As a result of meeting Bruce Frantzis in 1992 I am currently enjoying a quality of life I was informed I would not have following a partially successful major heart operation. Although my lifestyle is restricted, I believe that the Tai Chi and Quigong routines, especially Cloud Hands from the Energy gates have enabled me to stay mobile & active , to continue working and keep my medication well below that taken by others in my position.
.....very interesting issue re. Focusing on counting. I agree it makes more sense to count in your native tongue and would suggest that you focus on sensations associated with breathing - try and keep this as your focus rather than the colours etc. Another thing that helps me is to count beads, passing beads on a thread through my fingers as I count. I found that I could quite quickly 'multi-task' on the body awareness stuff once I'd stabilised counting the breath with the help of 'malla' meditation beads. Key thing is to stay attentively relaxed.