Our astral bodies resonate with each other in all sorts of ways, usually emotionally. When you practise awareness of astral flows between you and other people you can feel when there’s an energy ‘dump’ or an energy ‘drain’. It’s very normal, in fact it’s the way most people interact without even realising it, but you may not wish to be doing this or feeling it from other people. Awareness of these emotional tugs and flows makes us better able to control our own energy.
The energy we feel at such times is always conditioned—meaning it is a reaction based on a previous experience, sometimes long ago in the past. We are not in the here and now whenever the baggage of the past informs how we respond to others. Whenever we react emotionally, we are identifying with the energy of the astral body. Because that emotion comes from the past, it is therefore not relevant to what is happening now. Instead, we need to practice being in the present.
If you’ve practised the exercises above and those for the etheric body, you might have noticed that what keeps us most grounded in the present is awareness of the physical universe of solid material objects. If you feel yourself being pulled into an emotional reaction, know that it is informed by some experience of the past, and focus your attention on a physical object in the present. Feel the chair you are sitting in, touch the table or wall near you. Feel the solidity of the material, its temperature and texture. Bring yourself back to the here and now. Breathe. Let yourself respond in the present to what is happening. It will be quite different to your usual reaction.