Here’s a quote from Chogyam Trungpa that I find extremely helpful in knowing how to “hold” your attention and expectations during meditation. If you are new, you might try doing these one at a time, and then find a way to give them equal balance at the same time.

In the practice of meditation, concentrating too heavily on the technique brings all kinds of mental activities, frustrations, and sexual and aggressive fantasies. So you keep just on the verge of your technique, with 25 percent of your attention. Another 25 percent is relaxing, a further 25 percent relates to making friends with oneself, and the last 25 percent connects with expectation — your mind is open to the possibility of something happening during this practice session.These four aspects of mindfulness have been referred to as the four wheels of a chariot.The ideal number of wheels we should have on our chariot is four, the four techniques of meditation: concentration, openness, awareness, and expectation. That leaves a lot of room for play. That is the approach in the buddhadharma, the Buddhist teachings. A lot of people in the lineage have practiced that way and have actually achieved a perfect state of enlightenment in one lifetime.

Like Panhala, which sends a poem each day, Ocean of Dharma sends a Trungpa quote most days. Check it out at oceanofdharma.com.