First Stage - Basic Noting

A brief word about posture.  Posture is important only in the sense that we need to be reasonably awake, alert, and free of pain.  From the standpoint of lower back health we might also want to sit in a reasonably healthy posture as long as we're going to be sitting for a while, so some kind of decent upright posture is typically recommended.  On the other hand you could even meditate lying down, but it will be more likely that you might fall asleep.  You don't have to sit on the floor, or on a meditation cushion, or in a lotus position, or with your fingers in a certain position.  Sitting in a chair is fine.

A first stage of noting might be to note all phenomenon, the objects in your awareness, as either "seeing", "hearing", "feeling", "thinking", or if you're having trouble picking a category, perhaps "don't know" or simply "this" to represent whatever you can't quite put a label on.  Try to maintain a pace of around once per second or so, keep to a steady rhythm, and just do it, do it no matter what.  Noting may seem a bit clumsy at first - it is - it has perhaps more of a learning curve than other techniques, but it just takes some practice to get used to it and develop a palette of notes.  Persistence tends to work here, it took me a few months to really feel natural about it.  I persisted because a number of fairly intelligent and reasonable people said that it worked really well for them.

You don't have to note forever and always.  If your meditation gets quiet and stable and you can sit without technique for a while, go ahead.  Just be aware, and if you find yourself wandering, go back to the technique again.

Note what you are aware of regardless of whether there is much of anything there or not.  So if your attention is on the visual component, say the back of your eyelids, you would note "seeing" regardless of whether you are seeing something specific or it is pitch black.  Your attention is in the direction of the visual component so you note "seeing".

Noting is typically done silently for practical reasons (group sits, etc.), but noting out loud is actually a powerful and recommended practice.  It is much harder to drift off into thought while noting aloud.  When you can, try using out loud noting when you are having trouble staying aware.

Next:  Second Stage - More Detailed Noting

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