Podcasts about scientifically proven steps

The recovery process often feels nebulous and unclear. Of course, we want to heal from trauma, but how do we do so?Elliott's recently been inspired by Dr. Caroline Leaf's book, Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess:  5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking. He immediately began introducing Dr. Leaf's steps to his clients—many of whom are working through trauma.We've invited Dr. Leaf to appear on the podcast and we certainly hope we'll be able to interview her soon.In the meantime, please join us to hear about Dr. Leaf's 5 steps and how Elliott integrates them into his sessions with individuals and couples. Sponsor:The Wellness CompanyWebsite: ⁠https://www.twc.health/lovelife⁠Code: LOVELIFE for 15% off your order!Dr. Karin & Pastor Elliott AndersonWebsite: http://loveandlifemedia.com/Empowered Dating Playbook: smarturl.it/EmpoweredDatingBookInstagram: @dr.karin | @pastorelliottanderson

I am so pleased to have Dr. Caroline Leaf on the show today to impart knowledge from her 30-year career as an applied neuroscientist. I originally intended to do a career retrospective on Dr. Leaf's many books, but quickly realized that if I did that, this would become an hours and hours long episode. So I decided to choose one of her books, Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking, to zoom in on for our conversation today—but I highly recommend all of her books. In this book (and in this conversation), she teaches us what mental mess is, how to practice mind management, what neuroplasticity is, and about the neurocycle, which she formulated. The neurocycle has, amazingly, statistically reduced depression and anxiety by a staggering 81 percent! I guarantee you'll learn something in this episode, and for this episode in particular, I'd recommend listening when you can really absorb what Dr. Leaf is saying. Some episodes on the show are light and frothy and can be listened to while multitasking; I'd say this episode is not one of those. To get maximum impact from what Dr. Leaf is teaching us, set aside some time for yourself to truly take all of this in, because you know what? You deserve it. Dr. Leaf is also a podcaster, and in addition to her own show, “Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess,” she is an extremely frequent guest on other podcasts. That's actually how I found Dr. Leaf—from hearing her on other podcasts and then discovering her work. She has spent three decades researching the mind-brain connection, the nature of mental health, and the formation of memory, and her work centers around helping people learn how to use their mind to detox and grow their brain to succeed in every area of their lives—talk about work that truly matters!   Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking by Dr. Caroline Leaf A link to all of Dr. Leaf's books

"5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking"

In this episode of the Ancient Health Podcast, the hosts welcome Dr. Caroline Leaf, a renowned expert on the mind-brain connection. Dr. Leaf discusses her latest book, "How to Help Your Child Clean Up Their Mental Mess," and the importance of understanding the power of the mind in shaping our behaviors and mental well-being. Whether you're a parent or not, this conversation offers valuable insights into the complexity of the brain and how it impacts our lives. Tune in to gain practical tips for enhancing mental health for both children and adults. Other Topics Discussed: 03:22 Mind and brain are separate. 04:46 Mind and brain are interconnected. 13:31 Crisis in children's mental health. 14:20 Mental health crisis linked to disregard of mind. 19:14. Depression is an informational signal. 25:14. Manage your mind, change society. 28:19 Emotions and behaviors are linked. 34:56 Mind management is a lifelong lifestyle. 37:17 Teaching self-regulation is essential. 43:00 Practical tips for teaching children. 46:57 Promoting mental health in schools. 50:45 Clean up your mental mess. Get $200 OFF a Coldture cold immersion tub (Coldture.com) with code AXE. Follow Dr. Leaf on Instagram! @drcarolineleaf Dr. Leaf's Podcast: Listen to Cleaning up the Mental Mess Podcast Dr. Leaf's Books: How to Help Your Child Clean Up Their Mental Mess: A Guide to Building Resilience and Managing Mental Health Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking Follow @healthinstitute on Instagram!  Join Our Newsletter! 

