Meditation - how to practice it? Is it more important to develop one's own meditation skills or follow a prescribed method of a teacher? After all I think the Buddha worked it out for himself. And I have noticed in my own practice that following someone else's method can be confusing, if I don't understand properly what they teach. Is discovering it for yourself, such as meditation, the best way?

N.B. I don't have any technique, I just sit there and try not to hang onto my thoughts. I think if we make out meditation to be difficult we set up obstacles to it in our minds. When I think its easy I find easy to do.
Both.  While it's pretty much impossible to make real progress in meditation on your own, under the guidance of any good teacher, you are still expected to figure things out for yourself.  I know this seems contradictory, but a meditation master can only guide your progress.  It's absolutely impossible for them to get into your head and show you how to practice.  Think of sitting as a skill like wood working.  While the master carpenter can give you instructions on how to cut a board, only through your own efforts and experience will you understand how much pressure to use on different wood types, how to work the grain to your advantage, etc.  Likewise, on the cushion, while your teacher will tell you to watch your breath, it's up to you to figure out how firmly to apply your attention, where the best anchor point is for your mind, how much to relax, and how to use your posture to your advantage.  Like any skill, mastery only comes through countless hours, many questions, ample feedback, and innumerable breaths.