You say "Nothing interesting happens" like it's a bad thing. You're unclenching your mind, not being sprinkled with pixie dust. :) Expect to feel bored, then continually noticing how much you distract yourself (a song popped in my head...do I have e-mail?...what time is it?), then wondering if your knees will forgive you, then (maybe eventually, if you quit shifting), calm.
If you want to think about it as some sort of "deliberate sensory deprivation to stop the signals that would normally reinforce habitual fight or flight stimuli" thing, ok. It doesn't need to be a religious thing. Either way: You sit. It's boring. Deep breath. It just is.
I'm not the author of the parent comment, but in my experience, sitting for 15-20 minutes seems about right. Rather than trying to be all hardcore and meditating for 2+ hours a day, just try sticking with it a couple days a week. Doing it for shorter periods regularly adds up. It's not magic, though - it's more like consistently getting enough sleep. But it really does help, like emptying the lint trap in your mind.
Also, sitting against a wall is ok (if you get used to seiza (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiza)), but you'll probably be happier with a "zafu" (small sitting cushion) so your back and knees are at an angle >90 degrees. You can also use a couch cushion, tree trunk programming book, or whatever.
Don't think you are participating in anything special. How long do you give up bathing before nothing special happens? Well... it's really that sort of question.
If you do it with 'easy' going attitude... you might feel sensations in your body. Or else.. just a relaxed mood and balanced body. Just be easy about it.
I don't recommend sitting against a wall. If you plan on meditating, I recommend investing in a zafu and zabuton. They'll provide much better back support than a wall or just the floor.
Please explain: if it keeps you alert, you also have to concentrate your thoughts on this. Isn't this in contradiction to let all thoghts go?
Thanks for an answer...
You make me want to go into Zen teachings now. So I will summarize them as much as I can:
What I meant:
Thoughts: Things going on.
Alert: Being aware of something. Observing something (can be thoughts)
Not being alert: You will drift off to sleep.
Meditation: Focusing (as in deliberative) and/ or Observing something that doesn't go on into endless thinking tank.
Let go of thoughts: that become an essay. Start thinking about Python and you can write an essay right now. Start listening to your breathing. And release any other thought that comes in. Yes you can keep repeating word Python and try to release thoughts that follow but it's easier with things like sound and mantras.
Sure there is much more to it than what I've written but hope you get the idea.
Try meditating for 24 hours in a row. Something "interesting" is bound to happen - most likely severe pain somewhere in the body.
If you were able to observe that pain objectively with equanimity, meaning a) not averting from an experience you don't like or b) craving to have an experience you do like, wisdom about the nature of reality arises spontaneously.
More specifically, pain is not really what you think it is - some experience to shun worth avoiding at all costs. Watching the mind react to such an experience, and there are so many experiences that the mind is nearly hardwired to avert from or cling to, speak volumes. You will see how desperate it wants to stay in control of your experience and you should also note that because you can observe your mind, YOU ARE NOT YOUR MIND. Now you are starting to inquire into the nature of reality as-it-is, not as you want it to be.
