The 5 senses and Lucid Dreaming?

[JohnnyBoi]

How would your 5 senses be used in Lucid dreaming? If you eat something that you've never eaten before, will it just taste like what you think it tastes like? If you feel something that you've never felt will it feel like you think it is? And so on.

[yuppie11975]

Taste: Most likely not, or not exactly. They'll vary, say two people ate the same thing in a lucid, they'd taste different (obviously) Most of the time it relates to what it tastes like in real life, and a bit different. If you've never eaten it before, but it exists, it'll probably taste like what you think it will. If it's not real, it'll probably taste crazy, and be random Touch: Pretty realistic, again, comes down to expectation for objects you've never felt. Sound: Can't really explain.. just comes down to what your mind makes it. Sight: Whatever you see, again, no specifications in your question, so... And finally smell: Basically like taste. Hope this helps.

[Mancon]

I think it just depends on you. Everyone experiences things differently in dreams, but for the most part I think it would be how you expect it to be. For me, taste is just completely random. Everything else is very realistic in my dreams, and pretty much like real life.

[Graves]

Your senses work on what your sub-conscious has already stored in its database. If you've already experienced something, it will be as close to the real thing as your brain can produce. If you haven't experienced something, it will make an educated guess as to what it would be like.

[Choi]

Think about it this way: A dream is mostly built of memories, association and expectation. And a dream is just a vivid thought but in a subconscious focus. You can try to dream right now, but in a conscious focus and it's not gonna be vivid, because you are not in REM. But it's still a good way to get the hang of it. Close your eyes and try to see an apple infront of you (You can actually see it, but with your mind's eye this is because of memory, now try to see a colour you have never seen before, it's impossible because you don't have the memory of it) - This was the sensation of SIGHT Now imagine that you are playing soccer (With pracctise you can actually feel the ground as you run) - This was the sensations of TOUCH. Keep your eyes closed and try to hear the voice of someone you know (If you have enough memory you can actually decide what you want that person to say, you will not really hear it, but you can still remember how it sounds like) - This was HEARING The next time you eat smell the food, then back away from it and imagine the smell. Then taste it and do the same thing (These sensations are harder because we don't remember them as good as the other senses) - This was SMELL and TASTE. As you might have learned from this exercise, you are able to create sensations just from memory, association and expectation, when you are in REM-sleep these sensations will feel real. Although you are also aware of the subconscious and this will add a different feature. In the visualisation you controled everything you felt, in a dream you don't you are just a sailor on a see and the subconscious will surprise you and add things, which is good because then you don't have to consciously create everything. Hope that helped you understand

[Arch]

Again a great reply Choi, but Id like to stress that: This was the sensations of TOUCH. You know what it would feel like because that's memory, but don't get annoyed that you can't actually feel it, that was a misconception that I struggled with in the past. Apparently some people can actually feel and manage to get there bodies to simulate exactly how it feels, but I think that's a minority. I think I'm at the other end of the spectrum, I struggle to visualize anything, in waking life, but in dreams I love my imagination.

[Asherem]

This has made me realize I don't pay attention to any of my senses except for sight and touch. Sight I always focus on, because it is always looks beyond realistic while I'm dreaming. Yet, when I wake up, I remember it as looking a bit like a hazy drug trip. Touch is always important and extremely intense. The only other thing I guess I actually have noticed is sound...although nothing unusual has ever happened there. I'll have to pay attention to smell and taste next time!

[Stirred]

I tasted chocolate coated Mentos and some kind of M&M candy bar in my dream last night. They tasted very good, probably not much different from what the real thing would taste like. I'm hoping to see chocolate Mentos on the market soon.