Keep practicing :) it takes a while, but once you get it, I promise it's worth it.
'Meditation' is considered 12 units of concentration, so 12 * 12 seconds which is 144 seconds.
So technically, according to the definition of the old school meditators practicing 1000s of years ago, you are not really 'meditating' until the mind is fixed in one place for at least 144 seconds.
Which yogic meditation tradition? There are dozens if not hundreds of them, interpreted in a myriad of different ways by thousands if not millions of teachers across the millennia.
I am well aware. The interpretation mainly comes from the Raja Yoga Tradition which is more concerned with meditation as the vehicle to some form of enlightenment.
The quote is according to the Kurma Purana.
[http://www.davedavies.com/splanet/raja.htm] [http://www.sivanandaonline.org/public_html/?cmd=displaysecti...]
My comment above was not attempting to be authoritative just adding some interesting thoughts to the discussion, thats all.
You can be mindful anywhere and at anytime. There are people who find skiing or other physical exercise relaxing because, after years of practice, they are being mindful in all the ways that matters to someone who sits on a cushion and "meditates". This is the end product of the "10,000 hours" thing.
The benefit from formal sitting practice is that you create a ritual container. A timebox. You align with the resolution and intent to practice. You dedicate this space, this time to the practice. However, meditation doesn't end on the cushion. You can realize all sorts of insights on the cushion, but can you integrate those insights when you're off the cushion?
The idea of meditation is to exercise that ability so that you can bring it to the rest of your life. Ideally, you should have that state in everything: relationships, work, doing dishes...
There's a mistaken notion that meditation is something you do and then you go about the rest of your life, somehow magically more focused, calm, together. It's more like training for an athlete, who then goes on and uses that training (knowledge & fitness) in what they do.