Breathing and the Speed of Thought/Reality

Alright, so I will explain the experience I had. It was a few weeks ago, I was working stock from 9pm to 5am.

It was snowing out by time I went to break for a cigarette, which was around 4am. In front of the store is a parking-lot lamp-post. It was really quiet out and the snow fell slowly to the ground, like feathers. There was no wind.

I then noticed after taking in a deep breath, that the snow began to slow it’s decent. On an exhale it fell faster than normal. In-between breathes is was falling at it’s usual pace.

I thought, “Okay odd,” so I took deep inhales and exhales and noticed it was not only the snow around me but all the snow as far as I could visually see.

I meant to post this right after it happen but never got around to it. A friend I explained this to said she knew what I was talking about but never went into detail.

Does anyone know? Is my breathing actually making the snow fall slow or fast or is it the amount of oxygen that enters the bloodstream?

All in all it was a pretty cool thing to happen to me, I felt the world expanding and contracting with me.

reply to post by AMANNAMEDQUEST


I'd look at what you was smoking exactly...

reply to post by Death_Kron


I assume that is a joke. It was just tobacco. Though I hear odd things happen at 4am. I myself think it was the amount of oxygen that entered and exited on each breath, maybe effecting the speed of my thought. But for me it was a subtle, in-the-moment, almost magical type of experience.

reply to post by AMANNAMEDQUEST

Perhaps at that time you had inadvertently entered into an altered state.
I notice your description of snow falling.
Sometimes these moments can steal upon us, without being asked for or sought.
Moreover...perhaps they happen more often than we realise.
And can be so fleeting or subtle that we do not recognise them for what they are.

reply to post by midicon


That is a good point. It probably happens more often than not but we often fail to notice it. I am still intrigued however, as I don't have an answer.

reply to post by AMANNAMEDQUEST


That is a cool experience indeed.

The world is prety magical, when experienced in such a manner.
Altered state seems plausible to me.

Take it as it is, for you.
Do with it what you want.
( like posting it on ATS ) you never no what you will learn, gain, achieve because of it.

It does add to my own believe that consciousness is able to perceive time far differently from the norm under the right circumstances. Like when one is in great focus, or completely empty, or both.

Cheers.

Originally posted by AMANNAMEDQUEST
reply to post by Death_Kron

 

I assume that is a joke.

It was just tobacco. Though I hear odd things happen at 4am. I myself think it was the amount of oxygen that entered and exited on each breath, maybe effecting the speed of my thought. But for me it was a subtle, in-the-moment, almost magical type of experience.

It was a joke, but I had a serious message. You should read what Nicotine can do to the mind;

As nicotine enters the body, it is distributed quickly through the bloodstream and can cross the blood-brain barrier. On average it takes about seven seconds for the substance to reach the brain when inhaled.[citation needed] The half life of nicotine in the body is around two hours.[12]

Link: Nicotine

You would be surprised, I don't think you experienced anything that "out of the ordinary"

Going from working to a silent environment like that I'm sure your senses are picking up more than normal but I do honestly believe that our breathing pace has a lot to do with reality or our perception of it.