Do i just sit down and try to think nothing? do i do breathing exercises? does it actually have benefits?
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Meditation is a practice – in the sense that it’s something you DO, not something you ACHIEVE. So you’ll find (especially if you’re going the route of simply sitting in silence and trying to quiet your mind) that your brain keeps wandering off on tangents, thinking up random things, flashing up thoughts and memories and all kinds of things. This doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong. The aim of meditation is, at least in part, to build your skill in a) noticing the fact you’ve gone on a mental diversion and b) gently tugging on your mind’s leash to bring it back to a still point.
ELI5: your brain is a bit like an excited puppy. When you take a puppy out for a walk, it has to learn to stay close by and listen – but at first it’s running around all over the place. Slowly, over lots of walks and gently encouraging it back to your side every time, your puppy gets better at staying close by and not wandering off every time it sees something interesting. Meditation trains your brain not to wander off.
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