The woman who deciphered the clouds of color in my snapshot actually had a lot to say. The muddle of color around my head indicated a lot of worry, “too much thinking,” she said more than once. The blotch of colorless light on the left side of the photo showed I was exhausted from thinking, both physically and mentally. The rainbow-shaped stripe over my head, particularly the purplish bit on the right, indicated that a relationship was the main cause of my distress.

The good news, though, was that all the yellow and orange light showed I was working hard in effective ways to reach my goals. While the area on the left of the photograph (energy from the past three weeks) showed how trying things had been, the area to my right (entering energy for the three weeks to come) indicated I’d find success through the hard work I was doing. The fact that these gold and orange areas appeared bright and opaque throughout was a good sign, she said, but overall my brain and body needed rest.

Leaving the shop, my mood was lifted. I learned that aura readings can’t predict a specific future, but they can help to bolster your perspective. At least that’s what mine did. While I was already quite aware that my post-breakup sleeplessness was not helping me heal, it did help to have another person recognize that frazzled energy and say that I should make that problem a priority. Hearing her forecast a light at the end of my tunnel helped me see that the dark, confusing head-space I was in would be temporary. – SARAH LYNN KNOWLES