Slowing down …

for a Fulfilling Life

Have you ever wondered why time seems to fly as we get older, or why vacations seem to last longer than a typical working week? Time perception is a fascinating aspect of the human experience, encompassing biology, psychology and lifestyle choices. In this exploration of time perception, I’ll cover scientific insights, personal experiences and practical wisdom.

My life choices have taken me from a small Brazilian town to the bustling city of Curitiba and eventually to the serene Italian Alps. Through these changes, I experienced first-hand how our environment and lifestyle profoundly impact our relationship with time. This personal odyssey shaped my understanding of time perception and inspired me to delve into the science behind it.

We’ll start by unraveling the mechanisms of how our brains perceive time, exploring theories that explain why our internal clocks sometimes run and sometimes drag. From there, we’ll examine the various factors that influence our perception of time, from emotions and age to cultural backgrounds and daily habits.

But understanding the perception of time is only half the journey. The real magic lies in applying this knowledge to enrich our daily lives. Drawing on both scientific research and my personal experiences, we’ll explore practical strategies for taking back control of your perception of time. You’ll discover how mindfulness, reconnecting with nature and simple lifestyle adjustments can help slow down the relentless march of the clock, leading to a fuller and seemingly more expansive life.

Whether you’re a city dweller yearning for a slower pace or simply curious about the nature of time itself, this article offers insights that can transform your relationship with life’s most precious resource. So take a deep breath, focus on the present moment and join me in understanding how you experience each moment.

The perception of time is related to our awareness of the passage of time; this experience is intertwined with environmental, psychological and physiological processes.

Behm & Carter, 2020

The Science of Time and the Mystery of Perception

Imagine your brain as a sophisticated stopwatch, constantly ticking away and shaping your experience of each passing moment. But how does this internal clock actually work?

The Tick-Tock of Your Mind: Two Theories of Time Perception

Scientists have proposed two main theories to explain how we perceive time: the Scalar Expectancy Theory (SET) and the Striatal Beat Frequency (SBF) model. Think of them as two different types of clocks that your brain can use.

Escalating Expectancy Theory: Your Internal Timer

Imagine SET as your brain’s built-in timer:

• The Step Marker: Imagine you have an internal clock that ticks in a regular rhythm, like a metronome.
• The Accumulator: Think of it as the display, counting the ticks.
• The Comparator: This is you checking the timer, comparing the current count with your memory of how long something usually takes.

Have you ever noticed how time seems to drag when you’re waiting in line, but flies when you’re having fun? When you’re excited or stressed, your internal pace marker speeds up, making every second seem longer.

Striatal Beat Frequency Model: Your Neural Symphony

The SBF model is a bit like a neural orchestra:

• Neural Oscillators: Imagine thousands of little musicians in your brain, each playing to their own rhythm.
• The striatum: This is the conductor, listening to all these rhythms and interpreting them as the passage of time.
• Influence of Neurotransmitters: Chemical substances such as dopamine and glutamate act as the conductor’s baton, speeding up or slowing down the neural orchestra.

This model helps explain why intense emotions can distort your sense of time. Strong feelings can change the “music” of your brain, altering how you perceive its duration.

Your Body’s Chronometers: Biological Clocks

But wait, there’s more! Your perception of time isn’t just in your head – it’s all over your body:

• The Master Clock: Deep in your brain, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) acts as the driver of your daily rhythms, telling you when to wake up, eat and sleep.
• Peripheral Clocks: Like a network of synchronized clocks, organs throughout your body have their own chronometers, all receiving cues from the SCN.

This intricate system explains why jet lag is so disruptive – you’re literally resetting clocks all over your body!

The Neural Networks of Time

The perception of time is not the task of just one area of the brain. It’s a collaborative effort:

• Cortico-striatal circuits: These are the weight lifters for timing, crucial for estimating how long tasks will take.
• Cerebellum: Your brain’s stopwatch for quick actions, such as catching a ball.
• Insular Cortex: This region helps you feel the passage of time in your body.
• Parietal Cortex: Think of this as your brain’s time management assistant, helping you to pay attention to time.

