What's Your Dream Mode? A Guide to Non-Visual Dreaming and Aphantasia
Did you know that dreams can be experienced without any imagery at all? Though it’s not widely talked about, there are a variety of dream modes beyond those visually-based from tactile and proprioceptive dreams to olfactory, gustatory, or even entirely through the sense-of-knowing.
While we don’t know exactly what causes different dreaming modes, some individuals may be impacted by aphantasia, the inability to visualize. If you’re a self-described non-dreamer or don’t experience imagery in your dreams, this article is definitely for you!
What is Aphantasia?
Aphantasia is a neurological condition where the brain, "... doesn't form or use mental images as part of your thinking or imagination."
About 1-4% of the world’s population have aphantasia and while it’s not considered a disorder, aphantasia can affect almost every area of an individual’s life from learning to memory recall and even dreaming. However, aphantasics themselves experience different levels of imagery from complete aphantasia (zero ability to visualize or dream with imagery) to partial aphantasia (some visuals appear but may be muted).
Interestingly, some individuals can dream with imagery though recalling the content can be a challenge:
“Many aphantasics report fewer and less sensory-rich dreams according to one study. However, there are some of us who experience a variety of imagery in dreams, ranging from full-color, moving images to stills in black and white. This is despite our inability to visualize while awake. Dream experiences are unique for everyone, whether you have aphantasia or not.” (Aphantasia Network)
However, regardless of one’s level of visualization in the dream space, all dreams have some content and that content can be recorded and interpreted just like any other dream! Below, we’ll explore the different types of dream modes which are each paired with a dream example (and it’s interpretation at the end of this article).
To find out if you have aphantasia (or hyperphantasia, the ability to experience movie-like visuals), here’s a series of quizzes from the Aphantasia Network.
Different Dream Modes
A dream mode describes the channel through which you experience dreams. While most people are visually-dominant dreamers who recall their dreams by describing different image or scenes, it is possible to dream without any imagery at all.
As a dream and nightmare interpreter, I’ve encountered several individuals who experience dreams without visuals. Our conversations usually begin with the individual stating that they do not dream or can’t recall their dreams but through questioning have realized they do dream—just not in the way most people describe.
Different dream modes include visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, gustatory, proprioceptive, sense-of-knowing, emotional, and any of those modes in combination.
Non-visual dreams absolutely “still count,” as I’ve been asked before. Not only do they still count but they can be interpreted just like any imagery-based dream! As a helpful tool, you’ll find example dreams for each mode below with an interpretation at the end of this section.
Visual Dream Mode
This dream mode is the most common. It relies on the ability to visualize and is experienced through images, scenes, or even the perception of living through events in a movie-like scenario.
Example Dream:I walked down into the basement and saw an old episode of the kid’s show Scooby-Doo playing on the TV. It was right at the part where they were unmasking the bad guy.
As an exceptionally vivid dreamer, visual aspects always accompany my dreams. However, visuals are sometimes missing from my out-of-body experiences and it’s almost like I have to re-learn how to use my eyesight. I’m not sure why this is but it’s interesting to note.
Auditory Dream Mode
This dream mode is experienced entirely through the perception of sound. It can include verbal language, nature sounds, background noise, etc.
Example Dream:I heard my footsteps descending creaky stairs that remind me of our basement. Suddenly the unmistakable voice of Scooby-Doo cut through the air, “Ruh Roh!” The gang unmasked the bad guy and he shouted, “you meddling kids!”
Auditory dream aspects are most prominent for me personally when I’m about to have an out-of-body experience. Sometimes I’ll hear a loud noise before I enter the out-of-body space, like a rolling suitcase being dragged over rough concrete or the sound your car makes when driving over rumble strips.
Olfactory Dream Mode
This dream mode is experienced entirely through the perception of smell. It can include distinctive smells (i.e. cinnamon, oranges, roses) or nostalgic smells (grandma’s house, that one vacation at the beach).
Example Dream:The air smelled slightly damp with a hint of that juniper candle on the table in our basement. Suddenly, I smelled popcorn and dog hair which reminded me of the days I’d watch Scooby-Doo in the living room of my childhood home—I always loved the parts where they unmasked the bad guy.
Olfactory dream aspects are most prominent for me personally when old relatives or ancestors visit me in dreams. They’re often accompanied by the smell of cigars or cigarettes.
Tactile Dream Mode
This dream mode is experienced entirely through the perception of touch. It includes individual items or spaces a part of our body might touch, as well as nostalgic textures and items.
Example Dream:I felt the short, carpeted stairs leading down to the basement under my feet. I crossed the room and sat down on the cool, leather couch. However, this wasn’t my current couch, it had the woven, slightly-frayed texture of the couch in my childhood home—the one I used to love watching Scooby-Doo on.
Tactile dream aspects are most prominent for me personally when traveling through solid structures during out-of-body experiences. I often feel the atoms of my soul body moving through the empty spaces between the atoms that make up the ceiling and the roof of my home.
Gustatory Dream Mode
This dream mode is experienced entirely through the perception of taste. It includes the tastes of food but also of items and even the air around us (taste is very closely tied to smell).
Example Dream:I tasted the teriyaki udon we had for dinner but the taste transitioned to the slightly moist air that frequents our basement. Suddenly, I tasted extra buttery popcorn and fruit gushers which I used to eat while watching Scooby-Doo as a kid.
I rarely experience dreams with the sense of taste. After searching through my current dream journal which goes back to 2019 (I type my dreams out and copy them into a Word document for the searchable aspect), I only have two mentions of taste: one in which I tasted homemade butter and another where someone was describing a taste to me in a dream but I never actually tasted it.
