Awesome overview! I really enjoyed reading your prespective on this.
I don't have all of your experience with in meditation, but I have found that grounding for about 3-5 minutes prior to a 15-20 minute meditation session is very effective in stopping any itches and other distractions that come up. Not all of the variations that I've tried help, but this one below really warms your body up and helps it relax.
Picture a sun's ray shining from far above your head, warming your hair and teasing your crown chakra.
There's a 1,000 petal lotus (or any flower) now opening up at the top of your head and taking in the sun's ray.
The ray travels down the flower, filling up your head, neck, shoulders.
The warm energy is now expanding in your chest, traveling down each arm and into your stomach, warming and relaxing your muscles.
From here it goes down each leg and warming the soles of your feet.
Your skin is now glowing, and at the base of your spine the ray shoots down into the center of the Earth.
At the center of the Earth is a giant ruby and when the ray connects with it, it erupts towards you like a volcano and sends warm red light/magma up to the base of your spine.
The red light now fills your legs, feet, and up to your chest.
It expands out and fills your chest, arms, neck, and head.
When it reaches the top of your head, it erupts out your crown chakra like a geyser a couple feet above yoru head and falls around your body, filling your aura and encasing your whole body in an egg of light.
When you're feeling warm and safe, the beam continues up far above your head to join the sun's ray that started it.
You should be feeling a slight prickle/tingle on the soles of your feet and hands, sort of like getting a gentle massage.
Personally tai chi is considered to be its oen kind of meditation I perfer u sit meditate for as long as possible then when u do tai chi its pretty much throu spread all u just conserved around your body it all tai chi is to intune what you allready have to tap into your own power manifest. It physical ly n spiritual ly