This is from the QandA section of Sally Kempton's website,
Sally Kempton, meditation teacher, Swami Durgananda
It is relevant to the point I was discussing with Dharma and other people should find it useful too and relevant to this topic.
"Q: Sometimes in meditation I feel a lot of emotion, not all of it pleasant. Sometimes it intrudes during the day. Is this a sign that something is wrong?
Sally: On the contrary, it's a sign that meditation is working at a deep level. One of the benefits of meditation is a process that some people call 'samskaric burnoff'. Samskara is the Sanskrit word for the buried thoughts and feelings that are layered into our bodies and into our mental bodies. These hidden feelings and impressions are responsible for a lot of our pain and unconscious behavior-because, as psychologists know, that which is unconscious tends to rule us without our being aware of it. Meditation releases a powerful energy that can literally sweep out the rooms of our unconscious mind, releasing and carrying away these samskaras. So when emotions come up in meditation, it is usually a sign that this clearing process is happening. All that is necessary is that you watch them come up and try not to identify with them. As you meditate, over time, these emotions get released and transmuted.
The important thing for you, in the moment, is to make it ok for yourself to experience the feelings. One way is to work with your breath. When you feel an emotion come up, focus on your breath, simultaneously holding the emotion in your awareness. Let yourself feel what you feel, staying present with the feeling and with the breath. Then, let yourself gently breathe the emotion out with the breath. Without pushing your feelings away or in any way trying to force them to be different, but without getting involved in them, simply breathe the emotion out."