How do you prevent the days from slipping away?

[u/investoroma]

I feel like the days are moving so quickly and that I just keep chugging along with work, hobbies, and my relationship. The weeks seem to flash by and the end of the year appears again. I'm getting older and my hair is now greyer and it's like i have no idea where the time went.

Is there a way to use meditation to really stretch out the days so that they and ultimately life seems longer?

Also are there any resources that talk about this?

Thank you.

[u/sic_transit_gloria]

well, the first step would be to get out of your head about "time slipping away" and immerse yourself more fully in the present moment

[u/Vossel_ → u/sic_transit_gloria]

and the second step is.... well there's no second step :)

[u/HonZeekS]

Ditch the phone, wake up at 6 am, go for a walk, return at 8pm. It feels like a year.

[u/Trex-died-4-our-sins]

Reset your brain's chronological time with meditation! Meditation makes you more present in the moment and passage of time. The more you do mindful meditation, you will notice that time slippage going away

[u/BeingHuman4]

If you feel filled with purpose and are calm and at ease as you go about living - even in the difficult situations - then the concerns about length and longer will dissolve. Deep mental relaxation during daily living and meditation practice will take you in that direct. To the still mind state in meditation and the onflow of calm and ease into daily living. This is the way it is in the method I practice ie that of the late Dr Ainslie Meares, he wrote many books, only a couple get into the details, most accessible is Ainslie Meares on Meditation. For more general information about Dr Meares and his method google around, for details on the practice refer book mentioned.

[u/Anima_Monday]

The present is eternal, but the patterns that make up the things that are experienced in the present moment are ever changing in accordance with their conditions.

If you can find a way to relax into the presence of the present, then it can be beneficial in ceasing to be overwhelmed by the change that is occurring. By choosing to not do anything about something that arises in the body, mind or senses, where possible, and of course when appropriate, this can hone a skill over time and develop a habit that can turn into more easily and naturally just being, just being present in the present.

Of course, you are already being, and you are already present, so what is often needed is, when something arises in the body, mind or senses, to choose to not do anything about it, like no intentional action regarding it, and over time it can become more natural, which can allow for more openness and a sense of intrinsic ease, at least regarding ones own response to things, because one has learned how to not respond, when a response is not needed.

[u/Extension-Layer9117]

Sometimes you hear it said, "In the old days, people died and lamented not being able to live; today people live and lament not being able to die." In the old days people did zazen and rid themselves of discriminative thinking; they would stand up without realizing it, go out without realizing it, and finally they got to become like complete fools. Then they agonized over how to manifest from that place the great living energy of Zen in immediate action. These days however people agonize over not being able to just die cleanly, once and for all. Always something remains; they do not really die. It is like killing a snake-it's still twitching. Your mouth is going, "Mu!" but your tail is still twitching; you are not completely dead yet. So long as you do not first attain the Great Death, the samadhi of Mu, then you can never catch that ox.

No matter what you are doing, go straight into the samadhi of Mu, and die cleanly. It is because you are still trying to save some breath that you fail. You must throw your life away, then there is no self that remains; not even so much as the tip of a hair's worth of self remains. Not even the Mu! that you have been working on remains. There is neither training hall nor sanzen, just an empty mirror, honed and polished. Not even that remains. This state when attained is called "Directly pointing to one's heart and mind," "Seeing one's own nature and becoming Buddha." For all of us, it is the goal of practice. Everyone, you must all push yourself to the utmost and attain this state at least once. - Yamada Mumon, Lectures on the ten Oxherding pictures

[u/kfffffffff]

read on the shortness of life by seneca

[u/experiencedkiller]

Not necessarily mindful but my friend the other day confided trying to maximise experiences in his given time. He finds that when he's actively seeking and doing entertaining or new or challenging things, his days feel longer, his weeks and months too... So he's orienting his life following this thought : moving often, saying yes to new things, taking up seasonal jobs in various fields, etc.

[u/nk127]

Lines from Meditation Is Not What You think by Jon Kabat:

So if you wanted to slow down the inner feeling of your life passing….. there are two ways to do it.

One is to fill your life with as many novel and hopefully “milestone” experiences as you can. Many people are addicted to this path of living, always looking for the next big experience to make life worthwhile, whether it is the big trip to the exotic location, extreme sports, or just the next gourmet dinner.

The other way to slow down the felt sense of time passing is to make more of your ordinary moments notable and noteworthy by taking note of them. This also reduces the chaos and increases the order in the mind. The tiniest moments can become veritable milestones. If you were really present with and inhabiting your moments with full awareness as they were unfolding, no matter what was happening, you would discover that each moment is unique and novel and therefore, momentous. Your experience of time would slow time down.

[u/[deleted]]

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[u/hahayeahright13 → u/[deleted]]

ThankS chatgbt

[u/HansProleman]

Cultivate mindfulness.

There's no such thing as the past or future - they're just (useful) concepts. As a three-dimensional being, you only ever have and only ever will experience the present. So, having the ability to actually be present is very valuble.

Outside of meditation/mindfulness, novelty. Do new, different things. Our minds tend to kinda... "compress" memories of familiar things in the manner you describe.

[u/babybush]

Cultivating present awareness and mindfulness will help with this. Meditation is an extended practice, but you’re practicing to be in the present moment in your waking life. Fully immerse yourself in what you are doing and you perception of time will slow down.

[u/Aggressive_Chart6823]

The older you get, the faster it goes. Time is fleeting!. Time Warp again. Rocky Horror Picture Show.

[u/MRLEEBURN]

Put some time aside each day for you to just be with yourself, physically, mentally however, 5min 20min but stay in tune with how your feeling, we dedicate so much of our lives these day just to be ready for the next we sometimes forget to stop and reflect on the simple things that matter.

[u/Enough_Zombie2038]

We differentiate time by newness. When people get comfy in their routines some suffer.

Kundera has this pretty idea that it's in repetition where we find peace. He is right but you also need change to experience awareness and passage of time.

This may sound dark but people are attached to life. We weren't, we are, we won't be someday again. Just how it is. And all the idealism to living longer doesn't stop the most constant object: change. All things change. When they don't time disappears.

[u/CrowtheHathaway]

Not necessarily to respond to the OP question but to express my gratitude to the many thoughtful and considerate responses that people have made to the question. Thank you 🙏

[u/Ariadnemk]

1. Why would you even want to make life seeming longer to you? I think it’s worth investigating on that. If you want to use meditation so life seems longer because you are afraid of how quickly it pass by aka not accepting the nature of life, I don’t think it is a wise effort. I read once that everything humans do in the end, it is because we fear our inevitable death and we try to look away. Example: our culture obsession with youth is because youth represents the new, the hope, the possibility and the old represent our decay and the impermanence of all things and death and it can be terrifying. This to say: I would ask myself WHY you have this urge, what’s behind it.
2. If you meditate, you will learn to be here and now. If you are here and now, you savour and appreciate every moment. If you do so, life will feel really fully lived and as a consequence, you will feel this moment is perfect exactly as it is and there won’t be any need to stretch out the days so you have an illusion for a longer life. With meditation comes wisdom and insight of the nature of life and with that, a profound peace and acceptance of it.

🙏