The Chemical Dance of Time

Your perception of time is also influenced by a delicate balance of brain chemicals:

• Dopamine: The “reward” chemical that can make time fly or drag.
• Glutamate: Works with dopamine to adjust your perception of time.
• Serotonin: Affects how you perceive longer periods of time.
• Acetylcholine: Helps you remember and pay attention to time.

Understanding these mechanisms is the key to unlocking how we experience each moment of our lives. In the next section, we’ll explore how various factors in our daily lives can influence these complex systems, altering our perception of time in profound ways.

The Distortion of Time: Factors that Double Our Perception of Time

Now that we have an idea of the intricate machinery of time perception in our brains, let’s explore the various factors that can speed up or slow down our internal clocks. It’s like having a control panel for your personal time machine – understanding these influences can help you navigate your temporal experience more consciously.

Emotional Roller Coasters and Time Distortion

Have you ever noticed how time seems to stretch out when you’re anxious, or fly by when you’re having fun? Here’s why:

• High Excitement: Excitement or stress can speed up your internal clock, making every second seem longer. That’s why an important presentation that makes you anxious seems to take forever.
• Strong Emotions: Intense feelings can hijack your brain’s timing networks. That’s why traumatic moments often seem to happen in slow motion.
• Chronic stress: Long-term stress can deplete dopamine and serotonin levels, making time seem to drag on endlessly.

The Age Factor: Why Time Speeds Up As We Get Older

It’s not just your imagination – time really does seem to speed up as we get older. Several factors contribute to this phenomenon:

• Dopamine reduction: As we age, our brains produce less dopamine, potentially speeding up our perception of time.
• Familiarity: New experiences create stronger memories, making time seem longer. As we get older, we encounter fewer new experiences, making time seem to fly.
• Cognitive changes: Changes in attention, working memory and speed of information processing can affect how we perceive time.

Lifestyle Choices: Shaping Your Temporal Reality

Your daily habits have a profound impact on how you experience time:

1. Physical activity: Regular exercise increases dopamine levels, potentially slowing down your perception of time. It’s like giving your internal clock a tune-up!
2. Sleep patterns: Poor sleep reduces dopamine and serotonin, distorting the perception of time. A good night’s sleep isn’t just invigorating – it helps stabilize your internal clock.
3. Diet: Certain foods can influence your neurotransmitter levels:
   • Foods rich in tyrosine (cheese, soy, meat) can increase dopamine production.
   • Foods rich in tryptophan (eggs, nuts, seeds) can increase serotonin levels.
4. Social Interactions: Positive social experiences increase oxytocin and dopamine, creating a sense of well-being and engagement. This can make time seem to pass more quickly in the moment (time flies when you’re having fun with friends), but these experiences also tend to create richer, longer-lasting memories, making the period seem fuller or more expansive when recalled later.
5. Addictive Behaviors: Long-term involvement in addictive behaviors, such as excessive use of social media, gambling or substance abuse, can deplete dopamine levels over time. This depletion can lead to a faster perception of the passage of time, as the brain craves more stimulation to achieve the same feeling of reward. This is why you can spend hours scrolling through your social media feed and not even realize how much time you’ve wasted on it.

Mind Over Time: Cognitive Influences

Your state of mind and activities can significantly alter your perception of time:

• Cognitive Load: When your brain is working hard, time often seems shorter. That’s why that engaging book makes hours seem like minutes.
• Attention: Focusing on time makes it seem longer, while distraction speeds it up. It’s the reason why the “watched pot never boils”, but if you get distracted the milk boils and spills.

