When you sit down with the intention to meditate daily, and quieting your mind you are doing many things. Meditation is a powerful tool.
Your decision alone is powerful. It drives the experience. If you believe that you will be successful at quieting your mind when you sit down to do it, this will ensure that outcome. Intent and belief are the components of your pre-perception defining the experience. If you believe the meditation will be helpful to you then it will. Your beliefs are a huge part of your experience.
Sit in a quiet space in a comfortable position. Focus on a steady sound around you such as dripping water, a fan, or a feeling such as your breathing, and relax. By focussing on just one item for a period of time it limits your perception. Stops or limits thought. The location affected is the thalamus. This allows access to your inner being.
When you complete meditation follow your impulses. Even if those impulses that don’t seem significant, they will lead you on the right path. The impulse to stop meditating is also an “impulse”. So do that if it occurs to you.
If life is giving you a particularly hard time meditate often through the day. As your life gets better you can decrease to the amount that you think will be beneficial.
If you stray during your meditation and thoughts begin to invade your mind don’t be hard on yourself. Bring your focus gently back to what you intended to focus on. It will become easier with practice. Just stop when you stop and try again later when you have the time to do so. There is a good article on meditating on our science page. Feel free to have a look.