Happy new beginnings to you and may we all continue to expand our consciousness, soften our edges, and find pockets of reflective, quiet stillness in our lives.

I thought it would be fun to keep things super light and simple as we move into a new month. I would like to shift into an energy of keep it simple wisdom.

Every month I will share with you ten offerings that you can apply to your life as you see fit, or perhaps recognize that you already are and celebrate that fact. I am going to keep it short and sweet so that you can expand upon these as is appropriate for your personal experience. Perhaps, within the ten, there will be one or two that resonates with you; or go for all ten if you wish!

As always, I love going deeper with you so please continue to share, reach out, ask questions, and let’s go diving into new ways of existing; inter-relating with other humans, shedding what no longer serves us, and simplifying our time left here on earth. I will be exploring all of these along with you and look forward to new ways of altering my attitude and leaning into ease, joy and peace.

‘The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.’
~William James

Shall we begin?

1. Don’t sweat the small stuff—Many people spend so much of their life energy ‘sweating the small stuff’ that they completely lose touch with the magic and beauty of life. When you commit to working toward this goal you will find that you will have far more energy to be kinder and gentler.

2. Make peace with imperfection—The practice is to catch yourself when you fall into a habit of insisting that things should be other than they are. Gently remind yourself that life is okay the way it is, right now. In the absence of your judgement, everything would be fine. As you begin to eliminate your need for perfection in all areas of your life, you’ll begin to discover the perfection in life itself.

3. Be aware of the snowball effect of your thinking—Notice what’s happening in your head before your thoughts have a chance to build any momentum. The sooner you catch yourself in the act of building your mental snowball, the easier it is to stop.

4. Develop your compassion—Compassion develops your sense of gratitude by taking your attention off all the little things that most of us have learned to take too seriously. When you take time, often, to reflect on the miracle of life—the miracle that you are even able to read this—the gift of sight, of love, and all the rest, it can help to remind you that many of the things that you think of as ‘big stuff’ are really just ‘small stuff’ that you are turning into big stuff.

5. Don’t interrupt others or finish their sentences—Once you begin to notice yourself interrupting others, you will see that this insidious tendency is nothing more than an innocent habit that has become invisible to you. This is good news because it means that all you really have to do is to begin catching yourself when you forget. Allow the other person to finish speaking before you take your turn. People will feel much more relaxed around you when they feel heard and listened to. You will also notice how much more relaxed you will feel when you stop interrupting others. Your heart and pulse rate will slow down, and you’ll begin to enjoy your conversations rather then rush through them.

6. Do something nice for someone else—and don’t tell anyone about it—Your rewards are the warm feelings that come from the act of giving. The next time you do something really nice for someone else, keep it to yourself and revel in the abundant joy of giving.

7. Let others have the glory—There is something magical that happens to the human spirit, a sense of calm that comes over you, when you cease needing all the attention directed toward yourself and instead allow others to have the glory. Ironically, when you surrender your need to hog the glory, the attention you used to need from other people is replaced by a quiet inner confidence that is derived from letting others have it.

8. Learn to live in the present moment—To a large degree, the measure of our peace of mind is determined by how much we are able to live in the present moment. Mark Twain said, ‘I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.’ Practice keeping your attention on the here and now. Your efforts will pay great dividends.

9. Imagine that everyone is enlightened except you—This strategy allows you to view all the people you meet as being here to teach you something. Your job is to try to determine what the people in your life are here to teach you. You’ll find that if you do this, you’ll be far less annoyed, bothered, and frustrated by the actions and (perceived) imperfections of other people. Instead of ‘Why are they doing this?’ it softens into ‘What are they trying to tech me?’ Take a look around today at all the enlightened people.

10. Let others be ‘right’ most of the time—A wonderful, heartfelt strategy for becoming more peaceful and loving is to practice allowing others the joy of being right—give them the glory. Stop correcting. As hard as it may be to change this habit, it’s worth any effort and practice it takes. When someone says, ‘I really feel it’s important to…’ rather than jumping in and saying, ‘no, it’s more important to…’ or any of the hundreds of other forms of conversational editing, simply let it go and allow their statement to stand. The people in your life will become less defensive and more loving. They will appreciate you more than you could ever have dreamed possible, even if they don’t exactly know why. You’ll discover the joy of participating in and witnessing other people’s happiness, which is far more rewarding than a battle of egos. You don’t have to sacrifice your deepest philosophical truths or your most heartfelt opinions, but, starting today, let others be ‘right,’, most of the time.

Have fun playing with these and I look forward to seeing you in class soon.

I am also including a new recipe I am working with. What I love about it is that there is zero added sugar, simply the sweetness of organic, ripe bananas.

Dove’s Yummy Banana Bread
Makes 2 loaves
Ingredients
• 6 very ripe bananas medium-large
• 2/3 cup melted coconut oil (melt first, then measure)
• 2 eggs (or flax egg)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups oat flour (make your own in spice/coffee grinder)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease two loaf pans with coconut
butter.
2. In a large bowl mash bananas with a fork until they form a slightly
chunky banana paste.
3. Add melted coconut oil and incorporate. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
4. In a separate, medium-sized bowl combine oat flour, cinnamon,
baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Whisk together until
completely combined.
5. Add the dry ingredients about 1/3 at a time, mixing until barely
combined each time. After all of the dry ingredients have been added
fold in the nuts.
6. Scrape batter into prepared loaf pans and bake in 350 degree oven for
45-50 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean when inserted into
center of loaf. Turn out onto a cooling rack and cool completely
before cutting, lest you run the risk of an extra-crumbly bread.
7. Enjoy!
I like to slice a thick piece and put in toaster with a delicious cup of herbal
tea or some warm homemade nut milk.