Cultural Context: Time Through Different Lenses

Our cultural background plays a significant role in shaping our perception of time:

• Western cultures: Often emphasize productivity and see time as a finite resource. This perspective can lead to a quicker perception of the passage of time, with a focus on using each moment to be productive.
• Eastern cultures: Many Eastern philosophies embrace a more cyclical view of time, which can foster a more relaxed perception of its passage.
• Cultures Rich in Festivities: Societies with numerous celebrations and traditional festivals often experience a more fluid sense of time. In these cultures, the rhythm of life is marked by recurring events rather than strict schedules, leading to a more relaxed perception of time. For example, in many Latin American and Mediterranean cultures, festivals can last for days or even weeks, blurring the boundaries between work and celebration.
• Less Technologically Integrated Societies: Communities with less dependence on digital technology often report a slower, more natural perception of time. Without the constant notifications and digital tracking of time, these societies tend to align themselves more closely with natural rhythms such as sunrise and sunset. This can be observed in some rural communities or intentional movements of slowed-down living.
• Cultures focused on relationships: In societies that prioritize personal relationships over strict schedules, time is often perceived more fluidly. It is common in these cultures for social gatherings to last for hours without a fixed end time, as the quality of the interaction is valued over punctuality.

These cultural differences remind us that our perception of time is not universal, but deeply influenced by our social norms and values. Understanding these variations can help us appreciate different approaches to time and potentially adopt practices that lead to a more balanced temporal experience.

Chemical Influences: Substances and the Perception of Time

Various substances can dramatically alter your experience of time:

• Stimulants (such as caffeine): They can speed up your perceived time.
• Depressants (such as alcohol): They can slow down your perception of time.
• Long-term Substance Use: Prolonged use of certain substances can alter dopamine levels and sensitivity in the brain, potentially leading to changes in the perception of time and increasing susceptibility to boredom or decreased pleasure in everyday activities. However, the specific effects can vary depending on the substance, the pattern of use and individual factors.

Hormonal Rhythms: The Biological Stopwatch

Hormones play a significant role in our perception of time:

• Estrogen: Can slow down the internal clock, potentially explaining gender differences in time perception.
• Circadian Rhythms: Your internal “biological clock” regulates 24-hour cycles and, throughout the day, there are natural fluctuations in alertness, body temperature, hormone production and the release of neurotransmitters (such as dopamine and noradrenaline). These changes directly influence how you experience the passage of time. For example, higher levels of dopamine during periods of heightened alertness can make time seem to pass more quickly, while lower levels at night can slow down your perception of time.

Although these factors provide a scientific framework for understanding the perception of time, they do not exist in isolation. Our lived experiences shape how these elements interact and influence our daily lives. To illustrate this interaction, let me share my personal journey across continents and cultures, demonstrating how our environment and choices can profoundly impact our relationship with time.

A Personal Journey: From Brazil to the Italian Alps

My exploration of the perception of time isn’t just theoretical – it’s deeply personal. I lived my first 15 years in a small town in the south of Brazil, where time moved at a leisurely pace. As a child, I had the freedom to explore, engage in various activities and really savor each moment. This early experience laid the foundation for my understanding of a slowed-down life.

When I was 15, my life took a turn when I moved to Curitiba, a busier city with around 2 million inhabitants. This was my first encounter with the “rush” of urban life. Suddenly, distances were much greater and time seemed compressed. Even after 15 years, I struggled to accurately calculate the time spent commuting – a marked contrast to the intuitive sense of time I had in my hometown.

Although I loved the diversity and opportunities of city life, I couldn’t shake the feeling that life could – and should – be lived more slowly. This internal conflict led my family and me to make a bold decision: to move to Europe. Our first stop was Porto, Portugal. There we found a middle ground – less commuting time, more time for leisure, family and relaxation. But the mentality of work as a priority in life still prevailed, which bothered me. It wasn’t our ideal.

Our search for a different pace of life eventually led us to a small town in the Italian Alps with only around 20,000 inhabitants. Here, I found what I was looking for – a place where life really does run at a slower pace. This environment allowed me to fully embrace mindfulness practices and reconnect with the rhythms of nature.

Throughout these transitions, my mindfulness and meditation practice, which I started when I was 17, served as a solid foundation. In Curitiba, it helped me create pockets of stillness. In the Italian Alps, it amplified my appreciation of the slower pace. My journey taught me that while the environment plays a crucial role in our perception of time, our internal practices are just as important. I learned to prioritize “me time” even in the busiest of schedules, use mindfulness to create moments of serenity in any environment, appreciate the impact of nature on our sense of time and recognize that changing our relationship with time is a gradual process.

