Is Meditation A Good Time Investment? Here's My Report Based On Fifteen Years Of Practice

TLDR: Yes, it is. I started with Savasana, then used guided meditations, and am now doing mostly brief breath work. IMHO, the peace of mind gained is 100% worth it. 

I first started meditating shortly after I got into Yoga about fifteen years ago. Depending on whose teacher's class I took, we would lie down with our eyes closed in corpse pose before or after class, and I would hope that the time would pass quickly. I did not understand why, when I sought out a physical practice, I was encouraged to lie still, and focusing on my breath made me nervous and uncomfortable. I really thought that spending ten minutes doing nothing at all in a room full of strangers was a waste of time.

It took me a while to come around, and I think I first started appreciating the opportunity to take rest when my practice became more regular and I had already learned how to tune into physical sensations better. 

When I got into Ashtanga Yoga, I started taking things more seriously and somehow stumbled upon a guided 21 day meditation challenge that, unfortunately, is no longer available these days, but that made a huge difference in how I thought about things. Some books I read at the time were "How To Practise - The Way To A Meaningful Life" by the Dalai Lama, "Teach Us To Sit Still" by Tim Parks and the "Dharma Punx" by Noah Levine, but to be perfectly honest, I don't remember much from any of these books other than that the struggle was real. 

I was pretty good about keeping up my meditation habit for a while there, until I started paying more attention to my breath. 

These days, when I meditate, it's usually by focusing on my breath. If you're interested in the exact breathing methods I use, I've recorded them here:

Full Torso Breathing

Calming Breathing

Sleep Inducing Breathing

I am trying to be compassionate with myself around the fact that I don't make a regular time for sitting still at the moment, and that I don't have a ritual. Rather than beating myself up for not doing that, I applaud myself for being able to fit in a minute or five here and there - it's what's working for me right now. 

I find the benefits of even these few minutes every day are immense, and I'd like to think that the time I took in the past to practice this skill was a very worthwhile investment and useful in me allowing myself to find my own rhythm and way to meditate. 

If you've been considering starting up a meditation practice, I believe there's very little you could do that's more helpful. And since it's free, you have nothing to lose by trying it whatsoever. :)