Sitting:
Sit comfortably – on a chair, or the floor, or a couch – and upright, like a stack of blocks, so that gravity is doing most of the work. Tilt your chin down a little, so that the crown of your head is pointed towards the ceiling. As you meditate, feel free to shift position if you are uncomfortable.
I am still finding tweaks to my posture that make it work better. (In the beginning I found that what I thought was “upright” was actually leaning back a bit.)
Head rolls:
Feel the stretch in the left or right or front or back of neck. Clockwise and then counterclockwise.
Belly breathing:
Breathe in and out primarily into your diaphragm, expanding your belly, instead of into your chest. You can facilitate this by placing one hand on your belly, and the other on your chest, and then feeling how they move as you breathe.
Breathing:
Sensation (where do you feel it? In your nose, around your nostrils? In the back of your throat? In the rise and fall of your belly? Pick one of those sensations, and observe it.); Counting (1/2, 2/2, 3/2, etc. or 1/1, 2/2, 3/3, etc.); Labeling (in/out, in/out, in/out, etc. or breathing, breathing, breathing, etc.); “Pauses” (breathe in, pause, breathe out, pause, etc.)
Hands:
Rest your hands in your lap. You can rest them on your thighs, or in front of your belly with the fingers interlaced, or, more traditionally, with the dominant hand on top of the non-dominant hand, aligning the middle knuckles (it’s OK if not all the knuckles align), and with the thumbs touching to form a circle.
Distractions:
If something irreversibly distracts you – a noise or a sensation or such – you can also try focusing on it instead of your breath. Observe it. How does it sound/feel? What is the duration? Does it cycle/repeat?