Episode Highlights With Dr. LeafThe problem with how we take care of depression, anxiety, and mental healthHow the mind can influence the brain and vice versaWhy the brain isn't the cause, it is the responder, and why this reductionist approach has been a disservice to those who struggle with mental healthThe problem with labeling conditions based on just looking at the brain and a better approachWhat mind management is and how to help our kids have a good foundation of thisThe neurocycle as a tool to help kids work through strugglesHow suppression creates imbalances in the brain and the bodyThe most important thing we can do for our child's mental health (hint: it starts with the parents)How to model mental health skills to our childrenThe neurocycle approach to helping children become aware of and process things that happen to them and their interpretation of these eventsWhy children can interpret body language so well and how to manage our own minds in a way that helps themHow to model the neurocycle for your kids and make it part of your family cultureYou can't make your children happy and you can't fix themSafety net parenting vs. helicopter parenting Most kids are only getting 7-10 minutes a day of free play, but they need 3-4 hours optimallyWhy to let your child be upset and cry when they are experiencing big emotionsHow giving your child space to struggle will help them work through their feelings safely and shape their own identityYou can't change what has happened to you but you can change what it looks like inside of youYou can't change what has happened to you but you can change what it looks like inside of you - Dr Caroline LeafResources We MentionHow to Help Your Child Clean Up Their Mental Mess: A Guide to Building Resilience and Managing Mental Health by Dr. Caroline LeafCleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking by Dr. Caroline LeafSwitch on Your Brain: The Key to Peak Happiness, Thinking, and Health by Dr. Caroline LeafCaroline Leaf - websiteThe Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

On Today's EPISODE #299 we will cover:  ✔ A Deep Dive into Dr. Carolyn Leaf's 5 Scientifically Proven Steps to Clean Up Our Mental Mess, So We Can Help Ourselves, Others and Our Children (Preparing for Dr. Leaf's NEW Book Coming Out August 8th).  ✔ What to Expect in the 63 Day Neurocycle (from her APP) from Andrea's Experience of Breaking Down Her Own Toxic Thoughts. ✔ How This Scientifically Proven Process Breaks Down a Toxic Thought, and Reconceptualizes It into Something Healthy and Manageable. ✔ An Overview of the 5 Steps You Will Use to Manage Your Mind. ✔ What Tools and Strategies Stanford Professor Dr. Andrew Huberman suggests for improving anxiety and stress in our lives. ✔ Andrea's Thoughts on implementing these strategies for improved mental and physical health, with tools to create balance on a daily basis. Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (that's finally being taught in our schools today) and emotional intelligence training (used in our modern workplaces) for improved well-being, achievement, productivity and results—using what I saw as the missing link (since we weren't taught this when we were growing up in school), the application of practical neuroscience. I'm Andrea Samadi, an author, and an educator with a passion for learning and launched this podcast 5 years ago with the goal of bringing ALL the leading experts together (in one place) to uncover the most current research that would back up how the brain learns best, taking us ALL to new, and often unimaginable heights.    As we have now hit more than halfway through this year, I want to look back to where we started in January. We opened up January 2023 and SEASON 9 with an episode that focused on “prioritizing our mental and physical health, improving self-awareness and resiliency”[i] with a quote from Julie Smith, and her book Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? She said “To me, working on maximizing our mental health is no different to working on our physical health.” Today, we are going to show just how true Julie Smith's concept of being mindful of our physical AND mental health is, and look at some strategies that we can all use immediately, for difficult times, so that we ALL keep our mental health at the forefront, with ideas for how we can use our mind to become resilient to stress. For today's episode #299, we are going back to the Basics, and reviewing EP #106[ii], from February 2021, where we covered a review of Dr. Carolyn Leaf's Neurocycle APP[iii] (that's scientifically designed to help manage and reduce anxiety, depression and mental ill-health by 81%) along with her book, Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess, that we covered when we interviewed Dr. Leaf on a BONUS EPISODE[iv] back in 2021. I continue to release her episode every year, as her 5 STEP process to identifying, and breaking up toxic thoughts is unlike anything I've ever seen or tried myself. If anyone ever asks me “what do you recommend for getting rid of those ruminating thoughts, those worries, stresses or anxieties” that ALL of us feel at some point in our life, I always send over Dr. Leaf's interview, and let them know about her APP that's now called The Neurocycle APP, based on applying these 5 steps. Why Am I Revisiting Our Mental Health Now? After our last EP #298 with my friend and Neurocoach, Grace Reynolds[v], I mentioned that my girls were struggling with going back to school, and my youngest in particular, with a new school, no friends there, and an entirely