My journey across continents and cultures has been a lesson in the malleability of time perception. However, you don’t have to move to the Italian Alps to transform your relationship with time. The insights I’ve gained through my experiences, combined with research, have led me to discover practical strategies that can be applied anywhere, from bustling cities to quiet suburbs. These techniques can help you cultivate a richer and more rewarding relationship with time, regardless of your current environment.

Mastering Your Time: Practical Strategies for a Richer Time Experience

Now that we’ve explored the science behind time perception and I’ve shared my personal journey, let’s focus on how you can apply these insights to enrich your daily life. These techniques are designed to help you cultivate a more satisfying relationship with time by integrating mindfulness, reconnecting with nature and making conscious lifestyle adjustments.

Mindfulness: Full Attention in the Present Moment

Mindfulness is a powerful tool for transforming your experience of time. See how it works:

1. Awareness of the Present Moment: By focusing on the here and now, mindfulness reduces mental clutter by slowing down our perception of time.
2. Emotional regulation: Mindfulness practices help manage stress and anxiety, which often accelerate our sense of time passing.
3. Enhanced Attention: The regular practice of mindfulness improves our ability to focus, allowing us to fully engage and appreciate each moment.

Practical Mindfulness Exercises:

• One Minute Breath: Set a timer for one minute and concentrate only on your breathing. Notice how expansive this brief moment can seem when given your full attention.
• Conscious eating: During your next meal, eat without distractions. Pay attention to flavors, textures and sensations. You may be surprised at how much longer and more satisfying your meal seems.

Reconnecting with Natural Rhythms

Our modern lives often disconnect us from the cycles of nature, but reconnecting can profoundly impact our perception of time:

1. Resetting the Circadian Rhythm: Exposure to natural light, especially in the morning, helps regulate your body’s internal clock.
2. Stress reduction: Time in nature activates the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting relaxation and a slower perception of time.
3. Seasonal Awareness: Paying attention to the changing seasons can give you a broader perspective on the passage of time.

Tips for integrating with nature:

• Morning sunlight: Spend 10-15 minutes outdoors, or just looking out of a window, right after waking up to help reset your circadian rhythm.
• Green spaces: Even in urban environments, look for parks or green areas for regular exposure to nature.
• Indoor nature: If access to the outdoors is limited, incorporate plants, sounds of nature or natural images into your personal space.

Time Management Practices

By incorporating these habits into your daily routine, you can cultivate a healthier relationship with the weather, regardless of your environment:

1. Digital Detox: Regular breaks from screens and social media can reduce information overload and slow down perceived time. Try these strategies:
   • Set specific “screen-free” times during the day
   • Create technology-free zones in your home, especially in the bedroom
   • Practice conscious use of social media, setting time limits for each session
2. New Experiences: Seek out new activities or learn new skills. New experiences create stronger memories, making the time seem fuller and richer. Consider:
   • Try a new hobby or skill every month
   • Explore unknown parts of your city or nearby areas
   • Engage with different cultures through food, art or language learning
3. Meditation: The regular practice of meditation can lead to improvements in attention, memory and emotional regulation, all of which contribute to a healthier brain and a richer experience of time.
   • Sit in a comfortable position and let your attention rest on a single object, such as an image or a sound (for example, the image of a sunset, the sound of your heart beating).
   • Professor DeRose suggests a time perception test to assess your meditative state: Meditate with a stopwatch running. After a while, estimate how much time has passed. If you thought more time had passed than actually did, you’re doing well; if you thought it was less, your mind was scattered and wandering away from the meditative state.
4. Time Blocking: Allocate specific periods of time to different activities:
   • Divide your day into blocks for work, leisure, rest and personal growth
   • Include time off between blocks to avoid feeling rushed
   • Experiment with different block lengths to find what works best for you. This structured approach can make your days seem more expansive and purposeful.
5. Lifestyle for a Healthy Brain: Adopt habits to extend longevity and cognitive capacity:
   • Regular physical exercise
   • A plant-based diet rich in antioxidants and complex carbohydrates
   • Consistent sleep patterns to regulate your circadian rhythms
   • Social engagement to stimulate cognitive function and provide time markers
   • Breathing exercises and guided relaxation to manage your stress
6. Reflection Practices: End each day with a brief reflection on memorable moments. This practice improves your perception of the richness of time.

