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Ive read several books, and I understand the general concept of meditation, but some focus on emptying the mind through thoughtlessness, and others say to clear the mind and focus on problems to overcome them. Ive tried both. I just feel like Im wasting time though. I sit for half an hour and breathe with my stomach, and it only makes me feel negative and pointless. any words of wisdom?

yeah, that's hard for me too...
the way i interpret it is from a zen book i read, and it asked to simply approach the feelings and issues we're having in the 3rd person, like a casual observer, curious and nonjudgemental, and then let the ideas go by.
And, within that method of looking, watching, letting go, eventually the mind will empty itself and y ou will gain insight into the Way.

To add another perspective, Miyamoto Musashi, the japanese swordsman, suggested meditating on the image of the moon reflecting on water, as this is how our mind should be. We are stilled and reflective, we are not the moon but we are viewing it, we are viewing the politics and the tricks of the ego and the mind, but we are not of it.

When i have trouble, I try to focus on the impermanence of things. I imagine the moon on water, or a dew drop on a blade of grass, slipping away into a puddle... 3nodding

I've found that the meditation process can bring plenty of mental tendencies "to the surface," and it is the "mental consciousnesses'" habitual tendency to resist a process that essentially subdues it. For instance, there's the tendency for the mind in early meditation to spontaneously generate a laundry-list of activities that one "should be doing" (which I've frequently experienced). I've also had old memories resurface during my practice and what I call "dream intrusions" sometimes occur (i.e. my mind, in a twilight state, will sometimes conjure a random "dream episode" during close-eyed meditation that I must recognize if the obstacle to concentration is to be removed).

Many Buddhist texts describe the meditation process as being quite a long-term trek that isn't always "flowers and rainbows" and that the path is often blocked by obstacles generated by the mind. The practitioner is trying to subdue a mind (consciousness-stream) that is believed to have been led astray "since beginingless time" by means of using parts of the very "rotten" whole that is to be transcended; this is no easy feat!

Its possible that negative emotional tendencies arise during Lowerdose's meditations, or conversely that Lowerdose is not utilizing the necessary degree of concentration during his practice and a fully-active 'small mind' is allowed to grow bored and angry.

Of course, I don't practice belly/vase breathing or any forced breathing exercises, so I couldn't say if the problem could be specific to those practices. I simply monitor my gentle, normal breathing to calm my mind.