new routine. I tried some of Grace's strategies with her to help bring her brain back to calm, but I quickly realized that I needed more help for her. I thought back to Dr. Leaf's episode, and wished she has steps for me to follow that I could walk my 12 year old through, so I went back to the Neurocycle APP on my phone, and thought that it might be a good time for me to revisit the 5 STEPS that she suggests can clean up ANY mental mess, helping us to manage thoughts that make us anxious, or depressed, and eliminate ANY toxic thoughts,  showing us how to take control of them, manage them, and break them down so that they don't have any control over us. We've all got these thoughts in our head, whether it's work worries, financial worries, family worries, I'm sure everyone can write down a bunch of CRAP they need to get out of their head. It's really quite an experience and I thought I'm definitely past due for cleaning up my own mental mess. I opened up my APP that I haven't used since the last time I had a problem I wanted to eliminate, and right there on the home page was an alert about Dr. Leaf's new book, coming out in days, called How to Help Your Child Clean Up Their Mental Mess: A Guide to Building Resilience and Managing Mental Health[vi] which covers scientifically-proven steps to help children ages 3-10 overcome unhealthy thinking habits and manage their mental health.  My wish was granted. In days, I'll have her new book, (it's coming out August 8th) and I'll share anything NEW she covers with how to help our children with their worries, keeping their minds peaceful, but until then, I've started a NEW 63-day Cycle, which is what Dr. Leaf recommends for eliminating ANY toxic thought that you have, anything that you know is taking away from your peace of mind, to see how I could work on my current worries, and be a stronger version of myself for my family.  When we can understand the 5 steps ourselves as parents, or teachers, and role model the way with our thoughts and behaviors, it's the first step towards showing our kids that there is nothing wrong with anxiety. It's not a bad thing. It's a signal to show us that we need to do something differently. Dr. Leaf said that she uses this system herself, and it's the way she manages her mind. If you look at Dr. Leaf you might think she looks somewhere in her 40s with her age, but it you follow her work, she goes back in time with her research, and shares she is around age 60. When we can manage our stress from the inside out, it does show up on the outside.   She shares “I truly believe that mental mess is something we all experience often,” and that it isn't something we should be ashamed of. This is my profession, and I still have to clean up my mind daily. The events and circumstances of life aren't going anywhere; people make a lot of decisions every day that affect us all, suffering of some sort for you and your loved ones is inevitable. That said, I wholeheartedly believe that although the events and circumstances can't be controlled, we can control our reactions to these events and circumstances. This is mind-management in action!” So for today's EP #299, I want to revisit my REVIEW of Dr. Leaf's 5 STEPS for Managing Our Mental Mess, and prepare for her NEW book coming out How to Help Your Child Clean Up Their Mental Mess: A Guide to Building Resilience and Managing Mental Health.[vii] This book is on pre-order right now, coming out August 8th.  If you do pre-order a copy, go to her website and register your order, and you will receive some bonuses, like a video that will prepare your kids for going back to school. This is JUST what I needed last week.  I've pre-ordered my copy and highly suggest you look at her new book, if you are like me, with young children, noticing the effects of stress, and anxiety on their developing brains. I hope you find this episode helpful, as I'll share NEW strategies that go much deeper than what we've ever done before with cleaning up our minds, with Dr. Leaf's 5 Step Approach to reducing our own anxiety, and improve our own self-regulation. Finally, we will look at strategies that Stanford Professor and neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman suggests we do in addition to Dr. Leaf's 5 steps, to make sure we are taking ALL the steps we can to increase our resilience to stress. Finally, once we've mastered these steps ourselves, we can role model the way for others in our life, like, our children, so they can do the same. CLEANING UP OUR MENTAL MESS IN 5 STEPS Today, in order to go deeper into the 5 steps than I covered in my first review of Dr. Leaf's program[viii] back in 2021, I'm going to offer insights from actually doing the FULL 63 days (which Dr. Leaf calls a Neurocycle) three times. I did one full cycle to eliminate, and better manage a problem that I'd say was once my biggest fear, and it's not at all anymore now that I look at my notes, and then use the APP to understand something about myself on a deeper level, more than any counseling that I've ever paid for, attended, and done the work for. What happens with this 63 day Neurocycle process is that once we identify a problem we want to “clean up” from our mind, we'll go through these 5 steps every day, for 63 days, and in this process, we conceptualize whatever it is that gives us an emotional charge. It never goes away, but whatever it is that brings you worry and anxiety, over time, will lose its energy and power over you, so that in essence are able to control your thoughts, keeping them healthy, instead of them controlling