The Power of Boredom: Embracing Empty Moments

In our hyper-connected world, we often fear boredom. However, allowing yourself to experience boredom can be transformative:

• Creativity Boost: Boredom can awaken creativity and self-reflection, leading to a richer inner life.
• Time Expansion: Moments of “doing nothing” can actually slow down your perception of time.

Try this: Set aside 10 minutes a day for “planned boredom”. No devices, no activities – just stay with your thoughts and observe how you perceive time.

Conclusion

As we conclude this explanation of time perception, it becomes clear that our experience of time is far from fixed. We have explored the neuroscience behind our temporal experience, discovering how factors such as emotions, age, lifestyle choices and even cultural background can speed up or slow down our internal clocks. This knowledge empowers us to take a more active role in shaping our temporal experience, although many things are still unclear about the perception of time, we can test what works best.

My own journey from a big city in Brazil to the serene Italian Alps has taught me that changing our relationship with time is possible and deeply rewarding. I invite you to embark on your own time adventure. Consider choosing a practice from the strategies I’ve suggested and committing to it for at least a month. Keep a diary of your experiences, reflecting on how your perception of time changes.

If you need help putting these tips into action, send me a message to start the DeRose Method in person or online. You can also search for a certified school or instructor in your city: derosemethod.org

As you close this article and return to your day, take with you this simple question: How will you choose to experience your time? The clock is ticking, but the pace is yours to set. Embrace it, savor it and make every moment count.

References

1. Jimenez, M., DeVille, N., Elliott, E., Schiff, J., Wilt, G., Hart, J., & James, P. (2021). Associations between Nature Exposure and Health: A Review of the Evidence. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094790.

2. Yalçin, M., Mundorf, A., Thiel, F., Amatriain-Fernández, S., Kalthoff, I., Beucke, J., Budde, H., Garthus-Niegel, S., Peterburs, J., & Relógio, A. (2022). It’s About Time: The Circadian Network as Time-Keeper for Cognitive Functioning, Locomotor Activity and Mental Health. Frontiers in Physiology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.873237.

3. Behm, D., & Carter, T. (2020). Effect of Exercise-Related Factors on the Perception of Time. Frontiers in Physiology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.00770.

4. Jo, H., Song, C., & Miyazaki, Y. (2019). Physiological Benefits of Viewing Nature: A Systematic Review of Indoor Experiments. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16234739.

5. Allman, M. J., Teki, S., Griffiths, T. D., & Meck, W. H. (2014). Properties of the internal clock: First- and second-order principles of subjective time. Annual Review of Psychology, 65. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115117.

6. Kora, P., Meenakshi, K., Swaraja, K., Rajani, A., & Raju, M. (2021). EEG based interpretation of human brain activity during yoga and meditation using machine learning: A systematic review. Complementary therapies in clinical practice, 43, 101329 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2021.101329.

7. Pleil, K., Cordes, S., Meck, W., and Williams, C. (2011). Rapid and acute effects of estrogen on time perception in male and female rats. Front. Integr. Neurosci. 5:63. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2011.00063

8. Sumantry, D., & Stewart, K. (2021). Meditation, Mindfulness, and Attention: a Meta-analysis. Mindfulness, 12, 1332-1349. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01593-w.

9. Kramer RS, Weger UW, Sharma D. (2013). The effect of mindfulness meditation on time perception. Conscious Cogn., Sep 22(3), 846-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2013.05.008.

10. Marciniak, R., Sheardová, K., Čermaková, P., Hudeček, D., Šumec, R., & Hort, J. (2014). Effect of Meditation on Cognitive Functions in Context of Aging and Neurodegenerative Diseases. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00017.

11. DeRose. Meditation and Self Knowledge. Egregora Books, Aug 2019.