I've recently discovered meditation. It is -awesome-. A lot of people think that it is a religious thing or that you have to be sitting on some TIbetan mountain top and have your mind go completely blank, and that if you don't do that, that you're "doing it wrong." A lot of people also think that when you meditate you're supposed to be having these huge existential, life-changing moments of epipihany. While, that might happen with time & practice, for the vast majority of people, meditation can be done to help us deal with our own, mundane, day-to-day thoughts and emotions.
There is so much "background noise" in our minds, that we just push off to the side, because we're busy doing something else at that moment that the thought arrives. We might be at work, or driving, or eating, or watching a game or whatever, but we have all of these thoughts build up, and "clog up" our mind. We never give them the attention they crave, and sort of like fat clogging our veins, the thoughts clog up our minds. When we walk around with these clogged up minds, we are constantly, mentally distracted, even if we don't realize that we are.
When you meditate, you allow yourself to just focus on what you're thinking and feeling. This doesn't have to be anything overly deep or emotional, it could be something really simple. For example, if you've been thinking that you want to re-start a hobby that has gotten away from you over the past few years. You might meditate, and find that your thoughts and feelings bring up the idea that "I really -do- want to start playing golf again." Maybe after you meditate, you take action, and go play golf that weekend, or maybe, it was just enough, at this moment, to realize that you do in-fact want to start playing golf again, and it isn't just some passing thought in your head.
Now, when you're out living your life, there is a good chance that 1) You will be more present because, you probably won't have that "I should start playing golf again" thought, pop-up in your head during a meeting or while you should be focused on the task in-front of you. and 2) There is a better chance you'll -actually- go play golf again, instead of just thinking or talking about it, because you gave attention and time to that thought and feeling while you meditated.
There doesn't have to be some huge existential life changing revelation or teleportation to Nirvana. Keep it simple and don't have huge expecations for it. Give it a shot. If you're consistent, it will make you feel better, you'll be more present and more aware of yourself.
It's true - but ultimately it's the act of taking my brain somewhere else for a while that does the trick, even if that somewhere else is a nuclear wasteland where everything is trying to kill me.
