Can you smell things in your dreams?

[crow-queen]

I discovered recently that it is not very common to be able to smell things in dreams, but I often have dreams where I can smell things. As well as this, I have noticed that dreams generally have a smell, and sometimes when I'm really tired, I can smell the dream smell, which is part of how I recognise how sleepy I am.
 
I was wondering if anyone else here has had dreams where they have been able to smell things? And if so, what sort of things have you smelled in your dreams?

[ThunderPerfectWitchcraft]

I remember that I had dreams where I smelled things and actually even some where I felt pain/sensations (both sometimes tricked me into believing that the dream was reality); however, the level of detail wildly varies for me.

[schiavona]

I'm honestly a little surprised that being able to smell things in your dreams isn't something that happens more commonly. I don't exactly have a frame of reference for that myself as I've never had a sense of smell and so have never actually smelled anything in my dreams, but I guess it checks out from what I've seen. A couple of communities I'm in share their dreams sometimes and  I don't think any of them have mentioned any kind of smell in the ones they've reported. I'm gonna be thinking about this one for a while.

[wris]

I had no idea that was a thing people could do!

Seems like it'd backfire way more often than it'd pay off.

[Melooon]

Come to think of it I dont think I ever have  But its definitely something I'll try to remember in the future.

[wygolvillage]

I don't think I ever have, but I do remember tasting things in my dreams? How odd

[CaffeinatedElf]

I don't recall ever being to smell something in a dream, but I've felt weightless before and it was pretty cool

[itspencilz]

I can recall feeling things and tasting things in my dreams but never smelling things.

Experiencing senses you aren't actually experiencing is... a weird experience!

[Melooon]

Experiencing senses you aren't actually experiencing is... a weird experience

I always find this amusing; sometimes you'll have dreams where a situation occurs that you have no realistic experience or context for, so your brain just makes something up. I remember having a flying dream and my brain was like "Hmmm what should flying in the upper stratosphere feel like, I know, it will feel like standing outside on a summer's day with a mild breeze".

It's quite interesting since it suggests that if you put people in situations that they truly have no context for, you can essentially give them any sensory or emotional input and they will accept it! That almost certainly applies to games and websites too.

[crow-queen]

Seems like it'd backfire way more often than it'd pay off.

I would say that usually when I smell something that should smell bad in a dream, it smells nowhere near as bad as it would smell in real life, it is like a dream approximation of something that smells bad. The same with taste. However, I do occasionally feel pain in my dreams, and generally that feels just as bad as in real life.

[grubbyfox]

I dont always smell everything in dreams, but in some where the point is about a smell, then yeah.

Like, I had a dream about a random room in the basement that I had forgotten about, and it had a very distinct smell that I remembered when I woke up.

Or if I dream about something random like I got a new perfume and I'm like "it smells of pancakes" and then I'll be smelling it in my dreams.

But most dreams are thankfully odourless, lol

[Misanthropic Monster™]

I can definitely smell things in my dreams... one smell I tend to find occurs a lot (and it's really strong and unpleasant) is a sort of gasleak smell which always makes me feel dizzy in the dream and faint.

I can also smell food and taste it etc.

Then again I've read you can't read in your dreams or look at your cell phone and I can do both of those. Infact a lot of my dreams are of me reading something bad about me online ha or talking to someone in text chat and stuff.

[Icey!]

Feeling things in a dream is one thing but SMELLING THEM?!?!??!?!?

That would be a very interesting experience to have, I did not know that was possible! :O

[Misanthropic Monster™]

It's definitely not something I always notice or I'd say happens a lot, but I definitely have dreams where scents and smells are present! It's really weird to consider that your brain can simulate so much when you're dreaming - sensations, pain, tastes, visions, sounds.... makes you wonder if anything is actually real or if we're not all just biological meat with all these 'dreams' powering us as we just exist in space.