Aura Shaper is a mid-tier feat that can expand the size of the aura to up to 30 feet, but earlier, you’re trying start a fight by activating your aura and move to something like this

_ _ _ X
_ O _ _
O X _ 👨‍🚒  

where _ is a blank space, X is your opponents, O is your allies, and 👨‍🚒 is you. Your group of allies is clustered to the left of O, and your group of enemies is clustered around the right side of the map, that is, around you, but you’re in a spot that has a blank space between you and any of them as well.

Keep your friends far and your enemies close-but-not-that-close, as the proverb goes. You can then use Air and Water Impulse Junctions to keep your action-taxing distance from foes intact when they approach.

As the fight goes on, positioning changes because your allies and enemies get a bit more intermingled, but those position changes are extremely costly for your foes (a decent chance of falling, no chance to avoid reactions because no Step) and free for you (Air Impulse Junction, Water Junction).