Originally Posted by
plop 
soberista, I think the most important thing if you want to learn to meditate, is to keep on doing it every day. Twenty minutes a day is fine, later you may want to do more.
There will be days when your mind will be racing and you feel like you can't relax, but don't worry, it will get better gradually, and little by little you'll notice that you're more relaxed even when you are not actively meditating. (This might take months, that's why I say you need to keep at it!)
I have a friend who meditates daily and even does a silent retreat for a month but she is currently in India for 6 months so i am not able to pick her relaxed brain until mid March. I am definitely interested in incorporating it into my daily schedule and interestingly the realization of how many thoughts are running through my brain just from the few sessions I have done, well, it all needs to calm down.