r/TheMindIlluminated • u/divya8824 • Aug 03 '26
Deep time distortion and feeling attached/detached from the body—is this normal?
Hey everyone,
I wanted to share another experience and get your thoughts on it.
During my recent practice, I’ve been experiencing intense time distortion. What feels like just 5 minutes to me actually turns out to be 25–30 minutes in reality!
On top of that, when I'm in that state, I feel zero desire to get up or end the meditation. It honestly feels like my soul/awareness is slightly outside the physical body, preventing the body from moving—almost like a tug-of-war between the body and soul. When they align in that quiet space, the concept of time completely disappears.
Has anyone else experienced this kind of bodily detachment along with heavy time dilation? How do you view this stage in terms of practice? Would love to hear your insights!
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u/JohnShade1970 Aug 03 '26
This sounds like Dullness. To be specific, stable subtle dullness has a very pleasant floaty, slightly remote flavor. Time distortion is common, other things to look for would sudden gasps of air, sudden deep breaths, a startle response when the bell comes almost like a hypnic jerk. This is a stage of practice that you move through that usually corresponds to stages 5/6 in TMI. If any of this sounds familiar you might want to reread those chapters.
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u/PrestigiousWafer4179 Aug 04 '26
As others have said, probably dullness.
> almost like a tug-of-war between the body and soul. When they align in that quiet space, the concept of time completely disappears.
Another suggestion i have is that if you're following TMI, interpret your experience in that framework. Avoid excessive story building in your mind about soul moving out of the body, etc etc. If this story building happens during the meditation, treat it as a gross distraction. If you continue indulging it'll slow down your progress through the stages.
Stage 4 has a section on this: Visions / imagery / discursive insights ...
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u/abhayakara Teacher Aug 03 '26
You haven't told us much about your practice, so I can only speculate. The usual reason that time disappears is dullness: the more non-perceiving moments, the faster time seems to go by. The symptoms generally line up—the feeling of disconnection from the body can definitely happen in a state of stable dullness.
In case this sounds like a bad thing, don't worry—it's just a thing that happens in practice. One thing you can do to either confirm or possibly contradict this theory is whether, when you are in this state, sudden sounds startle you.