Proprioceptive Dream Mode
This dream mode is experienced entirely through the ability to know exactly where your body is in space (including movement) without visual stimulus. It includes the feeling of movement (like falling or driving in a car), knowing where you currently are based on where you have been, and paying attention to how you move.
Example Dream:My feet traveled as if they were walking down stairs and, because my feet traveled more steeply than typical stairs, I assumed I was in the basement. I felt my legs squat down and my body leaned back to rest. Suddenly, I was reminded of the distance I used to sit from the TV in my childhood living room—I always sat closer when I was watching Scooby-Doo.
I almost always experience proprioception in my out-of-body experiences which often plunge me down into the Earth Tube System or up into outer space. I feel a lot of falling sensations or like I’m on a rollercoaster.
Sense-of-Knowing Dream Mode
Sometimes we just know things. This could be your inner sense of knowing, having a gut feeling about something, or waking up and thinking you dreamed about a particular thing without having any recollection of imagery or other engagement of the physical senses.
Example Dream:I woke from a dream and immediately got the feeling that I had been down in the basement watching an old episode of Scooby-Doo. Though I have no recollection of experiencing the dream, it feels as if the memory of it lies somewhere within me. I get the sense that they were just about to unmask the bad guy.
I almost always experience the sense-of-knowing in my dreams and out-of-body experiences. There’s a lot of information that I simply know without needing to experience directly. Personally, I think this is an incredibly efficient way to dream, allowing the dreamer to recall or remember more about a dream without having to process extra information (like the images, sounds, etc.).
Emotional Dream Mode
Our emotions shape our reality. The way you feel about some things could be completely different from the way I feel about those same things! We're emotional beings and that depth of emotion translates into the dream space.
While I would say that almost every dream has an element of emotion somewhere within it, there are individuals out there who only dream with emotion.
I met one of these individuals at a fair I was vending several years ago. She argued with her friend that she never remembers her dreams but as soon as we started talking I realized she was, in fact, recalling her dreams. They were just based entirely in emotion!
Example Dream: The woman at the fair would describe feeling a particular emotion and then mention a specific person like, "I felt this grief in the dream and it made me think of the grief I had when my dad passed. Then I felt this incredible love and I just knew he was with me in the dream."
There was more to it but we determined this dream was a visitation that was entirely communicated through emotion.
Combination Dream Mode
Most often, people dream with a combination of dream modes. Like a well-written story, the more modes you experience in a dream, the more immersive detail you’ll have to shape the narrative later, and the better you’ll be able to interpret the dream.
Example Dream: I heard my footsteps descending creaky stairs and the distinctive scent of damp air mixed with a juniper candle tickled my nose—I knew I was in our basement. I crossed the room and sat down on the cool, leather couch. Suddenly, I tasted extra buttery popcorn and fruit gushers which I used to eat while watching Scooby-Doo as a kid. I looked up at the TV and saw an episode playing! I felt my body shift across the room to be closer to the TV, as if I were brought back to those childhood moments when I’d sit closer than I should. Though I don’t remember how the dream ended, I have the sense-of-knowing that they were just about to unmask the bad-guy and while I felt afraid, I also felt ready…
The more modes with which you can dream, the more helpful content you can get which aids in dream analysis and interpretation.
The Example Dream’s Interpretation
To show how this works in practice, here's a real example from my own dreamwork. Note that each dream element in the list below can be pulled from each of the modes, the visual of these items is not necessary to list it out as a dream element.
The List
Stairs: Represents movement or travel to a different space on a different level.
Basement: Often signifies our mental “basement,” a place of storage or the subconscious mind where we keep deep emotions or hidden memories.
Couch: Somewhere to sit for relaxation or rest, can also signal receptivity.
TV: Often a dream tool for reflection. TVs can “play out” a part of our lives for in-depth external review.
Scooby-Doo unmasking scene: Finding out who the “bad guy” is. Also a signifier of the time of my life when the “bad guy” existed—childhood.
The Weave
When I originally had this dream I had weekly sessions with a psychological therapist where we worked on some childhood trauma I had experienced.
This dream walks me through the mental process of descending into the deep recesses of my mind to look at old memories. I’m no longer trying to hide from these memories so I sit on the couch because I’m receptive to the experience. The TV helps me to view this from a different perspective. By using other pieces of imagery from the time period of my childhood (Scooby-Doo), I can more accurately identify the “when” of my trauma which leads me in the direction of the “bad guy’s” unmasking.
The Wisdom
At the time in my life I had this dream, I was actively digging into my memory to try and identify the individual who caused me harm. In my waking life, I had shoved the knowledge of who this was in the deepest parts of my subconscious basement but now it was safe to see who it was as I had all of the support I needed in my waking life. The dream itself helps me to identify the time and even the specific show helped because I only watched Scooby-Doo either at home or at another person’s house—the person who harmed me. After waking, I was able to sit with the dream and use its wisdom to unearth the old memory.
Click here to learn more about How to Interpret Your Own Dreams.
The Dream Key
Each dream mode can hold vital information to the understanding and interpretation of a dream. However, everyone has access to emotion—the key to dreamwork.
The emotion you feel in a dream will always be the most important factor of any dream interpretation or analysis.
We each experience the world from our own perspective. Each individual has a completely unique combination of life experiences, cultural lessons, and context and all of this is filtered through an emotional channel. Our emotions—the way we feel about the things we experience—is the true identifier of our lives and it’s no different for dreams.
I encourage you to explore as many dream modes as possible in your dreamwork practice, recalling details from each of these senses if you’re able. The more detail you can recall, the more you can tap into the emotion of your dream, the more easily you will be able to interpret and understand the wisdom within your dreams.
