My personal approach to meditation (stolen from 'The Mind Illuminated' and 'Never Turn Away'): 1. Meditation is hard. It's frustrating. It's annoying. Do not expect it to be easy. Do NOT expect it to be relaxing. It will be relaxing on some days and agonizing on others. 2. Your mind is a garden. Water it daily, be patient and it will bloom. Trying to force your mind is like trying to pry open flower buds; it's pointless at best and destructive at worst. 3. Sit every day. No exceptions. Don't succomb to the slippery slope of "today is a bad day" "I don't have time today" etc. Make time. 4. 15-45 mins is a good time. You can start low and slowly increase over a few weeks. Use a timer that rings when the time is up but set it up so that you cannot see time remaining. 5. Posture should be comfortable, but not too comfortable. Sitting in the "Taylor's seat" on a pillow on the floor works well for me. Leaning the back against something is extremely counterproductive. 6. Eliminate negativity. If you notice getting distracted by thoughts, do not chastise yourself for getting distracted. Praise yourself for noticing. This applies on a 'meta' level too: If you notice negative thoughts, do not chastise yourself. Thoughts happen. Praise yourself for remembering to be positive. Your mind will adjust over time. Even if you sit down to meditate and get completely distracted and spent the entire time chasing thoughts, at least you remembered to sit down. 7. Develop openness. Try to explore every feeling; good and bad, pleasant and unpleasant. Let thoughts happen without chasing them. (This is extremely useful to practice outside of sitting practice, too). 8. Remain grounded in the world. Try to maintain awareness of everything around you, without paying attention to it. Keeping your eyes open is a good idea, unless it proves too distracting. 9. Try not to force your breathing. I found this to be very difficult and a constant source of struggle. The most important thing is to not do it *intentionally*, but you still may do it unintentionally and you kind of need to accept that; it will go away on its own. 10. Keep your attention on your breath. 'The Mind Illuminated' suggests focussing on the specific sensations of breathing at the tip of the noise; 'Never Turn Away' instead suggests to focus on it more generally while exploring the sense of space (I found to be easier but I can see the merit in the last one in terms of long-term gains).