RE: Sensations in body. I have no difficulty with this, but I wonder if those feeling troubled about it might be overlooking sensations that we take for granted.
Rather than worry about getting the mind quiet first, maybe you can try just letting your attention sink down into the body. Use imagination to do this. Imagine attention traveling down out of the head, and sinking deeper and deeper through the throat and into the chest. Lowering the chin can help with this. As suggested in Alex's quote see if you can feel your heart beat. Then see if you notice tingling anywhere in the body -- feet, hands, arms, anywhere. Or if you think you notice an increase in temperature at any point on your torso. Once you begin to notice signs like these, the sensations themselves become more evident. With a little practice you'll be able to detect clear changes in the bodily sensations for the different signature patterns.
RE: Random intruding thoughts. There are many ways of approaching this. I'm suggesting a couple of visualizations here, not necessarily the best or most sophisticated. Rather than attempting to resist intrusions from the mind ("what we resist persists"), try a visualization. Some people imagine an icon like the "recycle bin" on a computer. Just see yourself emptying the bin. Do it as often as necessary.
Rather than the recycle bin, I've always liked a technique taught by some schools of clairvoyants. Visualize a beautiful red rose out in front of you. See yourself moving the intrusive thoughts out into the rose. Then blow up the rose. See it explode. (If that seems violent, think of the Shiva principle -- creating and destroying are the same energy.)
After practicing this technique, I often don't need to go through the process of creating and then destroying the rose. When unwanted thoughts show up, I just see loose rose petals floating in the ebb and flow of waves washing onto a beach. The rhythm of the waves match the rhythm of breathing. The thoughts, as rose petals, no longer require my attention.
Visualizing, rather than thinking, allows the imagination to see the thoughts going away without interrupting the flow of what Jeddah is saying during the meditation.
I'd be interested to hear what practices others use to dismiss thoughts when they pop up.
Miles
