five pointers out of thin air

Avoiding
Whatever you avoid, somebody or something else has to pick up. Emotions are energy in motion. If you don't experience them, then the energy either goes into your body and is stored there or it goes out into the world. Why would you make others experience what you, yourself, are avoiding?

Stagnation
When energy is blocked or can't move, it stagnates. In your body, the restricted energy goes into adjacent muscles and organs and causes illness. In your personality, restricted energy flows into the patterns that you are least aware of and they run. In groups, restricted energy flows into the people whose attention is weakest and they are flooded. 
When energy stagnates, change the configuration or pay the consequences. 

Momentum
Consistent practice builds momentum. Momentum doesn't just go away. It has to go somewhere. When attention is not present, the energy in the momentum flows into old patterns and powers them. The more you practice, the longer you practice, the more important attention becomes.
There are no vacations.

Rhythm
Respect the rhythms of practice. When you are tense and on edge in your practice, just rest. When you are relaxed and open, push deep. 
Glass doesn't bend; it breaks. Water doesn't move until you open a channel.

Old ways
Once you see through a pattern, once you see what you've been doing, you can't go back. Ignorance may have been bliss, but you aren't there anymore.