The practice of meditation makes me curious. Isn't the active ingredient of it just to take a break from outside stimulation for a while rather than to go through all the requirements of formal meditation - like not allowing your mind to wander off?
It's really hard to explain why- it feels to me like it's a weird quirk of the mind at times, because of how it only works if you follow the steps precisely.
At times I feel like it's the focus that you constantly bring yourself back into that helps. At others, I think it's the recognition of all the thoughts that are swirling around your head. At others, I think it's the anti-anxiolytic effect of simply dropping your worries.
I don't understand it at all. But it works.