This is known as awareness of awareness, or consciousness of consciousness which does sound fake but its very simple and effective. You soon start getting a feeling of what you really are as opposed to the belief of being a body/mind.
Being aware of this "I-feeling" is considered by many to be the fastest or direct path. This I-feeling is also found in the present moment when there is no past or future.
or Be aware of what is present between thoughts.
or Put your focus on what is conscious of existing.
There are tonnes of references that point to the same thing in different words:
- Power of Now (Tolle) - Michael Langford (albigen.com - full book available) - Youtubes of Papaji, Mooji, Tolle and many others
As for meditation practice, just sitting is enough, every time i have a thought or a disturbance of any kind i just readjust my pose.
BTW, if you're getting hung up on having a perfect cushion, let it go. You can sit zazen on the corner of a couch cushion. Seiza (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiza) works, too, but I wouldn't unless you're already used to it.
Beyond that, it's just sitting and observing. If (ok, when) I notice my focus has drifted and I'm getting caught up in thoughts, I stop feeding into them and return focus to my breath, posture, and surroundings.
It can be dreadfully boring, but when I do it periodically, it really does help - like taking the lid off a pot on the verge of boiling over. (It's an especially direct way to train your mind to stay focused, too.)
There's a decent chapter about sitting meditation in Brad Warner's _Hardcore Zen_, which I also recommend because it isn't a bunch of new-age-y sunshine and lollipops. (Looking at a lot of other Western books on Buddhism, you'd think Zen had antioxidants or something.)