Hi Randy,
One step per level, one step being either the right "or" the left, not two steps with each level. As it is an odd number, seven, your steps alternate, as you begin a second sequence.
"Emptiness" is a place or state of experience, not a vacuum.
Just follow the exercises and visualizations.
Your state of being will quiet as you continue to practice. Focus can become more natural, less of a thought process, or effort.