you, and bringing you dis-ease. Dr. Leaf's Neurocycle app, costs $14.99USD/month which is much less than any time I've actually paid a mental health expert for assistance. I'm not paid to endorse Dr. Leaf, I just interviewed her, and fully believe in her process. You can go through the steps in her APP, or even watch the steps herself from her YouTube channel[ix]. NOTE: Remember, I am not a medical doctor, and if you are struggling with your mental health, please do consult with a medical doctor. On this episode I'm not offering medical advice, but am sharing the results I've personally obtained from using the 5 STEP approach that Dr. Leaf suggests, from my point of view, in her book, Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess and using her Neurocycle APP. My hope is that it can help others, who might find themselves stuck, with some NEW ideas and strategies that I've used myself to access peace of mind, during times of high stress in my own life, with the goal that next, I'll be able to help my family to use these stress reduction strategies in their life, or for anyone who might be listening, and want to try them out for themselves.   63 DAYS TO BREAK DOWN A TOXIC THOUGHT The whole idea is that Dr. Leaf, from her years of research, suggests it takes 63 days to get rid of, and completely break down and eliminate a toxic thought. Day 1-21 you identify the thought you want to work on, (you'll know which one gives you the most emotional charge when you write out all of your worries) and you'll go through the 5 steps every day to deconstruct the thought, and reconstruct it into something you understand and can manage.  Day 22-42 you go through the 5 steps only, growing new thoughts around the toxic one, and Day 42-63 you finally break the “cycle” and form NEW thoughts, that support the future you want to see.  It sounds pretty simple and straight forward, but I've got to share that it's a bit messy. CLEANING UP OUR MENTAL MESS IN 63 DAYS In our interview, she held up a dead, rotten looking tree, showing us that this is what our toxic thoughts look like, (in our mind) and I'm not one consciously think negative thoughts, knowing how damaging they are to our brain and results, but this image took it all to a new level for me with this dead tree. Anytime we are stuck ruminating on something negative, (either consciously-when we will know we are going down the wrong path, or even unconsciously, like what happened to me when I noticed feeling this sinking feeling in my stomach that something just wasn't right in our world) the dead tree is a good visual to think of. How on the earth could we possibly expect to build positive results with negative thoughts floating through our minds, causing negative feelings, actions and results? These negative thoughts further impact our conditions, circumstances and even our future environments. It's not something I want personally, or for anyone else, so when I noticed I was beginning to worry, and feel anxious with some things happening with our girls, that are a normal part of them growing up, and I knew these worries were beginning to impact my behavior, (I was more snippier than usual with them) I knew it was time for me to start a NEW 63 day Neurocycle and nip these worries in the bud, before they grew into something more difficult to control. I knew it was time to clean up my own Mental Mess. I'm on DAY 4/63 of the program now, and since this is my 4th time running through a 63-day cycle, I wanted to share my thoughts along the way, to help others who might be thinking about beginning this process. I'll link some resources in the show notes resource section of where to begin. I highly suggest watching the interview I did with Dr. Leaf on EPISODE #106[x] to get some background information of this 5-step process, and even her interview with podcaster Ed Mylett[xi] who brings some humor to the 5-step process from a guy's point of view. The Neurocycle APP puts everything into practice and brings the 5-steps to life. Here's My Experience of Using the APP to Clean Up My Mental Mess INTRO TO THE APP: I opened up the APP, and 63 days feels like a long way away, but if you can break down the journey into stages (1-21 where you identify what issue you want to DETOX from your mind and begin to deconstruct it, and then reconstruct it into something healthier, 22-42 where you practice the 5 steps and reinforce new, healthy thoughts, and finally days 42-63 where you break the cycle of negative thinking and find FREEDOM in your mind) where you notice you'll be able to manage your thoughts, and life, so much better. You go from having doubts, worries, and fears, to understanding, and eventually to FREEDOM and peace of mind. Here's how I felt throughout my 63 days. DAY 1: I felt anxious, with a problem I wanted to solve immediately. It was difficult to focus on my work, as the problem was on my mind. Dr. Leaf's dead toxic tree was enough of a visual for me to want to change my toxic thoughts, and get them out of my head.  