Author Question: Describe a theory of why time distortion occurs during meditation. What will be an ideal ... (Read 18 times)

mmm · **on:** Jun 22, 2018

Describe a theory of why time distortion occurs during meditation.

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

How can a person recognize that he or she is in a meditative state? List Allen's six indicators of an altered state that may be associated with meditation.

What will be an ideal response?

katara · **Reply #1 on:** Jun 22, 2018

Answer to Question 1

One theory of why time distortion occurs is that the right hemisphere (for right-handers though for left-handers it may be the left hemisphere) is more dominant during meditation. The left hemisphere is the time keeper and the right hemisphere is believed to engage in non-time linked thinking. Therefore, during meditation as the right hemisphere dominates, we lose our perception of time. Usually, this means that a 20 minute meditation seems much shorter, more like 5 to 10 minutes or sometimes even less.

Answer to Question 2

Allen (1983) discussed six indicators of an altered state that may be associated with meditation. These are time distortion, ineffability, present-centeredness, perception distortion, enhanced receptivity, and self-transcendence.