I never got on as well with breath awareness, even effortless breath awareness. Effortless mantra meditation feels more effective for me. There is a different process that takes place.

And the goal with NSR is not to "Stop the mind from creating ditractions for itself". Other than effortlessly returning to the mantra, no manipulation of the mind takes place. It is this which releases stored stress in a way that just doesn't seem to happen with other forms of meditation I've tried.