I also felt an anxious feeling in my stomach, and knew I wasn't my best self. DAY 2: The first part is all about brainstorming what's on our mind. If I thought about the CRAP BOARD I talked about in our previous EPISODE, it's here we list out all of Conflicts, Resistances, Anxieties and Problems on a piece of paper. I did this myself, and actually did it with my daughter, to pinpoint what was stressing her out so much. Pinpointing what's bothering you the MOST is eye-opening, as you look at other things that cross your mind, and put them on the back-burner, so to speak. Now we are going to pick the one that's the most pressing. I've now identified the ONE thought I'll work on for 63 days. Most of us will be able to list a whole bunch of things that are on our mind, taking up space. You'll want to pick just ONE. At this point I already know how I feel when this problem comes across my mind, and I've started to apply strategies to calm my mind when I feel stressed out about it. The work of deconstructing this problem has begun. DAY 3: Now I've learned to pause and breathe when stressed with a strategy Dr. Leaf calls THINK/FEEL and CHOOSE. With time, this self-regulation strategy becomes automatic and when I THINK and FEEL something that makes me uneasy, I have the ability to CHOOSE how I respond or react to it, listening closely to what she says are “warning signals” in my body.  Alpha waves increase as I dig deeper into my mind, and gain understanding in this process.  I'm very clear with the emotions I feel, the behaviors I choose, and I'm using my own mind to gain some perspective of what this all means to me, and what are the root causes of it all. DAY 6: I'm beginning to change my perspective of the toxic thought, getting closure to it all, as I'm beginning to see where it came from in the first place. DAY 7: I can actually gather some insight, understanding and feel empowered as I've broken up a toxic thought with my own mind. After 7 days I can say I felt hope, or empowerment and had created a vision for the future I wanted as the toxic thought is now being restructured in my brain and turned into something useful. I'm thinking of her dead tree coming alive a bit. DAY 14: Dr. Leaf mentions is a BENCHMARK DAY as you might experience what she says is like a “mastery mirage” or that “Oh, I've got this feeling” and you want to stop here. DON'T STOP, or you'll undo all of the work you've done up to this point, and you'll need to start over at day 1. The toxic thought isn't dead just yet. Keep going, learning, thinking and reflecting. It's here you might need an accountability partner to keep going, but find some way to take this process seriously and keep moving, and doing the “mental” work to break free from whatever it is that's bothering you. I just wrote down what day I was on in my notebook out of 63 days, showing me that I wasn't finished yet. DAY 14-16: Somewhere around here I felt persistence, resilience, strength and power about the thought that was once toxic and troubling.  I can look back to Day 1 and remember how I felt, knowing this process does work. I know that I'm nowhere near where I was 2 weeks ago with this toxic thought. DAY 20: I can now see the BIG PICTURE and the future that was bright as the toxic thought no longer bothers me. This is an incredible experience to get to and know that we used our own mind to clean itself. DAY 21-24: Were the most powerful. I won't write here why, you'll have to do the work and see for yourself, but it was here that came deep understanding, healing and strength that would change me forever. DAY 25-63: Was a process of going through the 5 STEPS daily, and reconceptualizing the toxic every day until you build it into something else that's healthier.   I did cover in the 5 STEPS in our REVIEW of Dr. Leaf's Book[xii], but here they are again here: IMAGE CREDIT: Dr. Carolyn Leaf's 5 STEPS for Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess in her Neurocycle APP. STEP 1: Gather Awareness (of what's bothering you). We've all heard of the importance of knowing our emotions, or when we name what's bothering us, or when we name it, we can tame it[iv]. What about those worries that we name, and they don't go away? This is where I used the Neurocycle APP and this is something I will continue to use to clean up my own mental mess, cleaning up those bigger worries that I know are impacting my results. STEP 2: Reflect and Analyze: Answer, Ask and Discuss Some Questions to Find the Root Cause of Your Emotions or What's Bothering You. This is how we pull thoughts from our non-conscious mind to our conscious mind, where it becomes weaker. It's no longer suppressed but acknowledged. Use your mind to ask yourself questions, and it will be interesting to see what comes up. This process takes time, reflection and daily effort. Our emotions are unique signals to learn how to cope with challenges, but over time, negative ones will damage our brain with consistent worry.  We want to find our way to growing the positive emotions, and weakening the negative ones. Since I'm on my 4th time doing this process, I can say that the ROOT CAUSE of ALL my worries, are pretty much the same issue. This activity will increase your self-awareness. STEP 3: Write out what you discover from step 2. Begin to capture what's bothering you and see if you can come up with root causes, or why you think this worry is on your mind. Learn to write in pictures, add color, shapes. Learn how to write in a metacog formula[v] digging into your nonconscious mind, bringing what's buried in there, to your conscious mind for you to deal with it.  It's here you will create self-regulation strategies to turn your worries into something that no longer holds you back. STEP 4: Recheck and Edit What You Have Written Down. Re-read what you have written and see what comes up. Can you add more to your answer to help make more sense of it? Dig deeper, look for patterns, triggers and keep looking for the root cause of the problem. As you gain more understanding of what's bothering you, you are now what Dr. Leaf says is called “conceptualizing” the toxic thought into something you can manage.  