It's been 3 weeks since I've returned to the practice of daily meditation; it's been a number of yrs since I maintained the practice.  (I think it was for 6 to 10 months then.)  I resolved to sit meditation daily and found myself doing it late at night because I'm a procrastinator.  Tonight I sat before 10:30 PM -- pretty early for a night owl like me -- and before I began to feel sleepy.  How delicious to really be present for it!
 I did what I did last night:  said "soft" to myself as I breathed out, and "strong" as I breathed in (for as long as I could remember and then again after I noticed myself following a train of thought and came back to the present).  When I'm doing my sit, I often notice my toes flexing up and have to focus to soften and release my feet, then remember to release my neck, shoulders, jaw, etc.  So the "soft" is obvious, mostly -- but not only -- physical.  The strong is more about focus, discipline, etc.  And spirit.
So, as I said, I was using this double mantra, "soft" with the out breath, "strong" with the in.  And finally I found myself reversing them -- "strong" with the out breath, and "soft" with the in -- and found the experience moving, felt it highlighted the way softness and strength can feed each other, almost be the same.
I ended the sit with a lot of positive energy.  I don't want to take on any major tasks right now, would rather unwind for bed, try to get on an earlier schedule; but I brought the energy to this writing.  And I hope it will carry over to tomorrow.  'Don't want to hope too hard, would rather just stay in the present.  But anyway, I'm happy tonight.