Yes, that's a form of meditation, but developing the capacity to do it reliably generally comes from the more difficult formal meditation you've done since, and takes a long time. If I remember correctly,
A Trackless Path was a retreat where the initial meditation instruction was to do nothing, and all subsequent discussion was about why that's difficult and ways to address the obstacles.
And no, your subsequent struggles are not necessarily a bad sign. Mara rarely permits a smooth path to peace.