The article by the student under the pseudonym Putnick (Traveler)
The importance of expressing repressed emotional energy has been emphasized numerous times, but many seekers still struggle to fully engage in this technique even with years of practice. Anger is a powerful emotion, and its repression can complicate the expression of other emotions. The fear that anger may inadvertently break through contributes to controlling all of our emotions, including sadness, preventing any expression.
One reason we may avoid fully opening up and engaging in the practice of anger expression towards someone is a superstitious fear that by doing so, we may bring harm to them. This fear is supported by a specific state of the mind that fuels our anger and impels us to consciously or unconsciously wish bad things to happen to the offender, the least viscous of which is "I wish you were in my shoes." Anger repression makes it easier to keep the mind under control; therefore, to allow anger expression, we must let go of this control. However, we fear losing control and slipping into verbalization of threats, which we are afraid may somehow materialize. And should some trouble indeed happen to the offender later on, we may interpret it as being our fault, as we had wished bad upon him/her. Not all seekers can overcome such fear and express their emotions in total, even within the confines of a separate practice. Unfortunately, the choice is limited; if you go on living with chronic internal pressure from emotional build-up—forget about mastering adequate expression of your feelings in a real-time environment.
To break free from such a cycle of anger and fear, you should learn to shift your focus from your mind to your ethereal body and thus allow the pent-up emotional energy to unfold, expand, and gradually dissipate. This is where the skill of switching attention between the physical and ethereal bodies comes in handy. Begin by sitting in the presence (muraqabah) or meditation for a while, then direct your attention to your physical body. Attend to the sensations in the entire body if you can, or perform a body scan (left arm, right leg, left leg, right arm, torso, neck, head). Next, shift your attention to your ethereal body and try to feel your inner energies. Immerse yourself in them as if dissolving. Move your attention back to the physical sensations, then again to the energy sensations. Repeat this cycle a few times. You want to practice this exercise for several days or more to see the effect. The aim is to achieve a maximum sense of your inner energy and dissolve in it to the degree that the sensations of your physical body become a subtle baseline and your mind is relaxed and calm.
Once you have successfully adopted the preparatory technique, you can apply it to express repressed emotions by bringing awareness to your emotional energy while leaving your mind minimally involved. Start by recalling the triggering situation, then shift yourself into the sensations of your ethereal body, that is, into the emotional reaction suppressed in the original situation. Then, similar to how you did it in the prep exercise, immerse yourself in the energy of this emotional reaction. By welcoming this energy rather than fighting it, you let it gradually expand and dissipate. It is important to understand that the more fully we open up and immerse ourselves in the energy that arises, the less chance of interference from the mind. Observe how the energy gains intensity and then slowly fades away; use physical movements to help the energy out, if applicable.
Anchoring firmly in the emotional (ethereal) body before plunging into the practice of expressing emotions prevents the mind from falling into self-pity when we work with sadness and visualizing negative scenarios related to the person who hurt our feelings when working with anger. Such mind reactions hinder the proper expression of repressed emotions and should be mitigated promptly, as described above.
The skill of shifting between the physical and ethereal bodies can prove advantageous down the road. It can aid in achieving the totality of effort in actions, for example, and help alleviate sudden confusion of the mind, as you can swiftly shift gears and redirect attention to the physical body.