Meditation and Sense of Time

To Do lists are a commonly used tools by many people to organize and prioritize tasks in their lives that need to be completed. Unfortunately what a lot people tend to end up with are more tasks on their lists than check marks for completion.  There is no doubt this is a usual occurrence in the lives of undergraduate students as their common complaints include the lack of time they feel they have. More and more students complain they do not have enough time to do all their readings, assignments and study for exams as much as they need to. There just isn’t enough time in a day to get everything on their To Do lists done or at least done to their preferred quality.  This can also be seen on the To Do lists in the lives of people not on the university campus as well.  The same thoughts may cross the mind of a busy working parent as they try to make it to the grocery store, get the Christmas shopping done and make time for their family while still ensuring they work their 40 hour work week. At some point it all just becomes too much and we think “there has to be more time in a day.” Perhaps the solution to this problem is tricking your mind into thinking time isn’t passing you as fast as it is, making your mind believe time is moving slower. Now how exactly can this be done? 

A recently published study provides support for the use of mediation to accomplish this goal.  Kramer, Weger and Sharma (2013) examined the effect of a specific type of meditation, mindfulness meditation, on individual’s s perception of time. It was found that individuals who participated in a ten minute mindfulness meditation breathing exercise came to report longer perceived durations of time elapsing than did individuals who instead listened to an audio tape of the Hobbit novel. Individuals who were part of the meditation exercise later perceived more time passing by as measured by the reported length of time they stated they saw a circle displayed on a computer screen. The overestimation of time experienced by the meditators resulted from an attentional shift that meditation promotes.

Mindfulness meditation and related mindfulness exercises trace back to Buddhist origins that emphasize the necessity of being in the here and now. The importance of the exercises is to remain focused on the present, maintaining your thoughts on what you are currently experiencing rather than thoughts of the past or future. Meditation is known for promoting attention, reducing stress and promoting relaxation. It has also been found to be helpful in the treatment of anxiety and depression symptoms and is used in some clinical treatments for patients. However the study by Kramer et al., (2013) was the first of its kind to examine the impact meditation could have on perceptions of time and uncovered some interesting results that could be part of an important step in treatment usage and furthers the understanding of the positive benefits of meditating. 

            So what does this mean for the busy undergraduate students and the hectic full time working moms out there? Well it means that giving yourself some time each week to partake in mindfulness meditation could give yourself that piece of mind that perhaps you do have time to cross a few more tasks off that To Do list, it allows your mind to slow down and  to let you take in what is happening around you. It would be recommended that while performing the meditation you should avoid thinking of the grocery list or next week’s reading that needs to be done and instead focus on your breathing as it happens and the relaxation that comes over your body. 

Meditation is growing in popularity both in everyday practice as well in clinical approaches with the use of meditation for treatment of depression and anxiety symptoms. More and more people are coming to understand the relaxation benefits and overall health benefits of meditation.With the added understanding of the connection of meditation with time; the Buddhist based practice of meditating may have even more modern uses. So slow down the clock by taking a few minutes a day to allow your body to get back in tune with the here and now. Your To Do list is sure to thank you. 

 

Katie Hart

Hoffman, S. G., Sawyer, A. T., Witt, A. A., & Oh, D. (2010). The effect of mindfulness-based therapy         on anxiety and depression: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 78, 169–183.

Kramer, R. S. S., Weger, U. W., & Sharma, D. (2013). The effect of mindfulness meditation on   time perception. Consciousness and Cognition, 22(3), 846-852. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2013.05.008.