Great question, skm62.

I'd suggest the same thing I do when folks start practicing the reverse breathing technique in Level Two. Some end up focusing on the breathing instead of feeling the energy, and that has their breath being shorter and constricted than relaxed and open as we want it to be.

What I suggest to them is to relax and only do the reverse breathing for the first three breaths before saying the password in your mind with, then forget it and do your normal breathing after that. It's more important to focus on feeling the energy, than getting the breath "right."

So in your situation, like others that have let thoughts of "Is my tongue touching the roof of my mouth?" "Do I still have a smile on my face?" "Are my shoulders dropped?" etc. All of those preparatory things he has you do at the beginning- Do them when he instructs you to do them. Feel it. then forget about it and focus on the next instruction, then forget that and focus on the next, then the next, until your instruction is the exercise. The rest doesn't matter. Interestingly enough, you may find yourself naturally doing those little pieces automatically after a while. At this point though, no need to check yourself throughout the exercises to see if you are doing everything. Just focus on the experiencing the sensation/feeling of last instruction...the rest you will slowly train yourself to do without trying over time.

Make sense?

And the tounge at the roof of the mouth's palcement is as if you making the sound for the letter "n." The tounge being at the roof of the mouth makes the front and back channel conntection. Allow that connection to be made at the begining and put out the intention that it connection happens regardless of what your tounge is doing, then give yourself permission to forget about having to do anything with your toungue, and just focus on the next instruction.

Best,

Shawn