The order that we go in changes depending on the type of practice we're doing, how many people are participating in the practicing, etc. Here, we'll highlight the different order potentials that exist within the broader Social Meditation framework.

Sequential

With the Sequential Order–also known as Round Robin–there is a fixed order as one person goes after the next. When it's your turn, then you go!

Spontaneous

With the Spontaneous Order–also known as Popcorn Style–there is no fixed order. Whenever you feel moved, you go.

Synced with the Breath

When the order is synced with the breath, this means that you follow the instruction when you get to a particular point in your breathing cycle, including either:

1. Synced with the In Breath–which means that you follow the instructions when you get to the top of your next inhalation.

2. Synced with the Out Breath–which means that you follow the instructions when you get toward the bottom of your exhalation.

3. Synced with the In & Out Breath–which means that you follow the instructions when it reaches both the top of the inhalation and again when it reaches the bottom of the exhalation.

There is another consideration when doing a practice which is Synced with the Breath, and that is when you say something aloud. Much like the Sequential and Spontaneous order's above, there are two variations for when you can say something out-loud, and these include:

• Taking Turns - In this variation each person takes turns, one at a time. When you follow the instruction is still synced with your breath, but you'll need to do it internally, until it's your turn to go.

• Each Breath - In this variation, every time you reach the next phase of your breath, where it's your turn to say something aloud, you go. In this variation it's ok if you sync up with other people who are also going at the same time.

The facilitation options of a practice, give both facilitations & practitioners a clear sense of the different ways one can fill in the blank of the practice frame. When selecting a practice to facilitate, if the practice's frame includes a blank ("______") there are different ways that blank can be filled in. They include the following potential options:

Pick One

With the Pick One option, the facilitator of the practice picks a single word or short phrase to fill in the blank for everyone doing the practice.

Example: Say you're facilitating the May Metta Arise practice, whose practice frame is "May ______ Arise." With the Pick One option you'd pick what you want to fill in the blank with, such as "May Loving Awareness Arise" or "May Compassion Arise", and then everyone would practice with that single phrase during the entirety of the practice period.

Multiple Choice

With the Multiple Choice option the facilitator selects a set number of options that can be used to fill in the blank, whenever it's someone's turn (sequential order), or they feel moved to go (spontaneous order).

Example: Binary Noting is an example of a practice which is defined by having 2 distinct choices each time it's someone's turn, and they are asked to pick between either one or the other. Six Sense Noting is an example of a practice that also uses a Multiple Choice option, but which has 6 distinct possible options (not including the safety release valve), corresponding with each of The Six Senses.

Succession

With the Succession option we're working through a particular sequence of items, one after another. It's important in the Succession option to specify either A) what fraction of the time you'll be spending with each item, or B) to specify how you'll be switching from one item to the next.

Example: Let's say you want to move through the 8 stages of meditative absorption, one at a time, in succession. Here, you'd specify that the succession is through the 8 jhanas.

Looping

With the Looping option the facilitator selects a succession of words or phrases to cycle through, one after another. This is like the Multiple Choice option, except that instead of picking between a number of options each time, there is a fixed selection that the group loops through in succession.

Example: Let's say you're working with the May Metta Arise practice–"May ______ Arise"–and decide to move in succession through the Four Immeasurables–loving-kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, & equanimity. With each person's turn they would fill in the blank with the next in the series of the four immeasurables: "May Loving-Kindness Arise," "May Compassion Arise," "May Empathetic Joy Arise," "May Equanimity Arise" and so on until the practice is over.

Relay

In some practices, it is possible to take one of the previous person's responses, and fold that into your turn, using their previous turn to fill in one of the blanks for your turn. When this is done, it's called the Relay option, as the previous participant is handing off one their turn, and you're incorporating it into yours.

Example: Zen Relay Noting

Fixed Category

With the Fixed Category option one can fill in the blank of the practice frame with whatever they like, within that fixed category.

Example: Let's take the Basic Noting practice, Noting Body Sensations as an example. Here, we have a fixed category called Body Sensations, but within that fixed category there are an open-ended number of notes that one could use to describe their physical sensations.

Freestyle

With the Freestyle option whenever it's someone's turn (sequential order), or they feel moved to go (spontaneous order), they can fill in the blank with whatever they choose. There are no limits to what they can say, outside of what's defined in the Practice Frame, Data Compression, and Practice Order of that particular technique.

Every social meditation practice can be described by its "Frame," the overall structure that helps define it. Think of the frame as the simplest representation of the linguistic instructions of the practice. When the frame is combined with the Facilitation Options, the Data Compression, Practice Order, Group Size, & Session Time you have a fully fleshed out description of the core instructions of the practice.

Fill in the Blank

Many of the social meditation practice frames include, one, or multiple blanks (______) that need to be filled in by facilitator of the practice. How one fills in the blank is depends on the amount of Compression being used, and also by the Options one selects.

Here are some example Practice frames:

• Basic Noting : ______

• There is Noting : There is ______

• May it Arise: May ______ Arise

• Zen Noting: As ______ , ______

The Core Instructions of any Social Meditation practice, or technique, include the following elements:

If you'd like an easier way to remember each of these components of the Core Instructions, you may want to use the following acronym: FOCOSTA, which stands for Frame, Options, Compression, Order, Size, Time, & Attribution.