When I was growing up , I loved changing my room around. I’d spend hours organizing, rearranging furniture and then relished sitting in my new room, with a fresh perspective on how the same furniture looked and how organized everything was.

I recently did the same thing in my current living space, after having not made any changes for the six years that I’ve lived there. There was the fresh perspective provided by someone near and dear to my heart and while my first instinct was to try to hold on to the way I had things arranged, once I opened my mind to new possibilities, I ended up loving the way the new arrangement looks.

I now feel like I have a new living room. I love sitting in it, love watching TV and relaxing in my new space. I thought of this last night as I was on a quick 5 mile tempo run. Being open to new possibilities and ways of thinking is the only way. Life is constantly changing and when we can’t learn to be comfortable with change, we only pigeon-hole ourselves into our way and cut ourselves off from other ideas.

Training can be like that as well. We all have our training routines, be it a yoga practice or a favorite run we do…a favorite sneaker we wear or even placing our yoga mat in the same spot every time we go to class. I am one of those students; I like the regularity of being in the same spot in the studio. But I really try when I go to class to move to another place. If for no other reason than to remind myself that things are not stable, that being comfortable with change is so important to living a healthy, happy life.

The next time you’re in your own living space, take a look and see if there’s a new way you can shift some of the furniture. You’d be surprised at the impact it has.

Peace.