I got an unusual present for Mother’s Day.  The miracle was not intended for me, and was not really a present.  But I accepted it as one.  It was my hundredth monkey moment.

There is an account of scientists studying monkeys in Japan.  They observed some monkeys learning a new skill of washing sweet potatoes and teaching other monkeys in the area to do the same.  But the surprising observation was that once a critical number of monkeys learned this new skill, i.e the hundredth monkey, the new behavior showed up in monkeys in other islands.

I have seen this effect at work with humans, and I am sure you have too.  New ideas and practices reach a critical mass and begin to spread almost inexplicably where previously they were considered strange or even unknown.

Mother’s Day was a magical hundredth monkey moment for me.  About six years ago a few of us in my neighborhood started a healthy eating group.  We got together monthly, shared what we had researched and discovered, and talked about new kitchen experiments that succeeded and others that had failed.  Learning from each other accelerated our progress. We also gained support and encouragement as we worked to change our bad habits and as we found ourselves fighting against negative peer pressure, even within our own families.

It didn’t take long before we were named the “fanatical food group” at church.  (A church with dietary guidelines that matched what we were trying to do!)  But nevertheless, we found ourselves up against a wall of culture.  So we simply went on our way, shared where we could, and loved what we learned.  That group was, in a way, what planted the seeds for the idea of Simply Divine Eating.

So fast forward six years and I witnessed a monkey miracle!  Our church group has a tradition of chocolates on Mother’s Day.  This year one of my brave food group friends suggested we make homemade chocolates for everyone to replace the junk-filled kind.  This same group of amazing friends who had been openly mocked six years ago, filled that room with beautiful chocolate dipped strawberries, almond joys, peanut butter cups, and chocolate dipped macadamia nuts.  And this time…no nicknames, no mocking, just a room full of a hundred women eating 4 Cornerstone chocolates and who thanked us for our hard work.  I was playing the piano while they ate and had to work not to cry!  It was a very visual payoff day in a big way.

The chocolates are not the biggest change in our neighborhood.  I watch people come to those same previously criticized friends for advice with their health challenges and for cooking tips and recipes.  Not everyone is ready to change their ways, but the perspective has shifted and most people recognize that health comes from clean, good food.  It isn’t fanatical anymore.  And here is how we want to help you do the same thing in your area.

We have created a new Simply Divine Eating resource: local support groups!  You can sponsor a group, gather your friends, and all of you can take the Simply Divine Eating classes together at a substantial discount (and even free for the sponsor).  That way you all get the benefits we experienced in our original food group: accelerated learning, emotional support, shared ideas and recipes, and the power to change the dynamics of your entire community!  Click here for more information and to get one started in your own community.

When any of us work to change how we eat, we are up against some serious culture and family quicksand that tries to pull us back towards the status quo.  But we push onward toward positive change!  Because every time you eat in the way that honors your body, you not only change your own body, you send out a power that is shifting the planet.  You are powerful in ways you can’t even imagine.  Mothers’ Day was proof.  And you might just be the hundredth monkey that changes the world.

Angie