Labeling or non-conceptual awareness?

[dropthehat]

Recently I have been mixing up my formal sitting variations a bit too much and I became confused. I'm having a hard time deciding what to do with my awareness.

The different practices I have used were like this:

1.  Staying aware of the sensations caused by my breathing on the upper lip. Noting "Thinking" when I got distracted by thoughts, or "Feeling" when I got distracted by physical discomfort.
2.  Being aware of the breathing in my whole body, noting "Rising" with in-breaths and "Falling" with out-breaths. I also noted "Thinking" and "Feeling" when I got distracted.
3.  Basic mindfulness practice with labeling Seeing, Seeing visual thoughts, Hearing, Hearing thoughts, Feeling touch and Feeling emotions.

Recently these practices have been getting mixed up in my mind, and I often end up becoming so confused with all the things to label and move my awareness to, I end up trying to keep up non-conceptual awareness while not labeling anything.

I guess my question to you is, should I go back to a more disciplined and organized practice or is "staying aware" without any specific technique as helpful?

 

[ground]

I don't think one should mix up different techniques. Awareness of breath is one and labeling mindfulness is another and non-conceptual awareness is still another. It really depends what system of thought / teaching you are following. Usually different system of thought / teachings recommend different techniques. Following a given system one should stick to its techniques.

[purerogue]

Funny, because I have problem when I get to breathing, I forget to breath and it frustrates me 

You can try relaxing, forget about your goal of mediation, forget about the moment,time, about everything, like you have no care and nothing to reach, nothing to think of, nothing to sense, nothing to hear.

See if it gets you somewhere, if not experiment more and see what works, sometimes you just have bad periods where you can not clam your mind , happens.