Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 2: Concentration
• Method 2 of 2: Reordering
• Tips
• Warnings

While we cannot slow down time in the strict sense of the word, we can learn to slow down our perception of time. Learn to value your time. If you want time to flow more slowly, you can slow down your perception of time by focusing your attention and changing the order.

Steps

Method 1 of 2: Concentration

1. 1 Pay attention to small details. There are many theories (both subjective and scientific) that explain why the passage of time accelerates with age. In childhood, the neural structure of the brain is formed, and at a young age everything around looks new and unknown. At the same time, every little thing is important. With age, we get used to the world around us, and small details no longer make such a vivid impression on us as before.
   • To at least partially regain the lost amazement of the world around you, which you experienced as a child, try to concentrate your attention on small details. Take some time each day to admire the flowers, enjoy the sunset, or do something that will pacify and distract you from everyday worries, such as playing music or working in the garden.
   • Use all your senses, fully experiencing every moment of even minor and seemingly insignificant events. The finer the details, the better. Standing in a traffic jam, pay attention to the air temperature, how you feel in the car seat, the smells around you, and nearby cars. Isn't it a miracle that people drive?
2. 2 Concentrate on your breathing. Breathing meditation is one of the simplest and most popular methods for slowing down the perception of time and sharpening your consciousness. By doing simple breathing exercises, you can become more aware of the moment and slow down the passage of time.
   • Sit in a comfortable chair with your back straight and posture straightened, and take a deep breath. Hold your breath, then slowly exhale the air. Take at least ten breaths in this way, while closing your eyes. Feel the air entering your body, oxygenating it, and then leaving it.
   • As you meditate, direct the inhaled air to different parts of your body. Feel how the currents of air obey you.
   • After taking ten slow, deep breaths, open your eyes and look around, paying attention to small details. If you are outdoors, look at the sky, at the horizon, listen to the sounds around you. While indoors, look at the ceiling, walls, and pieces of furniture. Live in the moment.
   • If you don't like the very idea of ​​meditation, think of it as breathing exercises. It doesn't matter what the name of this or that activity is - the main thing is that you like it and be useful.
3. 3 Try it progressive muscle relaxation. This is a simple and at the same time quite formalized method of body relaxation, in which you just need to concentrate on different parts of the body, as if moving into them. Progressive muscle relaxation allows you to relax while staying active so you can focus on simple activities and slow down the passage of time.
   • Start by sitting in a comfortable chair, focusing on your breathing. Then select a specific area of ​​your body, starting with the head or feet, and contract the corresponding muscles. If you chose the head, tighten the muscles in your face as if you just ate something sour, count 15 seconds, then slowly relax the muscles, feeling the tension pass.
   • Continue moving from one part of the body to another, contracting the muscles, keeping them tense, and then slowly relaxing them until you are all over the body. This is a great way to focus your attention, focusing on the moment and relaxing.
4. 4 Sing, play music, or recite poetry. Another common way to “tame” time is by making repetitive sounds, allowing you to concentrate and enter a trance-like state. To do this, you can sing, recite poetry or perform music. This method is practiced in many religious traditions, from Christian Pentecostals to devotees of Krishna.
   • You can recite a single phrase, mantra, or other text. Try chanting Hare Krishna or just chanting a short song with a simple melody, chanting it over and over.
   • If you are playing an instrument, you must be familiar with the feeling of detachment from repeatedly playing the same passage or series of chords, when time seems to stop running. Just slowly play the three notes on the piano over and over again, focusing on your breathing, and you will feel that time has slowed down.
   • If you don't own any musical instrument and don't like singing or reciting, try listening to light ambient or drone music. How to relax and slow down time will help you albums Disintegration Loops William Basinsky, Gymnosphere Jordana de la Sierra, as well as works by Brian Eno.
5. 5 Try to just sit. When asked what it means to meditate, Zen monks usually answer, "Just sit." The great secret of meditation and time dilation is that there is no secret to awareness. If you are anxious and want to slow down time, just sit down. Don't do anything. Concentrate your attention on what you are sitting on.
   • Try to do one thing instead of doing several things at the same time. If you are sitting, then just sit. If you are reading, give your full attention to reading. As you read, don't eat cookies, don't talk on the phone, or think about how to spend your weekend. Just read.

