There are tons of benefits to meditation is perhaps discovering yourself. Knowing yourself (which many people don't) is the most important thing you can do for yourself. It gives you purpose in life and your it gives confidence no matter what the society says about you.

Purpose and confidence are the two things most difficult to achieve. Studies have shown public speaking to be the most feared subject. Studies also have shown that people go through life day by day without any purpose in life, giving themselves frustration, stress and boredom.

So to me, the biggest benefit of meditation is confidence and purpose. But it maybe different to you. So here are some other reasons.

Physical:
Meditation has been shown to improve air flow within the lung. It also lower hear rate, thus reducing the load of work of the heart. Improves skin through reducing stress.

Psychological:
Focused and clear thinking. Improved relaxation. Improve learning ability and memory.

Concentrative Meditation:
This kind of meditation allows for a more tranquil mind and increased. Its simplest form is to sit comfortably and focus your attention on your breath. As you focus your attention your breath, you become more aware of it and your breath will slowly become slower and deeper. The idea behind it is that there is a direct correlation between your breath and your state of mind. A person who is calm has slow and deep breath while a nervous person has fast shallow breath.

Mindfulness Meditation:
Quoting Dr. Borysenko, "involves opening the attention to become aware of the continuously passing parade of sensations and feelings, images, thoughts, sounds, smells, and so forth without becoming involved in thinking about them." This is to achieve "nothingness" when you witness something, thus achieving a less reactive state of mind.

Before you can meditate, these are what you need.

1. A quiet place. My home is quiet most of the time so this is not a problem for me. Remember to unplug the phone and turn off your mobile.

2. A comfortable posture. I use a meditation chair when I'm meditating and sit up straight.

3. If you have something to dwell upon, then use that. If not, I mostly use my breath.

4. A passive attitude. This is most important and most difficult to achieve. A passive attitude means you are aware of what's happening but yet do not react (think).

5. Do not force yourself to meditate. When you do something you are interested in, you always succeed and when you force yourself to do something you hate, you will not succeed.

When you fail to focus your mind the first time you try it, try to calm yourself and not get frustrated. It takes practice. Even the masters started off like you are.

1.Choose a quiet spot where you will not be disturbed by other people or by the telephone. Sit quietly in a comfortable position.

2.Eliminate distractions and interruptions during the period you'll be meditating.

3.Commit yourself to a specific length of time and try to stick to it.

4.Pick a focus word or short phrase that's firmly rooted in your personal belief system. A non-religious person might choose a neutral word like one, peace, or love. Others might use the opening words of a favorite prayer from their religion such as 'Hail Mary full of Grace', "I surrender all to you", "Hallelujah", "Om", etc.

5.Close your eyes. This makes it easy to concentrate.

6.Relax your muscles sequentially from head to feet. This helps to break the connection between stressful thoughts and a tense body. Starting with your forehead, become aware of tension as you breathe in. Let go of any obvious tension as you breathe out. Go through the rest of your body in this way, proceeding down through your eyes, jaws, neck, shoulders, arms, hands, chest, upper back, middle back and midriff, lower back, belly, pelvis, buttocks, thighs, calves, and feet.

7.Breathe slowly and naturally, repeating your focus word or phrase silently as you exhale.

8.Assume a passive attitude. Don't worry about how well you're doing. When other thoughts come to mind, simply say, "Oh, well," and gently return to the repetition.

9.Continue for 10 to 20 minutes. You may open your eyes to check the time, but do not use an alarm. After you finish: Sit quietly for a minute or so, at first with your eyes closed and later with your eyes open. Do not stand for one or two minutes.

10.Plan for a session once or twice a day.

Source:
http://www.1stholistic.com/Meditation/hol_meditation_simple_meditation.htm