I have a daily meditation practice that I have been developing and reinforcing for years. I am very fortunate, in that my graduate program has a five hour per week meditation requirement in the curriculum. This forces me to keep up my practice, even when I am feeling lazy or apathetic. The biggest thing that I have noticed as a result of my practice, is the extension of my mindfulness away from the meditation cushion, in to every day life. I find it much easier and more habitual to notice my mind. Instead of having a dark thought and running with it, creating stories in my head about all of the horrible outcomes that will surely come my way, I am more able to recognize this as just "thinking," and return my focus to the actual experience that caused the thoughts.
I was taught by a brilliant woman in my meditation practice. And the most important aspect of my practice is simply the act of coming back. When I find myself lost in thought, whether on the cushion,
pr just in life, I come back to my direct experience. Returning my attention to my breath, the connection of my feet to the ground, bodily discomfort, or anything else that is a "real" and tangible experience is my refuge from the stories going on in my mind. And when I feel like I have a "bad" experience meditating, I come back to the cushion to practice again. Repetition reinforces the practice, and it allows me to practice simply for the sake of practicing, rather than to fulfill some lofty and unattainable expectations.