reiii

Ok so my girlfriend got me this "8 minute meditation" book. I'm starting to think this really is the 8 minute abs of meditation because the author writes with an annoying infomercial tone. I had a cursory introduction to meditation in highschool, and so far the book seems pretty inline with what I already learned, but I have some lingering questions.

1. Is 8 minutes a day really enough to benefit from meditation?
2. Alot of times when I begin to meditate I become overly aware of small physical discomforts, itchy back leg etc. This really breaks up my concentration when I'm forced to try to ignore it or itch...
3. Occasionally when I "watch my breath" I breathe too much which leads to a slowly building hyperventilation


Any of you zen masters have some tips for a beginner?

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