Reader round-table — Time
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Where did all the time go? |
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Friday, 01 April 2011 00:00 |
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Time is of the essence. The time is now.
Time can seem so important to how we live our lives and yet as a concept it is also pretty nebulous and often unexamined.
What is your relationship with time? It may seem weird to consider it that way but we all have a relationship with time that affects us profoundly. Do you feel like you are always running out of time, that there are never enough hours in the day? And what of that upsetting little stressor, running late and never on time? The way we use language of course can be very telling.
If you want to uncover the script that is running you with time just replay a few of these phrases in your head and watch how you react. What do you notice and feel in your body? What memories come up? What happened as a child when you were not ready on time for the adults who controlled your schedule? How much resentment do you have about time, ‘wasting’ time, or the giving of your precious time to others? Are you passive aggressive about time, keeping others waiting and always late? Or do you feel empowered to choose how you spend your time and a corresponding sense of mastery in your life?
How do you feel about ageing, birthdays and marking the milestones of time? Who directs your use of time both in work and leisure and what makes up that work-life balance that today for many seems so elusive?
It is definitely worth ‘spending time’ considering your own relationship with what is at once seemingly infinite and endlessly gone. Do it now!
 © Margie Ulbrick
Wholistic life coach and relationships counsellor
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There is no concept of time without the mind |
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Friday, 01 April 2011 00:00 |
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Time is very slow for those who wait
Very fast for those who are scared
Very long for those who lament
Very short for those who celebrate
But for those who love time is eternal
— William Shakespeare
Time is conventionally described as a unit of measurement in our rational and logical world dominated by thoughts and acts of ‘doing’, and there is no concept of time without the mind.
You have heard all these before: ‘For every minute you are angry you lose 60 seconds of happiness’. ‘The forward march of time.’ ‘Time and tide wait for no man.’ ‘Time to change!’ But what are we really measuring here? For that which is measurable is almost always transient, impermanent, passing; while that which is not measurable is timeless, eternal and forever.
 Nivedita Mehta is an emotional well-being counsellor with a postgraduate degree in psychology. She has studied and trained in various modalities encompassing energy healing including The Lifeline Technique and EFT (emotional freedom technique).
She is a certified and licensed Louise Hay teacher and conducts study classes and workshops based on this internationally acclaimed metaphysical author’s philosophy and book, “You Can Heal Your Life”.
Every aspect of her work promotes a deeper self-awareness through the mind-body connection and inspires a more conscious lifestyle.
Nivedita has had the wonderful amalgamation of diverse cultures both while growing up in India and working in the rest of the world including Barcelona, Singapore, Hong Kong and now in Melbourne. She considers the World her home and thrives upon forging multicultural ties and bonds.
She is available for one-on-one counselling and hands-on healing by appointment only.
www.blissfulmantra.com.au |
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Friday, 01 April 2011 00:00 |
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Time is probably the most important thing for us as human beings. We refer to time when we get up, have to work, have meetings and when we sleep. The clock and our watches get looked at many times a day and night.
Time is precious and short for those living with a serious illness or disease. Questions in their heads such as, ‘How much time do I have left?’ ‘How much longer?’
People waiting on trains and buses to or from work, hanging around getting impatient, tired and bored. Or excited as it’s a payday or special occasion. The schedules, appointments and dates according to their diaries and organisers are necessary and cannot be forgotten.
With the talk about 2012 and the end of the calendar, to some believers time is running out. As human beings we need to use our time wisely, as we never know when it’s our time to go to our fate, our destiny, our death, our wake-up call.
As LivingNow magazine customers or advertisers, time is a date when we read it and a date when we need to get our advertisement in. Time is important and plays a huge role in society.
Marion Julius
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Clairvoyant and holistic counsellor |
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All the time in the world |
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Friday, 01 April 2011 00:00 |
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Can’t find the time for all the things you need to do in life? Simply change your language and instead of saying “I don’t have enough time,” say, “I will make time”, then suddenly you are empowered and the limited number of hours in your day is no longer the enemy. You stop using time as an excuse and you stop feeling like a victim of the clock. We can always make time for something that we are truly motivated to do. Remember that one of the busiest men on the planet made the time to have an affair when he really wanted to!
