It's the Little Things That Make a Big Difference

There was a new furniture store in town that sounded interesting - rooms of furniture ready to go. I drove by the brightly colored building many times and finally had a few minutes one day to peek my head inside and see what the fuss was all about. An interesting table with bar high cushy chairs in a chocolate black color caught my attention (when doesn't chocolate anything catch my attention?). It was unusual because of the shape of the table - a rounded triangle. The bench seat on one side reminded me of the bench we had at our kitchen table when I was a kid. It was difficult to get eight kids around a table without a bench on one side. I loved to lay down on that bench after dinner, sometimes resting, sometimes just avoiding the inevitable homework. I didn't really need a new dining room table, so I put a picture of it in my head for future reference. We've been redoing some rooms in the house, replacing a few things, and it came time to redo the dining room. I went back to the store to search for that perfect table that I came across so long ago - and was delighted to find it was still available. It is so perfect for my husband's poker nights and our frequent game nights at the house. In preparation for its delivery, we moved some furniture in the dining room. The china cabinet, weighted down with years of collecting wine glasses and wine to fill them, hadn't been moved in an embarassing number of years. We simply moved it one wall over (ok - I admit - not simply - it had to be emptied first, and strong neighbor boys had to be commisioned to come over and move it - which was easily accomplished with promises of baked goods) and the whole room opened up. It was amazing how a simple thing made such a huge difference. You can walk through the room without running into a table or chair - positive Feng Shui.

In yoga I move about the room during class, gently making adjustments to student's poses. It doesn't take much for them to feel a big difference. I give them modifications and ways to make a start with a complicated pose. I try to remember names, and try to get around the room and make eye contact, a positive comment or a light touch to everyone. It's the little things that make a big difference.