STEP 5: Practice and Apply Through Active Reach. Look at what you have written and see if you can come up with an action statement to practice what you have learned from your introspection.  You will read out your daily Aha Moment 7x a day to remind yourself what you are re-shaping. This last step is something positive and motivating to remind you of your NEW awareness around this thought. The APP even has a reminder that will pop up on your phone to help you to consolidate this new thought into your mind in this process. It will make you smile when you are going about your busy day, long after you've done this work. It's here you'll notice a shift in energy about the problem. I started to see mine differently here looking at it from a distance. DIVE DEEPER INTO YOUR RESULTS The Neurocycle APP has this NEW feature that measures how well you are managing your mind. You can click on the RESULTS tab and see a score for your Autonomy, Awareness, Toxic Thoughts and Isolation, Toxic Stress, Barriers and Challenges, Empowerment and Life Satisfaction based on answering questions after each day of using the app. This score will help you to dive deeper into your mental health and see where there is room for improvement along the way. What's NEXT? Now that I know how to identify and change my own toxic thinking, I'd like to teach this process to my girls, so they can keep their minds free and clear of their mental mess. Dr. Leaf's book for kids comes out August 8th (next Tuesday) so reviewing her 5 STEPS will be helping for ANYONE who wants to apply these steps themselves and then help others to do the same. Before I review this episode with some additional strategies, I do have to say that going through these 5 steps isn't going to be easy. I'm in my 4th cycle of 63 days, and in the very beginning, when you are writing down something that make you uneasy (a toxic thought) it will make you FEEL uneasy. The work is real, and so are the emotions that you will be breaking down. I had to find strategies to help me to center myself, and get out of the fight/flight part of my anxious brain, to the rest and digest parasympathetic side. There's no way around a problem, Dr. Leaf says the only way is “through” and I'll have to agree.  When doing these 5 steps, find ways to incorporate self-care into your day. Be good to yourself. To make sure I was putting my mind in the BEST frame for doing this deep work, I looked at what other strategies we could use to help calm our mind as we are cleaning up our Mental Mess, and I found a list from Dr. Andrew Huberman's podcast. On Dr. Huberman's EPISODE on “Tools for Managing Stress and Anxiety[xiii]” he suggests: What Does Dr. Huberman Suggest? 1. BREATHING: Practice the physiological sigh[xiv] by consciously engaging in a double inhale followed by a long exhale to regulate heart rate and induce relaxation. Incorporate deliberate breathing techniques, such as longer and more vigorous exhales, to regulate heart rate and activate the parasympathetic nervous system. Dr. Leaf incorporates breathing into her Neurocycle steps, helping us to prime our brain for learning. I saw the importance of taking deep breaths when I interviewed Rohan Dixit and his Lief Therapeutics[xv] wearable HRV device. This device, that connected to my stomach with sensors, taught me to breathe and in turn, lower my HRV. 2. SUPPLEMENTS: Explore non-prescription compounds like melatonin, L-theanine, and ashwagandha for potential stress modulation. While I'm not anti-alcohol, I do have a new awareness of the damaging impact of this toxin on our brain, since Dr. Huberman's episode where he covers this in depth[xvi], I've been drinking HOP WTR[xvii] to help calm my nerves as an alternative to alcohol, especially when I need my mind clear and focused, or while learning new information. When life needs your full awareness, I highly suggest finding a healthy substitute that will help you to continue to build brain health in this process. I find this drink to be relaxing, and it does still relieve stress, probably as it contains Ashwagandha that's best known for its stress relieving properties. 3. PRIORITIZE SLEEP[xviii] AND MAINTAIN OPTIMAL HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV) for overall health. I've been working on this area for a long time now, (since 2019) and finally seeing improvements[xix].  It's a process, involving many factors (physical and mental health) and optimizing all areas of health come one step at a time. You can see from my WHOOP (wearable tracker) data that my sleep performance struggles to reach the 70% mark (the suggest number for sufficient sleep) unless I'm on vacation. This is mostly due to the fact that I prioritize early morning works outs, for the benefits I receive there, so sleep is always my work in progress.  Finding the balance we need with our physical and mental health is a process. We've covered improving HRV on a few episodes, and I've been watching this number like a hawk for the past year. This past month, I've finally seen a huge jump in HRV scores that I attribute mostly to the Qualia Senolytics[xx] supplement that I started to use after interview Dr. Greg Kelly from Neurohacker Collective, and drinking more Hop Wtr. In February of this year, my HRV was averaging around 65 ms, and now it's averaging 84 ms, a 30% increase since February which is a huge jump that could go even higher if only I could get consistent sleep at night. These are my experiences for improving sleep and HRV, and know there are many other suggested strategies that we'll keep our eye on and cover in the future. 