Managing your time is actually about managing what you do in that time. Every one of us has the same 24 hours in a day – so why do some people achieve more than others? I have personally found that when I am focussed, motivated and determined, I can achieve incredible things very quickly. If I am not focussed or clear about a goal, I can fluff around endlessly, and achieve very little. Taking the time to become very clear about what I want to achieve, visualising the end result, and imagining the feeling of achievement, makes me infinitely more effective and efficient.
It’s also interesting to know that that your perception of time is altered when you meditate deeply and regularly. In skilled meditators, the brain produces more gamma waves. This means that the number of bits of information you can process per second increases. This gives the feeling that time is going more slowly and you can actually achieve more, in less time. Gamma waves also increase dramatically at a time of shock, when the rational part of your brain shuts down. During a car accident, for example, it can seem like everything goes into slow motion. This is because you are processing an extraordinary amount of information in a very short time. So, if you need more hours in your day, I don’t suggest having a car accident, but I do recommend starting your day with at least 20 minutes of meditation. The more you need to do in your day, the longer you should meditate. Apparently the Dalai Lama normally meditates for an hour a day. On those really busy days, when his schedule is jam-packed, he will meditate for two hours! So next time you say to yourself, “I don’t have time to meditate”, you might want to think again.
Alison Burton is one of Melbourne’s leading hypnotherapists and owner of Simply Natural Therapies, a Wellbeing Centre and Shop in East Doncaster. Alison is a sought after public speaker and has appeared on ABC National Radio, SBS Radio, Foxtel’s “Living Life Now” as well as The Age, Herald Sun, Insight Magazine and local news media. Alison has a keen interest in all aspects of natural health and wellbeing, energy medicine, human consciousness and world change.
Phone: 03 9842 7033 www.simplynaturaltherapies.com.au |
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Transcending the concept of time through meditation |
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Friday, 01 April 2011 00:00 |
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The concept of time is frequently discussed and debated. The underlying truth is that there are two types of time: chronological time and psychological time. Chronological time is measured by clocks and calendars to help us deal with the practicalities of life. It is nothing but a measurement of planetary movement.
Psychological time, on the other hand, is a subjective experience because it has to do with the perception of time. As Albert Einstein once said, “Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute.” The analogy is humorous, but it perfectly captures the essence of psychological time: It is not measurable; it has to do with the inner workings of our mind and emotions.
Let’s stop and think for a moment about how the concept of chronological time can affect our mind. We are constantly thinking about the past, either lost in happy memories or regretting things we’ve done, or we are consumed by worrying about or planning for our future. We rarely live in the now. But the now – this present moment – is the only time when there is no time. Why is this? It is because time is in the mind. Enlightened saints and sages understand this completely, not at an intellectual level, but rather, experientially. When we are attached to our senses, we are dwelling in our mind. When we are dwelling in our mind, we expect things to happen a certain way in the foreseeable future, and this gives rise to time.
Through the continual practice of meditation and the simple art of being aware, you can experience the present moment in all its fullness, a state which is free from the slavery of the mind. You are simply aware of being one with all that exists, whether by connecting with your body, a sound or an object. In deeper meditative states, one can enter the dimension of thoughtlessness, meaning a realm where no thought arises, thus there is no mind and no time.
Zen Buddhists make it a way of life to maintain a state of meditative awareness in all their daily activities. In my book, Living Greatness, meditation master Mingyur Rinpoche gives examples of how we can become more aware throughout our lives by getting into the present moment without losing our effectiveness.
Here is another tip: The moment you focus on your breathing, your thinking slows down. With continued practice, you will be more aware of the present moment as it is without assigning judgements and labels to people and situations. It is about observing life the way it is, not as you wish it to be. You have full acceptance of the present moment, despite your circumstances. This will help your effort towards stopping the wheels from turning ceaselessly in your mind, thus dissolving the self-imposed restraints of time. In the end, you are free and liberated from the bondages of psychological struggle by transcending time to a state of true bliss: timelessness. This is what Eckhart Tolle calls ‘being’. In this state, not only will you be free from time, but you will be in a state of joy, ease, peace and love.
 Joseph Law JP
Chief Executive Officer
Living Greatness www.livinggreatness.com
Author | Speaker | Social Entrepreneur
Author Living Greatness: A Practical Guide to Living an Enlightened Life
Please visit: www.livinggreatness.com/book |
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