Dr. Caroline Leaf - 5 Secret Steps to Clean Up Your Mental Mess

5 Secret Steps to Clean Up Your Mental Mess!!!   Dr. Caroline Leaf is a communication pathologist, a cognitive neuroscientist specializing in cognitive and metacognitive neuropsychology. She is also a best-selling author of many books and a podcast host.   During her years in clinical practice and her work with thousands of underprivileged teachers and students in her home country of South Africa and in the USA, she developed her theory of how we think, build memory and learn, creating practical guides and tools that have transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), learning disabilities (ADD, ADHD), autism, dementias, and mental ill-health issues like anxiety and depression. She has helped hundreds of thousands of students and adults learn how to use their mind to detox and grow their brain, helping them succeed in every area of their lives, including school, university and the workplace.   Today we discuss her work and how toxic thoughts actually can affect your brain and how to stop them. She shares the difference between the subconscious, conscious and non-conscious parts of the mind. We talk about why it takes 63 days to form new habits and how to improve your mood if you are feeling off. Dr. Leaf also shares the 5 secret steps that are scientifically proven to clean up your mental mess so that you can live with less stress, anxiety, and toxic thoughts.   Topics discussed:   What inspired Dr. Leaf to combine the therapeutic and neurological approach, to be able to help so many people?   Where toxic thoughts can lead people and what effects they can really have on people’s brains   The three parts of the mind (non-conscious, conscious, subconscious)   What can people do when they’re having toxic thoughts, feeling depressed, or feeling anxious   Dr. Leaf’s secret 5-step process to clean up your mental mess   The “63 days” explained   How would people go through the 5 steps to be able to begin to rewire their brain in a way that they could create new neural pathways and change the way they talk to themselves?   The importance of awareness   Dr. Leaf’s advice for people who are going through something, and wanting to change their state and get into a better mood Takeaways:   “I have chosen to look at not just the brain but at the mind.” - Dr. Leaf   Basically, the mind is how you think and feel and choose.   Your brain is not you, your brain is a respondent. You control your brain, your brain doesn't control you.   If you have depression or anxiety, it's not that you have a psychiatric brain disease.   Awareness brings physical, structural malleability, and mind malleability.   The conscious mind work of the five steps needs to be done daily, over 63 days.   It takes at least 63 days for the neuroplasticity to become sustainable, that you actually have a thought you can work from.   You don't ever stop thinking. Your mind never stops. You're always thinking, feeling, and choosing.   When you breathe out longer than you breathe in, that increases your decision-making capability.   You can't control the events and circumstances of life, but you can control your responses and your reactions. Connect with Dr. Leaf:   Website: https://drleaf.com/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drcarolineleaf/   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drleaf   Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrCarolineLeaf Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess Book:    https://www.amazon.com/Cleaning-Your-Mental-Mess-Scientifically/dp/0801093457   Connect with Doug:   Instagram: www.instagram.com/dougbopst   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dougbopst   Website: www.dougbopst.com/   Private Facebook Group:   https://www.facebook.com/groups/690686891674188 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices