Body memories -- this I am coming to understand plays an important part. Sensations are short-circuit triggers for emotions and memories often unincorporated into the greater psyche. Incorporating these repressions are a big part of individuation -- becoming a whole person -- which is what the mystical pursuit is all about, IME and IM(NS)HO.

Things like Yoga, Qigong, BDSM, martial arts, and so on, defy the dualistic flesh/spirit split. They point to an interesting interplay -- to learn spiritually, we must live and experience as creatures of flesh. Flesh enables just as it hinders that spiritual growth. The key to making the interplay a constructive rather than destructive one is discipline.