell about myself to her.

Prior to this, I had to fill out loads of paperwork and disclaimers. She was quick to tap into my energy by looking around my body, sort of said to herself, “I see what’s going on here” and gave me a very quick spiel about the egg. (To which I replied that yeah, I was very tired. I wasn’t thrilled about the assessment without more fanfare, but then again, assuming she had read my paperwork, she must have known about my profession. Still a bit alarming, though.)

The Egg-owner also made mention of smells I might encounter inside the egg — she suggested woodsy or lavender — as this was my “odor” and what my “detox” would smell like.

She also mentioned my past bouts of mono. (So yes, this is truly something asked on the paperwork — and I have a whole slew of feelings regarding EBV, but I won’t go into that here.) I laughed it off (it’s been about 10 years since I had my last flair-up) but she was quick to say not to negate the virus which I house.

She told me she had sobbed inside the egg only yesterday (and due to the wooden nature of the egg, it purportedly doesn’t absorb others’ energies, and is thusly self-cleansing by nature). She said I may sob too — I did not. She also told me I may feel more tired when I left, and how every time is different. I’ve been in this field long enough to know that this is the lingo for many modalities.

I took off my jewelry and shoes, popped into the chair. The technician adjusted it for me, pushing me back, lifting my feet. She gave me the pillows and blanket, had me figure out where to press the bell in case I needed something. The door slowly closed after they made sure the sound was on, and I was alone.

It took me about 5-minutes to calm down; I was excited, I was nervous. I felt my energy being tapped into again, and I assumed it was a part of the process.

Maybe that “tapping into” is more of an opening on my part?

The egg itself is rather spacious — I am a little claustrophobic, but there was so much room on either side of me, and in front of me that I felt fine. The music had a trickle of water running just beneath the tunes, and it seemed like generic, soothing music. As I mentioned, the light was a lavender white, plenty bright to see, not so bright to be bothersome. I closed my eyes and turned on Reiki.

I had expected the colors to change in the egg; they did not. I had expected the music to be louder and more vibratory; it was not. I suppose, overall, it was less a kick-in-the-psychic-ass, and more of a subtle soothefest.

With ten minutes to go, the music slowly fades out. You’re left alone with your thoughts and tinnitus. I wasn’t aware of this part of the session, so I half-wondered if they’d forgotten me (I’m often too timid in making sure I haven’t been forgotten), or if the music had shut off by mistake. But I told my thoughts that they were a wad of nothing, and tried to relax again.

SEE. I saw waves of purple/indigo with my eyes open. With the coloring of the egg, it was easy for me to see the waves of energy, be my own or not. I asked to see another color, and an orange came in, but it wasn’t bright. I’ve seen brighter colors before.

TASTE. Nothing.

HEAR. Just the tunes and my own tinnitus!

SMELL. I did have a short burst of cedar appear; but it certainly could have been MAJORLY influenced via the power of suggestion. But if that’s my detox scent, I dig it!

FEEL. I felt a bubble of joy burst up forth from my heart center at one point. While my intention was to relax, I projected a sense of openness to receive. I imagined my grandparents on either side of me, and told them this space was simply for love. I imagined their hands in mine.

Did I feel like I was inside a spaceship at times? Why yes, yes I did.

Did I have to go to the bathroom? Why yes, yes I did. I decided that since I was detoxing, this meant I was releasing stored fluids of emotions. Like what I did there?

I stepped out feeling rested, but I had questions.

Was this particular shade of light chosen for me and my paperwork and assessment?

Yes.

Was this music chosen for me as well?

Yes. It’s chosen to work with my system where I am in the moment, as opposed to force an outcome.

I’m guessing this means my paperwork was assessed in advance and a plan was made prior to my arrival. Perhaps she would have changed the tunes and light had I been completely different than she had thought. I don’t really know. It looks like owners who are listed on the main website need to keep up with training for the listing.

I am interested in learning more about the process.

Would I try it again? Sure, why not. We all need quiet space at times. It’s close by. I have a feeling there’s a world of Egg Culture out there that I’ve only begun to scrape.

If you want more information, the original website can be found here. Located across the world, you can search to see if one is located near you.

2 Year Celebration!

Swellness Vibes has been around for TWO_WHOLE_YEARS already!

While Summer is about ready to kick in full-time and lead me into unstructured chaos, I thought I’d offer a quick recap of what’s transpired over the past 2 years as well as offer a FREEBIE — so long as you make it to the bottom of this blog post. 😂🤣

Color/Light Therapy was a fan favorite crossing the lightwave spectrum of health and healing. What’s even MORE fun is I’ll be teaching an introductory class about Color/Light Therapy in August to some yogi trainees. I haven’t shared this class in three years, I can’t believe it’s already been that long. I’m looking forward to the class.

We’ve covered natural remedies, ranging from homemade elderberry syrup (which I plan on making some soon!) to citrine gem infused water. (And yes, some of these tags cross-reference with color/light therapy among other things.)

We’ve experienced a ton of asanas and yoga at large together. We’ve chatted meditation, self-care and tapping. (I’m teaching an intro class to tapping to that same yogi group!) We’ve shared book reviews, essential oils, skin care, hypnosis, exercise, the lists go on and on and on and on and…

We’ve also covered some bodywork, which, as a bodyworker, makes all the sense in the world. And that’s WHY, to celebrate the 2-year anniversary of the blog, I’m offering a FREE 30-minute remote Reiki session to the first 2-people who email me about it. CONTEST ENDS JUNE 30, 2023 and SESSION MUST OCCUR NO LATER THAN JULY 31, 2023.

Just write “I’m in” in the subject line, and I’ll write you back and let you know if you made the cut this time! Email me at infoallisonkeli @ gmail . com.

Good Luck! 🍀

CHEERS TO TWO_WHOLE_YEARS!