Take a pause. Breathe. Focus your mind. Slowly read each word. Be aware of yourself reading this sentence, this paragraph. You, sitting here, focused on each word, one by one. Be aware of each sound and its echoes in your mind, the one you're hearing right now, and now this one, and another, and another, and another. Is the voice in your mind uttering this text you? If so, then who is listening?

The paragraph above has ideally immersed you in a certain form of meditation. It made you aware of your thoughts and mental processes, and most likely helped to separate your self from the thoughts and sounds in your head.

Meditation forces one to disassociate oneself from one's mind and emotions. It is probably the easiest to learn and the most accessible tool for personal development on the planet. It can be done by people with disabilities. Children can do it. Stephen Hawking can do it. Any conscious person can practice it. You can do it on a crowded bus. You can do it in a monastery. You can do it in your bedroom. You can do it now as you read this article. Experienced meditators can even do it while sleeping. The health benefits - mental, emotional and physical - are incalculable, and there are no side effects. You can learn it in as little as five minutes, and you'll never forget how to do it again. Doing it for at least 10 minutes a day can make you happier and healthier, and a daily practice of 30 minutes can change your life.

But almost no one does it regularly. That includes me. Why?

It's hard to do. In fact, it's hard as hell. No, seriously, distract yourself for a few seconds, close your eyes and try not to think about anything for 30 seconds. No, seriously, try it. Just for 30 seconds. I guarantee you won't be able to do it.

If you try, you'll soon notice that our mind produces a constant stream of thoughts, and most of us identify with it so much that we don't even notice it. Our mental energy is consumed by an endless stream of useless, worthless thoughts and opinions:

"I hope the Lakers win tonight. I wonder if Shannon will ever call me back. I really enjoyed our date, but maybe I should have picked a better restaurant. Oh, it's so silly to worry about that. I wonder if Dave's new sushi restaurant is any good. We should call him, we haven't talked in a while. He can be too gloomy, though that rarely happens to him. Oh, we should buy a movie to watch this weekend, that would be cool. I wonder which one. I remember when I watched that movie with Sarah, my youthful friend. God, how young and naive we were. Those first kisses are so awkward. But yes, I have to call Dave, we haven't talked in a while. And I also have to call my dad, he gets testy if I don't call him. Oh, it's Tuesday, "Breaking Bad" is on."

Chances are a similar monologue is going on in your mind, and you rarely realize it. Few of us do. Meditation teaches our minds to reduce and refine our thoughts, to focus only on what is useful and important, to ignore everything else, and to separate our ego and personality from the thoughts and emotions swirling around in our heads. This may seem insignificant, but it adds up to tremendous life benefits.

I started doing meditation as a teenager and became serious about it in college. I interrupted my practice after graduation (distracted by girls, drinking, and work), but this year my goal is to get back into the habit of meditation. Its benefits have been excellent, and I miss the clarity and awareness I had during regular practice.

If your mind is a muscle, meditation is the way to get it to the gym. The stronger your control over your mind, the more you can consciously control what the mind is focused on and how it processes new information. Strengthening your mind in this way has implications for every aspect of your life: your emotional health and self-esteem, your performance, your discipline, your relationships, your overall sense of happiness, your stress levels, and your physical health. I attribute much of my success in other areas of life to the meditation I practiced when I was younger. I noticed that in everything I pursued since that time, my mind was more focused than most, and that I was always able to remove unnecessary distractions and become aware of what was really important in whatever I was doing.