Thread: Dream Clock Phenomenon

Hmmm... a lot of people use digital clocks as a reality check, because clocks are usually off in the dream, showing numbers and times that might not even exist. I have had clocks show the real time before, and I don't think of it as any phenomenon. Your mind has an internal clock and usually has an idea of what time it is. Have you ever tried to wake yourself up at a certain time with intent? Just go to bed well rested and think "I am going to wake up at 6 AM." It might take some practice, but it is quite accurate when you get good at it. The reason that it wouldn't be the right time or would be the right time would probably be on how aware you are in the dreams of the time. If you just look at a clock in passing without thinking about it, then it will probably just show random numbers. If you stop and think about what time it is while lucid, you should be able to get an accurate estimation of the time.

I wake up with my inner clock. But if I decide I want to be up at 6 AM, I'll wake up somewhere between 5.30 and 6.30. In waking life I am not able to correctly guess the time. (hour+minute) Like right now I could only say it is around 5 pm. How are we able to do this in dreams? If you set your inner alarm clock to 6.37 can you wake up at 6."37"?

All electronics almost always malfunction or do not work correctly in my dreams. Especially phones and tv's, and clocks have lines displayed with no time for me.
I consider these triggers that make me aware that I am dreaming. But even with the useful info, I usually don't figure it out til after I wake up.

Originally Posted by figurefly

I wake up with my inner clock. But if I decide I want to be up at 6 AM, I'll wake up somewhere between 5.30 and 6.30. In waking life I am not able to correctly guess the time. (hour+minute) Like right now I could only say it is around 5 pm. How are we able to do this in dreams? If you set your inner alarm clock to 6.37 can you wake up at 6."37"?

Yes! but it take a few weeks to get good at it since I am out of practice. When I am on my game I can wake up at any time I wish.

This is indeed a doable skill, Figurefly.

As Sensei says, with practice you ought to be able to sinc up your dream clock with your waking clock pretty well. I'm not sure if you will get exact matches every time, but you will likely do better than within half an hour... especially if you have a specific or important reason to rise at that time.

I think this -- remembering to remember to check your dream clock at the correct time, and not just close -- is an interesting use of prospective memory as well, so learning to calibrate your dream clock might just help with your LD'ing in general.

And yes, this might not be a rare phenomenon; especially from my perspective: I have checked clocks in dreams many times, realized it was time to get up, and found my actual clock to be reading about the same time (sometimes exactly). I assume that the "checking" is actually a bit of prospective memory seeing that I wake up at the correct time.

The thing is your body and mind are used to time flow. And we are used to control what time it is during the day. Therefore more or less time synchronicity is well possible.
Serial Out of Body Experiences - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views Look for last separation- OBE(astral dimension) is something different than LD but even then, one is wondering, how is this close coincidence possible.