My dream picked up cooking smells and sounds?

[Neo Neo]

So I don't know if this happens to other people, but sometimes my dream picks up stimuli from around me (or in this case the kitchen ) and manifest themselves in different ways. A couple days ago, I had halfway woken up, then went into a false awakening. In the dream, I was in my room and I had a plate of cooked bacon, and then proceeded to start eating it. I was semi-lucid because somehow I knew that I could eat it all and still not be full since it wasn't "real". But I couldn't make the jump to being fully lucid lol. And I also dreamt about pork being cooked. Well, it happens that someone else noticed a bacon smell while awake that morning, so it was funny that I had a dream about eating bacon. Another time my dream picked up the sound of a garbage truck going by outside. In waking life I had been doing yardwork and cutting down branches, and in the dream I was outside and went over to the trash cans. I either tipped them over or they fell over, and the branches fell out and unfolded into their original sizes. I remember hearing the sound as well, even though the garbage truck was not present in my dream. Instead a nice looking car pulled up, and two foreign guys were in it talking about how they knew me

[spellbee2]

Your dreams can actually be greatly affected by external stimuli. That was kind of the premise behind Stephen Laberge's NovaDreamer sleep mask. They had lights in the eye pieces that would flash a certain pattern during the height of the dreamer's REM cycle. Basically, the pattern would appear in the dream, usually flashing in the sky or on some other object, making the dreamer lucid. I imagine if you can do that with your sense of sight, the same kind of thing should be possible with your hearing and sense of smell.

[OnlyinDreams]

Your dreams can actually be greatly affected by external stimuli. That was kind of the premise behind Stephen Laberge's NovaDreamer sleep mask. They had lights in the eye pieces that would flash a certain pattern during the height of the dreamer's REM cycle. Basically, the pattern would appear in the dream, usually flashing in the sky or on some other object, making the dreamer lucid. Doesn't seem like it'd be too good for your eyes though.

[klavnins]

I have had countless experiences with external stimuli in dreams. For instance, one morning around 8:30 AM still sleeping, i dreamt that that i was having a conversation with a relative. Suddenly a phone rang, but not mine, my mothers, whose in realty was in the room next to mine. So i pulled the phone out of my pocket, yet the 'answer' option wasn't there, only an 'ignore' option. So pressed that and put the phone back in my pocket. A moment later a phone rang again, this time it was mine. I reached again for the phone to answer... and woke up to the actual sound of my phone ringing. The caller was my father who unable to contact my mother, called me. Another case (and this happens quite often) where I am trying to court a lady, we start rubbing our (face)cheeks together usually with a warm soft sensation. This as i have found is the dreams response to my face smushed against my pillow. As a subscriber to the Jungian(ish) idea of dream-symbols, I suppose my question in the matter would be about non-lucid dream interpretation. How much of the dream is external stimuli and how much is actual unconscious symbolism concerning the message of the dream (if it has one)? P.S. Sorry for the essay!

[moscampfire]

It seems to me that in either state, physical or dreaming, response to stimuli is what we do. I have frequently translated, in normal dreaming, physical sounds and events into dreaming interpretations. To me, it's a system of levels. If I'm deep, no physical stimuli intrudes, but if I'm borderline, it can. If a dog barking at my neighbor's catches my attention, there seems to be a point where I am judging whether it is important to wake up. A dream where the dog is chasing a butterfly, barking at it, might be my way of thinking it not to be important, and I'll go back to REM. Connecting the physical and dreaming environment, like your pillow analogy, may not point to an insignificance of experience because of the physical stimulus. I never viewed synchronicity as an "either/or" phenomenon.

[klavnins]

That actually makes a lot of sense. Thank You!

[danb1982]

I had a dream like this last week, forget what it was now. But I was eating something in my dream, and I could actually taste the thing that I was eating.