A lot of places seem to say how beneficial meditation is. I've only tried it a little during school/random activities, and maybe a few times by myself, but never really got into it.
I'm interested to hear if anyone has it in their routine or uses it on occasion. Why/why don't you meditate? How do you meditate? Has anyone noticed differences from doing it?
I learned how to properly meditate through some of the weekly lessons run in the Victorian public health system. In psychiatric hospitals, they run one or two weekly sessions and encourage you to join. I've found that it's much more beneficial to have a person leading you through the session rather than trying to self-initiate.
It does help you feel calmer and more balanced, but only on days when your mind and body are ready to accept that stillness. It may just be a personal issue of mine, but I have found that some days my mind just isn't able to settle into a meditative state, and I'll leave the session more frustrated with myself than I was going in.
Like Sine said, meditation is different for everyone. My form of working meditation would be drawing, or just sitting and listening to music. Going for a walk in nature. Caring for my garden. Petting animals.
The kind of seated meditation with breathing exercises and conscious stillness of the mind isn't for everyone. And that's okay.