Hey everybody, I had this really cool feeling last night when I was changing dream scenery, and was just wondering if anyone else has ever felt this sensation, or am I alone? 
[color=blue] I am in supermarket with my friend Pete. In the corner of my eye I spot another friend, Stephanie, talking to Pete in one of the aisles. I run up and sneak up behind her. I grab her from behind and lift her up at the waist and exclaim “do you miss me?” she clearly doesn’t. 
I put her down awkwardly, and she continues to talk to Pete, like she wishes I wasn’t there. I ask her what’s wrong, because she’s usually nice to me. Stephanie tells me that since it’s my dream, I’m going to annoy her by changing things. Suddenly I realize that I’m dreaming. 
I chuckle to myself because this is the first time a DC has alerted me to the fact that I am dreaming. 
I tell her that I won’t bug her anymore, and instead go outside alone. I see a lamppost that looks like one of those short 19th century ones you see in London that have complex designs made of wrought iron. I feel like in this lucid dream, it will be my mission to make this lamppost shrink. 
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Normally in a lucid dream, I have this problem of getting something to change. usually i try to either consciously will it (not fully realizing I’m dreaming and have full control), or resort to shouting at it to change, but this is rarely successful. For me, changing things this way always feels like I am fighting something in my head and the more I fight, the greater challenge it is to move. 
[color=blue]I want this lamppost to basically vertically collapse into itself, and then expand just like a slide whistle. I try everything I can think of, going as far as to stick my hand out like I’ve got Jedi powers and move it. But I start to get this inkling that I have to change my whole belief system if I want to change it (much like “neo” the hero of the matrix had too, before he became the one. 
By this method, after some considerable effort, I finally get the lamppost to move up and down, just like a sword coming out of a sheath. But by this time, I’m feeling an odd sensation. It’s in the back of my head on the right hand side, and it feels like I’m flexing a “mental muscle” in the back of my brain, that I’ve never used before! I couldn’t believe the answer was so simple. I instantly thought of that scene in “The Matrix” when neo is bending the spoon with his mind. Whenever I felt this feeling in the back of my head the lamppost moved smoothly and effortlessly.[/color]
so here my question, has anyone else ever felt this mental muscle when changing dream scenery? if anyone hasn’t, try in one of your dreams tonight to move something differently, just by thinking about it differently.
