Is meditation really beneficial?

Yes meditation is beneficial for mental as well as physical health, although there are many negative reviews about meditation, but in my opinion meditation is best thing that helps in relaxation and introspection

There are so many different kinds of meditation that it's best to define first which kind you are talking about. In some kinds, the goal is to focus specifically on nothing, in others it is almost the exact opposite (to focus entirely on God or a specific attribute or feature thereof). When a Christian speaks of meditation, he or she means something quite different from the kind of meditation a Zen Buddhist practices. Whatever kind of meditation you practice, it is NOT just a tool for 'busting stress' or for helping us to live longer (and whether it does that or not is debatable), it is primarily a way of aligning and unifying ourselves with the Greater Purpose. This link may be useful:

Yes, it is. I practice meditation at least 15 minutes every day when I wake up.

They say it is. Yoga is good.

As many people have different ideas about itt

I ve been meditating for years now! It all started when a friend of mind seemed to be sooo calm,, so Zen and I asked Him how i managed to be like that with all the struggles that we are going throug! Than he told me he was meditating and i asked him what it was all about! it was hard to hunderstand since I didnt lived it and felt it! Theres a lot of videos and stuff that will help you to get into a meditation state of mind! but first of all ! u need to know what is to be in a meditation state of mind! The easyiest way to describe meditation would be..(NOT THINKIN AT ALL) it looks easy to archieve just like that but it is a everyday brain work..cause not thinkin at all also means ( NO IDEAS comming in and out off your head....no words poppin out of nowere in your mind) It is really hard to archieve...at first when I started the process I was happy just to be in that state for at least 2-3 seconds! After a few months..years..now I can really put my mind into a (NOT THINKING AT ALL) state of mind and let me tell you that everybody should at least try it cause people nowadays are living either in the past or the future...time is nothing...time is now...and to live your life to the fullest NOW...You need to empty that brain once in a while !So every night! depending on how i am feeling! I will look for meditations instrumentals..hypnosis...and really shut the light off and the more it goes..the easyer it is for me to get into that state of mind!!