4. BUILD RESILIENCE: Engage in activities that raise the stress threshold, such as cold showers or intense exercise, while learning to calm the mind. This is a new practice for me and does come in handy when you travel to a place with no hot water once you've mastered cold water immersion. To conclude and review this week's Brian Fact Friday, of a deeper dive into Dr. Carolyn Leaf's Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess Book and Neurocycle APP, I highly suggest that if you have something you want to work through, something that's on your mind bothering you, and distracting you from being your best self, read Dr. Leaf's How To Clean Up Your Mental Mess book, and grab her Neurocycle APP, even if it's just for a few months to go through one 63 day cycle. You can always quit the APP, and come back to it at a later date, like I did. Then fine tune your mindset and resilience practice with Dr. Huberman's tips for managing stress and anxiety. You don't have to do it all at once, and you can see from what I'm measuring that balancing our mental and physical health will always be a “work in progress”, especially cleaning up our mental mess, so we can be the best version of ourselves, inspiring others to do the same. Since stress, anxiety and depression are at an all-time high in the world today, and if we as parents, teachers and coaches can equip ourselves with evidence-based strategies that work, we will be building a stronger, more resilient future for our next generation. Neurohacker Collective just posted this week that “people with higher baseline vagal tone (from practices like breath work, cold exposure, exercise, meditation, taking probiotics, laughter, singing and relaxation exercises) have shown higher levels of subjective well-being, and positive emotions (better self-regulation and self-control).” With that, I'll close out this episode, and see you next week, with EPISODE 300 with a surprise guest, my Mom, who will join my husband, Majid Samadi, and I, to cover some mindset success strategies that she's used over the years, many that we have discussed on the podcast. See you next week! RESOURCES: Neurocycle APP https://www.neurocycle.app/ Andrea interviews Dr. Leaf https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/worldrenownedneuroscientistdr-caroline-leaf-oncleaningup-your-mentalmess5-simplescientifically-proven-stepsto-reduceanxiety-and-toxic-thinking/ Watch Dr. Leaf's 5 STEP PROCESS on her YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@DrCarolineLeaf All About Dr. Leaf's NEW Book for Children ages 3-10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1lb2_zaibg PRE-ORDER her new book How to Help Your Child Clean Up Their Mental Mess by Dr. Caroline Leaf COMING AUG 8th, 2023  https://www.mentallyresilientkids.com/ The Vagus Nerve: What it is and how to stimulate it for increase stress resilience by Sara Adaes, Ph.D. October 22, 2022 https://neurohacker.com/the-vagus-nerve-what-it-is-and-how-to-stimulate-it-for-increased-stress-resilience?utm_source=social&utm_medium=insta&utm_campaign=quote_card_vagus_high_tone_positive_emotions REFERENCES: [i]Neuroscience Meets SEL Episode #268 “Prioritizing our mental and physical health, improving self-awareness and resilience” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-prioritizing-mental-health-in-2023-improving-self-awareness-and-resilience/   [ii] Neuroscience Meets SEL Episode #106 with Andrea Samadi "Review of Dr. Leaf's Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess Book and App" https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/book-and-app-review-of-neuroscientist-and-best-selling-author-dr-caroline-leafs-cleaning-up-your-mental-mess-coming-march-2-20201/    [iii] https://www.neurocycle.app/   [iv] https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/worldrenownedneuroscientistdr-caroline-leaf-oncleaningup-your-mentalmess5-simplescientifically-proven-stepsto-reduceanxiety-and-toxic-thinking/   [v] https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/grace-reynolds-on-mindfulness-neurocoaching-the-quickest-and-easiest-path-to-post-traumatic-growth/   [vi] https://www.mentallyresilientkids.com/   [vii]How to Help Your Child Clean Up Their Mental Mess: A Guide to Building Resilience and Managing Mental Health Dr. Carolyn Leaf Published August 8, 2023  https://www.amazon.com/Help-Child-Clean-Their-Mental/dp/0801093414   [viii] Neuroscience Meets SEL Episode #106 with Andrea Samadi "Review of Dr. Leaf's Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess Book and App" https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/book-and-app-review-of-neuroscientist-and-best-selling-author-dr-caroline-leafs-cleaning-up-your-mental-mess-coming-march-2-20201/    [ix] Dr. Caroline Leaf YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@DrCarolineLeaf   [x] Neuroscience Meets SEL Episode #106 with Andrea Samadi "Review of Dr. Leaf's Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess Book and App" https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/book-and-app-review-of-neuroscientist-and-best-selling-author-dr-caroline-leafs-cleaning-up-your-mental-mess-coming-march-2-20201/    [xi] Ed Mylett interviews Dr. Carolyn Leaf on her 5 Step Approach for Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess https://www.edmylett.com/podcast/dr-caroline-leaf-manage-your-mental-mess   [xii] Neuroscience Meets SEL Episode #106 with Andrea Samadi "Review of Dr. Leaf's Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess Book