I’m still a newbie at meditation.
I started about a year ago and though I’ve seen benefits to daily mindfulness meditation, including having inspiration strike in my quieted mind and feeling more relaxed at bedtime, I still feel I have a lot to learn.
Often I read articles that suggest meditating on a topic or theme so I’ve been experimenting with that lately. I focus on a single phrase or idea and repeat it sort of like a mantra. That one thought helps quiet all the other mental chatter in my mind,
I have been using my quiet time to work on the notion of letting go of the past. If someone hurt me in the past or I made mistakes, it’s time to move on. I can learn from those experiences while not dwelling on resentment or regret. If I behaved in a certain way because I felt it helped me in an earlier phase of my life, I don’t need to continue that behavior if it no longer serves me.
Here’s the series of phrases I’ve been using in meditation for the last few weeks:

I release my past hurts/
I forgive others and myself
I release past roles that no longer fit me/
I come from my true, best self
I convert past hurts to positive opportunities.

I repeat each of these phrases four times, or more if it feels right, each time breathing in with the thought and trying to clear my mind completely on the breath out.
I find it’s helpful to me to have something to focus on, whether it’s counting my breaths or these letting go ideas, to give my active brain just enough distraction. And I’m curious to see whether I begin to feel less attached to past injuries, mistakes and roles.
Learn more about meditation from Mindful.org