Don't do it as much now, though have consistently over long periods in the past. Some benefits I experienced (subjective):

- Thoughts do not have a grip over how I act as often. - probably related, lower likelihood of compulsively doing things.

- Feeling more collected and relaxed in traffic and 'stressful situations.'

- More likely to be able to pay attention to who I am talking with, what I am doing, etc, right now instead of thinking of things besides that.

- Start of realization that who I am is not the internal dialog and procession of thoughts. This one is hard to explain. I think I am certain things due to my thoughts; that's just my thoughts though.

- Noticing that thinking constantly about things using language puts reality into categories that are essentially made up.

Anyway, your experience may be different. I highly suggest trying it.

6 months is not a prolonged period of time. ;)

So benefits:

  * mental clarity when unnecessary thoughts go away an only the one you need remains
  * problem solving - look at a problem and solution just pops up
  * stronger mind, doesn't get tired as easily
  * jump in efficiency in everything
  * increased sensitivity to other people's emotions and intentions
  * spiritual growth (realisation that you are not your thoughts is one example, as mentioned below)
  * opening your "heart" and letting go of emotional issues
  * inner peace :)

Important to note that this is from serious meditation practice beyond simple mindfulness and learned in person from a master.

I went from being the most anxious, scattered mind person in the room to the most calm and focused. I went all in - 4 hours a day for over a year. But it's made a huge difference. It's given me many insights into life - one of which is that you ultimately choose whether you want to be happy in life.

I've been meditating daily for about a year. Not what many people would think of as serious practice. Just 10 minutes at a time, a few times daily. I notice much less anxiety. Less depression, better mood. Easier to fall asleep. After only a few months, it became very easy to completely quiet my mind anytime, in a matter of seconds. My mind is quieter throughout the day. In particular, I hardly get into negative trains of thought at all. It hasn't changed my life or made me especially more effective, but it has made life far more bearable.

The 2 types of meditation that I practice I are mindfulness and concentration. Mindfulness practice has enabled me to become aware of the arising of unskillful compulsions, the habitual patterns of thought which give rise to them and to halt their progress. Concentration practice, on the other hand, builds the muscle of attention so that it becomes easier to stay focused and fully absorbed on whatever target you select. I have found that the combination of the 2 has enabled me rewire less skillful habitual patterns of thought and to replace them with more skillful patterns.

Fairly anecdotal but for me it took just over 4 months of sitting on my butt (once or twice for about 20 minutes a day) before I "got" it. Once whatever it is that clicked for me, I was able to step into a deep state (deep for me, anyways) in about 5 minutes.

I've fallen out of practice (and am failing to keep my new year's resolution!), but I would very much like to get back in to it. The resilience it can provide almost feels like having a secret weapon.

YMMV. Ehipassiko!

It slows down my mind. Enough to better grasp ideas and emotions. It helps controls any anger outburst or that rush of the thoughts you get when something upsets you. It teaches you to let go.

The thing is, every one will benefit differently from it. Nobody can really tell you what it feels like, you have to experience it.

The benefits are subtle but I am more aware of my emotions. Things that used to upset me don't have this deep impact anymore. I feel I am more deliberate in how things affect me.

But I also studied a lot with Buddhists. I am not sure if meditation only without guidance of a teacher will have much of an effect.

I've been doing it off and on to varying degrees for over 10 years, more intensely lately as part of mindfulness based cognitive therapy. I'll throw in some anecdotal stories:

- Feeling anxious, stressed, or grumpy, realizing it, taking a moment to take a breath, let my shoulders relax, and trigger myself to become calmer and more collected. Two years ago I experienced a life-altering situation involving a medical situation with a family member that involved basically non-stop stress for a full week. Every single day when I got in my car to go home I just broke down crying in a way I've never done in my entire life until then, and then every morning it felt like I had to reassemble my component parts to become a functional human again and do what needed to be done. Being able to center myself and keep my anxiety and stress in check when it was at risk of running away was hugely important not only to getting through that experience and having it strengthen me rather than destroying me but also to getting the things done that needed doing (which had a positive life-altering impact on my family member as well).

- Something as small as coming out of a grocery store and being disappointed by the rain then taking a moment to breathe and relax then walking through the rain and just accepting it without feeling annoyed or inconvenienced by it.

- Something as big as feeling a big self-critical thought bubble up in my brain, the sort of thing that could easily cause a plunge into a depressive mood for a while, acknowledging that it's just a thought and that it is neither intrinsically true nor intrinsically something I have to get caught up in, then feeling it dissipate and go away, powerless.

- Being able to recognize when I'm living life too much on autopilot then having the ability to basically reach out and turn up the volume dial on experiencing the world.

If you work on it enough you get to a state where you can reach into your toolkit and pull out various tools to deal with different experiences and situations. Being able to recognize those situations as amenable to tool use and being able to actually use those tools and watch them work can be enormously empowering and satisfying.