Don't pretend you know what meditation is! 
It's a must to get rid of the mind completely. This is where most people give up on meditation. Most beginners notice their thoughts immediately after they start meditating. They think they're doing it wrong and stop trying. Here's the truth: having thoughts during meditation is completely normal. It's the whole idea. The goal is not permanent mental silence. Meditation is simply returning your awareness again and again. Awareness itself is the training, not achieving silence. A monk once explained it perfectly: "Your mind will wander thousands of times. Keep bringing it back." That's the practice. Easy to understand, hard to master. It takes a minimum of 30 minutes each day. But who actually made that rule? Unfortunately, it discourages busy people from even starting. Short meditation sessions still work. Studies show the brain adapts over time through regular mindfulness practice. Consistency matters far more than session length. If one person sits for 5 minutes per day they will catch up with the person who sits for 45 minutes twice in a month — that's right, and that's no contest. Start embarrassingly small. Embarrassingly. Two minutes. Set a timer. Done. Some people believe meditation is purely religious. Meditation is a religious activity. Historically, meditation comes from several spiritual traditions. So does yoga. Similarly, the calendar you use for meeting scheduling. Meditation can be completely secular if you choose. Mindfulness is practiced in medicine, sports, and high-performance training. As a card-carrying skeptic, you can still garner a lot of benefits from the program. If it means something to you tie it in to religion. Leave it alone if it doesn't. Both are right and both are wrong. A lot of beginners think meditation should immediately feel peaceful. That expectation causes a lot of disappointment. Some meditation sessions feel boring and mentally chaotic. That's normal. In some sessions, you'll bump into something muffled and article source soft and it's just a really difficult thing to describe. That is normal too. Meditation works similarly to exercise: progress builds gradually over time. The calm people build over weeks and months, not in one session. Meditation is a long-term investment, not a quick fix. You Don't Need To Sit Cross-Legged: Who decided meditation must look like a monk sitting cross-legged? That image mostly comes from traditional art. And honestly, it discourages people. Sit in a chair. You can even lie down if needed. Walking meditation is equally valid. Meditation isn't limited to sitting still. The important thing is that you are alert, and are not battling the posture. Mental clarity matters more than uncomfortable poses. Those who meditate are super zen all the time. Even long-time meditators get annoyed in traffic sometimes. Meditation doesn't erase human emotions. They're still imperfect human beings. The goal isn't perfection, it's awareness.