Short answer - stress word started feeling like a joke

I'm sorry this seems terribly HN of me to not answer your question and go on a tangent, but consider a retreat. If you want to give it a serious try, it's night and day compared to doing it at home for 20 minutes a day, especially in the beginning when nothing makes sense and it's hard to know which direction progress even is.

The first time I did a Vipassana retreat many years ago it really showed me that "oh, right, the mind can get into a veeery different state if given the right environment".

Some might say it's an artificial environment you can't replicate at home, and I agree, but by getting much further in such a dense time, it provided a better anchor for me to know what I'm even trying to achieve in my 20 minutes at home.

But it can be very intense, it's possible it would be too much for someone that isn't in an appropriate mindspace.

I'm a very unserious meditator, but when I sit down I at least know when I'm doing "right concentration" or not, so it's possible to have a direction.

I'm speaking very vaguely, but, you know... it comes with the territory.

Stopped mistaking my thoughts and opinions with reality.

Result: 90% reduction of agony.

Meditation method: remembering the sense of “I am-ness” in every waking moment, stop thinking whenever possible, focus on senses whenever I remember. When: always, unless I forget.

> It's frustratingly difficult to even get through the first lesson in which you are supposed to focus on your breath and minimize the wandering of your mind.

There’s the problem: trying to control your thoughts. Thoughts will come and you shouldn’t beat yourself up when they do. Be patient, keep practicing, and you’ll get better at focusing.

Alternatively consider something like box breathing. I use the iBreathe app and find that works better for me than meditation.