Method 2 of 2: Reordering

1. 1 Change your usual routes. Have you ever got into your car and automatically headed to work when you were about to drive to the store? Repetitive, routine actions form connections in your brain that allow you to perform these actions automatically, often without realizing what you are doing. As a result, time flies by quickly and unnoticed. The trick is to break the routine as often as possible for a ton of new experiences.
   • When getting to different places, try to use as many new routes and methods as possible. Use bike, car, walk. Find the best and worst routes for different modes of transportation and try them out.
2. 2 Do the same thing in different places. Some people like to work at the same desk for a certain amount of time from day to day, doing the same activity. Consistency leads to the fact that time flies by. However, if you want to slow down the passage of time, try to diversify the environment by performing the same actions in different places.
   • Do not study at your desk every night, do it in different places. Change rooms, try working out in the library, sit with a textbook on a park bench. Try as many places as possible.
   • If you are jogging, do not use the same route more than one or two times. Try to explore new places by running along different streets and paths in the parks. Don't let the routine drag you down.
3. 3 Do what scares you. In a recent study, people who had just driven a roller coaster were asked to describe how long the ride lasted. All participants overestimated the actual time by about 30%. When we experience something frightening that makes us anxious, our perception sharpens and time dramatically stretches.
   • Try a safe yet breathtaking ride, or if you don't feel like it, just watch a new horror movie. Tickle your nerves while staying completely safe.
   • Calculate the risks and do not engage in anything that poses a real danger. The world is full of completely safe things that can cause an adrenaline rush. For example, if the very idea of ​​singing in front of an audience scares you, grab your guitar to a crowded party and go out to the microphone to overcome your fear. This will be the longest 15 minutes of your life.
4. 4 Explore the world around you. We are surrounded by a wonderful and wonderful world, but, unfortunately, we often fence ourselves off from it, hiding in our cramped shell. Day after day we wake up, go to school or work, then return home, watch TV and go to bed again. As a result, time flies past us. Instead of being so boring, try to explore the world around you. Explore the surroundings of your home and city, as well as your inner world.
   • How many places around your home would you like to get toothpicks, a bun, or a pair of sneakers? Where are the lowest prices? Which of these places is the strangest? Find out these and many similar questions.
   • Beyond the surroundings, explore your own possibilities. Are you capable of writing an epic poem? Challenge yourself / yourself. Can you learn to play the banjo? Try it! Taking on something completely new, we feel like pioneers, and our sensations are similar to the feelings of a child discovering the world. As a result, the passage of time in our perception slows down. This is the joy of exploring something new.
5. 5 Do fewer things throughout the day. If you want to slow down time, you should schedule fewer tasks for each day, completing them completely and to the end. In an effort to slow down time, slow down yourself and slow down the rate of consumption.
   • Most people have hundreds of hours of music recorded on their computers and mobile phones, but they rarely listen to it. Dig into your notes. You don't have to listen to them in full - if you don't like the first thirty seconds, switch to the next song. Pick a song you like and listen to it over and over again.
   • Even when doing unimportant things like reading or looking through books, don't try to cover everything at once. Don't pile up stacks of books by your couch. Dedicate an entire month to reading an interesting book. Reread the poem throughout the year to really relive it and feel all the nuances.
6. 6 Don't do several things at the same time. The more you diffuse your attention, the more difficult it is for you to focus on one thing and slow down the passage of time. While doing one thing, focus completely on it until you finish what you started.
   • As a rule, the simultaneous execution of several tasks is taken in order to “save time” for other things. We think, "If I cook dinner and watch my favorite show on TV and call my sister, I will save time." However, as a result, it turns out that we cannot remember what was discussed in today's show, the dinner was burnt, and the sister was offended by our inattention.
   • Instead, focus on one thing, doing it well. Let you spend a lot of time. Do not hurry. If you are preparing food, pay attention to every little detail to make it great.
7. 7 Remember every day you lived. Do a little exercise at the end of the day. Think about something you did that day, and try to revive as many little things as possible in your memory, as if experiencing it all over again. It could be a glimpse thrown by a friend after your lucky joke, a rare tree you saw in someone's backyard, or a bizarre cloud shape in the sky. Be specific in your memories with particular attention to detail.
   • Remembering today, try to remember what you did yesterday. How was yesterday different from today? After that, move on to last week. Then to last month. Remember how you lived ten years ago. Remember your childhood. Try to fish out characteristic, special details from different periods of your life.

Tips

• As it is often noted in numerous relaxation guides, when you are relaxed (or busy with something boring), you feel like time goes by slowly. And vice versa, if you are busy with something interesting, time passes very quickly - in such cases, they often say “time flew by unnoticed”.
• Breathing slowly and deeply can help you relax and release tension.

Warnings

• Do not overdo it. Some situations require quick action.