Here's a conversation I had with a friend who linked this back to me.

S: Meditation opens you up, puts your personal paradigms under the microscope, and makes you question reality. For some, this can be liberating. For others, it can be terrifying.

It's common for deep-rooted emotions or buried traumas to rise up. This is why a teacher can be helpful. They can lead you through the process of healing. That said, a meditation teacher isn't the only resource; therapists, parents, and friends can all help.

That's my opinion, which seems to be the general one

My more personal opinion is that most people who arrive at the Dharma aren't karmically ready for it (like me). Which is why they should be honest with themselves and choose the right type of practice they need to get "on level"

C: Hm, how do you figure out what karmic level you are on?

S: Well, it's not really quantifiable :P

It takes honest reflection: are you alright with yourself? with your parents? siblings? friends? neutral people? people you dislike?

What I'm pointing at is the underlying behaviour we have when things aren't going well, or deep-rooted beliefs (misconceptions) about our self-worth or that kind of stuff

This is where karma can become really controversial, though: physical karma, for example. Where you born in a stable country, a well-off family, or a war-torn land, as an orphan?

Do you have a healthy body or are you riddled with disease?

Then there's mental karma. What are your unhealthy obsessions that, while subtle, push your drive for self-destruction, so to speak. Etc

I've recently realized that the practice I was doing isn't the exact best for me (dry insight). It was too jarring, too intense (I'd actually sweat during), and it offered no blissful counterpart. It's not wrong practice, it's just not the right kind for me at the moment, so I went back to the basics: mindfulness of the breath, which calms the body and mind (while working insight) and can lead to blissful states (from which one gains even more insight). Another practice most Westerners neglect is metta-bhavana, loosely translated as 'cultivation of friendliness'. We're too critical of ourselves, we're not friends with ourselves.

Although I've neglected it this past week, my practice has become like a hug. And like with many hugs, I can come to realize that things aren't as bad as I think, and that I can do it.