What the OP failed to do with his practice, which is a cornerstone of classic buddhist, yoga, and hindu practices, is that once one gains enough skill at the sitting or asana practice one is supposed to start progressively expanding the practice to daily life. You do the 30 minute meditation thing everyday until you start to get the hang of it, then you expand that to walking or asana meditation, then start doing breath check ins throughout the day and gradually expand mindfullness to as many activities as you can. I do it washing dishes, sitting in traffic, listening to people, etc. There are little tricks to help, I make up games for myself that essentially bring me to some kind of awareness about the present moment without getting lost in the normal thought garbage. Games like, count how many times I say "I" in this conversation, can I do the dishes while counting 5 counts on each inhale/exhale, where is the balance on my feet at when I am walking/standing in line, etc. These are tricks that train the mind to start to gain ever more mindful awareness of the present moment, which is training the mind to essentially do the meditation thing during daily life. It the most beneficial practice I've ever found, because it makes you better at literally EVERYTHING. Its giving you the ability to be more conscious of everything you do, without reacting mindlessly to everything, and an ever more subtle experience of life. Trading up to manual transmission driving and higher resolution vision