Good questions! I'll try to answer, but I'm not sure how precise I can be. I suspect that in trying to answer, I'll generate new obscurities. I hope that at least some of it is helpful in some way.
I used the word friction because it allowed me to remain open to what it "really" is. So yeah, it's vague. I don't really know. I think there are many possible models of explanation that can be applied more or less accurately and I'm not sure to what extent and how they intersect. I think that at some level it might be helpful to think of it in terms of how entangled and frizzy our energy channels are, and how the traffic flows in them - or in neurological pathways for that matter (which I would say overlaps but isn't quite equivalent), or with regard to habitual patterns. Not saying that energy channels are absolute in any way, but working with it on that plane does things. Now, what you suggested, subjectively experienced friction between self and objects etc, is definitely related to that. In my subjective experience, insights release energy that was locked up in limiting patterns, and then that energy needs to go somewhere. It can very easily flood into other habitual patterns instead, because those routes are highly accessible. So when one works with insight, things can come out in the open that was previously masked because there was less energy flowing around in the system, whatever we believe the system to be. And Gosh, can it be messy there! But seeing the mess and cutting through it is also sort of the point, I think. We just need to find ways of doing it that work for us and for those around us. So I guess at least part of what I'm saying is that when there is more traffic flowing around in the infrastructure, the organizational flaws of it become accentuated, and we are trying to rebuild the organization with the traffic (life) still going on.
I do have practice logs: Polly Ester's practice log - a pilot project, and then numbers. Unfortunately I haven't saved any links to the old ones and the search function on this platform sucks, so I thinkthe easiest way to find the first ones are to go into the section for practice logs and look for them manually. Really sorry about that. I believe I'm currently on number 12 (or is it 13?). I was more inte mapping earlier in my practice. Where I'm at now, there are so many fractions to it that it's no use keeping track of it. However, I still find it helpful to recognize treats from specific ñanas on the fly and secondguess myself accordingly. Like "This thinking pattern is classical reobservation stuff, so I'd better not take it too seriously" or "The way I feel sorry for myself right in this moment and the way it makes me disgusted of myself is totally out of proportion, classical misery-disgust sequence. It will pass." And then zoom out to the whole space, which clearly has better things to be aware about than obsessive selfing.
I had what could be classified as spontaneous Kundalini arising many years ago, so there were all sorts of weird stuff going on for a long time. Bolts of energy shooting up through the spine and exploding, energetic buzzing, weird vibrations of differents sorts, ups and lows in temperatures, changes in focus and in clarity - pretty much what Daniel describes here:
https://vimeo.com/69793499 It's much more subtle nowadays. Sometimes I miss the intensity so much that I seem to call it up again, and that can be quite the shock. Now I have gotten accustomed to a smoother ride. I guess I haven't quite found my balance yet. Either that, or my balance allows for some variety in intensity and pace.
Psychologically, over time I can see a clear tendency of being able to deal with challenges with more and more equinimity, in most types of life situations. At the same time, I see more and more of what still needs working on, which can feel heavy. It's good to remind myself of how much has actually improved. Things are less about me me me, and that makes life less messy, but I would prefer it to be even less about me (and of course, the me that finds that the selfing sucks is caught up in the midst of selfing, so
that will never see the end to it).
Yeah, sure, confirmation bias is always a factor.
As for the relationship between energy body and physical body, that is tricky. I find that a practical approach is to pragmatically work with things on many planes while not investing too much energy in searching for the perfect story around it that makes it all come together. Also, just like I wouldn't do brain surgery on myself or on any other being, I try not to fiddle with the energy plane beyond what seems to know its own way. Sometimes I happen to suddenly and seemingly magickally unblock something that seemed completely solid and physical just a moment ago, and I try to not screw that up by getting into full analytical mode. That kind of thing happens, sometimes with a popping sound, sometimes even with like a very small electrical surge. It can also happen gradually, by way of what feels like untangling going on in a state of lucid sleep. Sometimes I find physiological explanations to what happens (like, a specific ticking sound in my ears that coincides with breathing becoming much easier - I accidently found out that in some phases, puffs of air are pressed out through the ears, creating a vacuum that makes air enter in through the nose automatically; I noticed that while meditating with my ears under water in my bath tub). I also suspect that the fascia contracts and expands in accordance with the cycling.
Being sceptical is totally fine. Investigating for oneself is both fascinating and helpful.
