Thread: Sense of Smell in Dreams

Recently I had a barely lucid dream where I was walking out my door, and I saw a green dumpster in the middle of the street. It had a white lid, which was open, and I walked over to it. It oddly changed size when I walked over to it, shrinking from the normal size that would be over my head, to so I could see into it standing normally. I leaned over it, and looked inside of it, and I saw a box, and other things you'd expect in a dumpster.. But, then, there was this green.... liquid.. stuff, that had an immensely strong odor that caused me to quickly jump away from the dumpster and gag, nearly throwing up. o0;
I find it weird that I hardly ever have a sense of smell in dreams, and then that randomly was that stong, without me really thinking that it SHOULD smell. xD
Has anyone ever had something that was that odorous in a dream, that it made them gag or something like that? I'm wondering how I could get my dreams to use my sense of smell more often, 'cause that'd be cool randomly going around and smelling things, though mayhaps not around garbage :B.

I don’t see why smell should be any less of a sensation then touch or hearing. I suspect that when a dog dreams, smell is probably predominant over other senses seeing how they smell everything they can.

I know what you mean Remus

Just last night I dreamt that I tasted this stuff and it was really really sweet, and it's the first time I recall having a vivid sense of taste in a dream.

I was just thinking about all 5 senses now:

1. sight: I can almost always see in my dreams
2. sound: I can usually hear as well
3. touch: definitely
4. smell: I can remember a few times smelling cookies and doughnuts
5. taste: just this one time that I remember

So for me, I'd definitely say that taste and smell don't happen for me very often in dreams. Wonder why that is?

Paint doesn't taste cool in dreams, nor does bad tap-watter : )

Sometimes my dreams are so vivid that I utilize most or all of my senses. I always dream in color, and I've had countless dreams where I can feel pain or other sensations. I've also smelled certain things (like wildflowers) in my dreams. It's great when this happens because it brings so much realism to the dream, which is especially enjoyable if you're lucid.

Originally posted by OpheliaBlue
So for me, I'd definitely say that taste and smell don't happen for me very often in dreams. Wonder why that is?

I would guess it's because we use taste and smell much less in real life than we do vision, hearing, and touch. When you're awake, your brain experiences almost constant visual input, usually at least a small amount of auditory input, and almost always tactile input. But smell is only present when you either actively smell something, or are in a place with a strong scent. And of course, taste only happens when you put something in your mouth. So your brain is used to continual visual, auditory, and tactile input, so that's what goes into your dreams.

that makes sense kage

I wonder what would happen if I tried to like, smell 100 more things a day, would I increase my sense of smell in dreams for example

just a thought

Originally posted by OpheliaBlue
I wonder what would happen if I tried to like, smell 100 more things a day, would I increase my sense of smell in dreams for example

just a thought

hahaha! well, it couldn't hurt your sense of smell in dreams, i would think. i'm sure InTheMoment can provide you a list of recommended things to smell . . .

Yep, that does make sense - also think of how much easier it is to have a stimulus available for each of the senses.

For example:
To see things we only need to have light available (pretty easy to accomplish).
To hear there needs to be something making a sound (can happen, but not as easily as light).
To touch there needs to be something not only to touch, but it needs to be within our reach to touch it (a bit less likely to occur), etc etc.

Taste is the most unlikely to occur for there has to first be something to taste, then it needs to be within reach, then small enough (or big enough for some!) to fit in our mouths, and finally interesting enough for us to want to taste it!

Originally posted by sexOpheliac
I wonder what would happen if I tried to like, smell 100 more things a day, would I increase my sense of smell in dreams for example

Not sure, but I got quite a plethora of things for you to try should you want to include me in your taste test

Originally posted by Tornado Joe
Not sure, but I got quite of plethora of things for you to try should you want to include me in your tatste test

I shall properly conduct such a test in my next LD then

(repetition may be required to yield accurate results)

Great topic b/c ive often wondered about others sense of smell in dreams.
A few weeks ago i had this dream where i was in this really old cellar/basement and the 1st thing i noticed there was the smell...like wet dirt after rain is the best way to describe it. It was an overpowering smell, but one that i happened to like...i guess maybe b/c i like to play in the dirt (gardening)
Another dream that i remember well from a good while back was one where i could smell frito corn chips thru out the whole dream...even when i woke up i could still them...it was really weird.
other times i have been able to smell mens cologne...that happend on more than one occassion.
anyhow- i think im going to try smelling "100 different things" today just to see if that would work--its a good idea

heyy i thought this was a cool page so i signed up just to comment. but really ive been having these weird dreams too.
were my sense of smell and touch were so real i thought they where still there when i woke up!
it was like.....i dunno how to describe it very well. normally it'd be like i SEE something and that triggers my sense to want to touch/ smell it.
but instead i smelled it so strongly first. that it seemed i believed i could see it secondly. then i woke up and the fabric smell was so lingering i thought it was still there.

Oo i just had a dream and i was around some rundown place in a park and something smell bad and i actually hold my breath without realizing it (wanst lucid) cuz it smelled too bad lol.

Yesterday, I was talking to someone about Lucid Dreams and mentioned how I never had the sense of smell. So, this morning I had a lucid dream (DILD) and made myself smell things. I did smell some flowers! The smell was weak, but it was there. Then I was able to smell strawberries by thinking about them. The sense of sight, sound, and touch are the strongest, but I'm able to smell too... But again, the sense of smell is the weakest sense, it seems.

i had some extreme experiences with smell in dreams, never had them before. they started when i experienced smell in waking live. and until now my nense of smell does somewhat increase... but i tell you, we live, especially in the city, with ugly smellscapes.... people stink, streets stink, the thing they call food stinks..... i think we ignore the small sense until we do not get i consciously... but there are some experiences which work as a triger, and then the door is open and i tell you, i still need to adjust myself to the new situation of sensing odor.....