Thats a hard one to answer!  Intuitively i feel it is both yes and no at the same "time", but darned if i can explain and outline exactly what that means and what i feel.  

 Perhaps the best way to understand time, is to say that time (or rather our perception and experience of the difference/similarity between one moment from another) is relative.  Time is relative to the dimension one is primarily focusing in.  In the slowest vibrating dimension (the physical), time seems/feels most linear and limited in nature.  

 In the fastest vibrating dimension (which is dimensionless) of pure Source Consciousness (represented by the incredibly pure, brilliant White Light), time seems/feels most non linear and is the least limited in nature.  

 Obviously Retrievals occur somewhere in between (usually closer to the etheric state of being which is vibrationally close to physical).  

  Also, time is also relative between the various dimensions, as a comparison or relationship.  

 So say time is like "speed", slowest speed is physical, fastest is pure Spirit consciousness, but when having experiences inbetween those states OR from more than one state within a given moment (i.e. a Retrieval which often involves some physical awareness, some etheric and/or emotional level awareness), then its like two or more cars driving at different speeds towards or away from one another.   Depending on the perspective, it looks and feels different, yet essentially the two cars are staying in their own same reality (represented by "speed" of the individual cars).

 Dunno, really hard to explain, the above really lacks.   The short answer is no, physical time, compared to nonphysical time, is not the most important factor.   Yet it depends on how focused one is in the physical too!  

 Arggh....   I've found that for myself, questions like these are best left checked at the door, for the left brain part of us cannot fully comprehend and explain it, as much as it would love to and spends too much energy on trying to.

I believe it is possible to help retrieve a spirit that died for example 1,000 years ago, yet that spirit experienced only a few days.

If a ghost has haunted a place for a few hundred years, this doesn't mean that the ghost has experienced a few hundred years.

Greeetings,

Most likely you will think a retrieval took about a quarter of the time it actually took, or less . Or maybe a fraction is too firm a number--lets say you think you've been retrieving for 20 minutes and when you check the clock you've been out 2 1/2 hours!

The time travelling to the retrievee is very compressed in our consciousness, I think, but the time with them seems more real, more perceived as though it happened in 'real' time (time we are used to).
Perhaps with more experience we speed up  though.

I don't know if anyone can do a retrieval in a 'cat nap!'    -- a very short period of time.

Thanks everyone for your posts.. it helps me to understand more about the time
Aras