When meditating and bringing up thoughts of people you don't like, does time go by quicker or slower?

In the context of meditation and psychology, focusing on people you dislike typically makes time feel like it is dragging, or moving slower.

This phenomenon happens because of how our brain processes emotional intensity and "ego-threat." Here is a breakdown of why that happens:

1. The "Watched Pot" Effect

When you meditate on something unpleasant or irritating, your brain enters a state of high self-monitoring. You become hyper-aware of your internal discomfort, your racing heart, or your rising frustration. Because you are checking in on your feelings so frequently, you are effectively "watching the clock" of your own emotions.

2. High Arousal and Survival

Negative emotions like anger, resentment, or "dislike" trigger a mild version of the fight-or-flight response.

• Increased Information Processing: In a state of stress, your brain takes in more "frames" of information per second to scan for threats.
• Subjective Expansion: When the brain processes more data in a short interval, your retrospective memory of that event feels longer than it actually was.

3. Resistance vs. Flow

Time "flies" when we are in a state of Flow—where the self disappears and we are at ease with the present moment.

• Resistance: Thinking of someone you dislike creates internal resistance. You want the thought to stop or the feeling to change.
• Friction: This mental friction creates a "heavy" experience. Just as a physical weight makes a walk feel longer, mental "weight" makes a meditation session feel grueling.

4. The Contrast of Loving-Kindness

Conversely, many practitioners find that "Metta" (loving-kindness) meditation—focusing on people you love—can make 20 minutes feel like five. This is because positive emotions broaden our perspective and reduce the narrow, high-frequency monitoring that happens during negative states.

Insight: If you find time slowing down too much, it’s often a sign that you are "fighting" the thought of the person rather than observing it. Bringing a sense of curiosity to the physical sensation of the dislike, rather than the story of the person, can sometimes help normalize the flow of time.