For the majority of my life I’ve been rather skeptical of meditation. After all, how could sitting silently in a room just breathing in and out help you? It sounded like a waste of time. Lately, however, I’ve begun to delve into the world of meditation as a means of potentially relieving some stress. What I actually got out of it was much more valuable.

The first thing you need to understand about meditation is it’s not another name for “spacing out.” Meditation isn’t the process of sitting cross-legged and chanting “ommmm” for half an hour. In reality, it’s focusing all of your concentration on one simple task: breathing.

Our brains were made to think constantly. Although we typically fail to notice this when we go about our daily lives, once you sit down and force your mind not to wander, you realize how difficult meditation really is.

Which brings me to my next point: meditation is actually a very tricky practice. In fact, I would debate it’s a bit like a sport for your brain. Meditation takes incredible dedication. It requires daily repetition and full commitment while you’re practicing. Unlike other things where you can multi-task away, meditation requires you to drop everything, both your actions and your thoughts.

In the generation where we believe constantly doing something is the path to success, it’s hard to imagine that doing absolutely nothing, even for just five minutes, could be so beneficial.

But here’s the truth: our brains need a break. Even when we’re sleeping our minds are in constant motion. So if you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed, take a minute, treat your brain, and just breathe.