Meditation Questions
 

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?

The point of meditation isn't that you'll ever "get beyond" experiencing your experience. This might be hard to get your head around, but... The point is that by fully experiencing and not resisting your experience, the volume turns down on it after a while. "Oh, my back hurts. Hunh, my nose itches." It's not about NOT having thoughts like that, it's about acknowledging them and letting them go.

I don't know how much good meditation will do you in eight minute bites, but eight minutes is certainly more than zero minutes!

thanks for the response, I have alot of difficulty letting go of physical stimulus. Practice makes perfect?

yup, practice makes perfect. And 8 minutes can do a lot to reduce built-up tension, like in the muscles and such. You could also try a yoga class or something if you really want to get into meditation, or maybe visit a Buddhist temple in your area.