Simply put, meditation is the practice of turning

your attention/awareness to a particular object,

thought or activity for a sustained period of time.

Through this practice, you can learn to still the thoughts in your mind and relax your body, so that you can achieve a state of calm and equanimity. Many people use meditation as a way to feel less stressed and anxious, but that is just scratching the surface of what meditation can do for you. Through a sustained meditation practice, you can achieve an equanimous state that enables you to connect with your inner intuition and find insight to become your best self.

Ok, but that still doesn't tell me what it means to meditate?

True, that doesn’t! It’s not a simple question to answer since meditation can take a lot of different forms. There is not a one-size-fits-all answer for what meditation should look like, since it really varies from person to person based on their personal preference and level of experience. Having a meditation coach can help you figure out what meditation practice will work best for you! However, in an effort to provide some type of answer, to meditate, you first need to choose something to focus on.

Activity

Box breathing
Mindfulness
Walking meditation
Yoga
Doing any form of physical activity with single minded focus can be considered meditation-- many runners definitely consider running as meditative and it confers many of the same benefits!

Object

The most popular object to focus on is one's body, since it's always with us!
Breath (you can think of it as an activity or as an object)
Visualization: envisioning a object or scene in one's mind
A person
A physical object, like the flame of a candle
Nature, like the ocean

Thought

Guided Meditation Apps

Meditation Types

There are many different lineages of meditation practices, which you could delve deeper into if you find a type that resonates with you. Check out this article, 23 Types of Meditation (Live and Dare), for a detailed overview of all the types!

Vipassana - mindfulness of breath, followed by body awareness; the type of Vipassana meditation popularized by S.N. Goenka offers free 10 day silent meditations for beginners to learn their specific technique.
Transcendental - affirmation based meditation taught via course (with sliding fees based on income)
Zen - awareness meditation; taught and practiced at Zen Buddhist centers, like Zen Mountain Monastery