and App" https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/book-and-app-review-of-neuroscientist-and-best-selling-author-dr-caroline-leafs-cleaning-up-your-mental-mess-coming-march-2-20201/    [xiii] Dr. Andrew Huberman “Tools for Managing Stress and Anxiety” https://hubermanlab.com/tools-for-managing-stress-and-anxiety/   [xiv] Breathing Techniques to Reduce Stress and Anxiety by Dr. Andrew Huberman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSZKIupBUuc   [xv]Neuroscience Meets SEL EPISODE #248 with Rohan Dixit, Founder of Lief Therapeutics https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/rohan-dixit-founder-of-lief-therapeutics-on-measuring-hrv-in-real-time-for-stress-relief-from-the-inside-out/   [xvi] What Alcohol Does to Your Brain and Body by Dr. Andrew Huberman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkS1pkKpILY   [xvii] Hop Wtr https://hopwtr.com/?gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2qKmBhCfARIsAFy8buIrjK0UDxciFCwMs-rG6l6qHJ2SyQrmnYnDS92vJeDgDZU8JNzZ6w8aAiacEALw_wcB   [xviii]Neuroscience Meets SEL Review of the Fisher Wallace Device (One Year Later). https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/update-one-year-later-on-my-personal-review-of-the-fisher-wallace-wearable-sleep-device-for-anxiety-depression-and-sleep-management/   [xix]Neuroscience Meets SEL Review of Heart Rate Variability https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-review-of-heart-rate-variability-the-most-important-biomarker-for-tracking-health-recovery-and-resilience/   [xx]Neuroscience Meets SEL EPISODE #285 with Dr. Gregory Kelly from Neurohacker Collective on Qualia Senoltyics  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dr-gregory-kelly-from-neurohacker-collective-on-how-to-beat-aging-and-stress-with-qualia-senolytics/  

Alex Sanfilippo is an entrepreneur who is the CEO and founder of PodPros, a software company focused specifically on the podcasting industry. He is also a podcast host of the top-rated podcast called Podcasting Made Simple and a leading educator in podcasting. Something that keeps Alex awake at night is that people full of passion and purpose often get into podcasting and then either stop or fail. He firmly believes there's a way to make podcasting work within your life in a way that feels natural and doesn't cause a podcasting/work/life imbalance to happen. On this episode, you'll hear how Alex uses mindfulness to keep his focus and help achieve success. Listen & Subscribe on: iTunes / Stitcher / Podbean / Overcast / Spotify Contact Info Company: Pod Pros Website: www.podpros.com Blog: Pod Pros Blog Podcast: Podcasting Made Simple Most Influential Person Jesus Christ Brendon Bouchard Effect on Emotions It goes back to my talk about having those people in your life that speak into you like they've helped me remain mindful about who I am. And where I'm going. It's a really intentional effort for me to remember the direction I'm going in, and where I want to end up in life. I'm journaling and those are the two things, sometimes talking myself through journaling. But mainly being around the right people that speak into me, so that I can see right, I can get that perspective. And then making sure again, I'm going back and journaling that. But that has been some stuff that's actually helped me a lot. Thoughts on Breathing You want to be intentional with it. When stress starts hitting, you start falling behind on emails, you got a pile of papers on your desk, we start panting without realizing it, like we breathe really, really shallow. I just remind myself and that was another great reminder to sit back and just deep breathe. If you do that, I don't know all the brain stuff, but you do that four or five times, my head actually feels different. It feels like I'm actually getting oxygen. And I've got a renewed energy. So breathing has been huge for me to be mindful with where I am and how I can continue showing my best self instead of continuing to be confined, confined, confined, get more shallow, more shallow. That's been really helpful for me. Suggested Resources Book: Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking Dr. Caroline Leaf App: N/A Bullying Story I wasn't necessarily directly bullied growing up, or even as an adult or anything like that. if you could consider this in some way, was in some of my relationships growing up with girlfriends. A lot of them end up being manipulative like they've been manipulating me a lot, and I didn't even notice it, or I would just kind of confined to it. And it got to the point where I was so scared of confrontation, that anytime someone would buck up against me, like even in business, I would immediately back down because I felt like it was gonna end up bringing pain to me or discomfort. And that took me a long time to get over. It was painful and it's taken me years of mindfulness and exercise, and coaching to be able to overcome that. and be willing to embrace a little bit of discomfort because of how negatively that affected me and that was the extent. Related Episodes Self-Actualization Through Mindfulness; Nicholas Gregoriades Master Your Mindset; Scott Burgett The Mind Is A Curious Thing; Wendy Nash Special Offer Are you experiencing anxiety & stress? Peace is within your grasp. I'm Bruce Langford, a practicing coach, and hypnotist helping fast-track people just like you to shed their inner bully and move forward with confidence. Book a Free Coaching Session to get you on the road to a more satisfying life, feeling grounded and focused. Send me an email at bruce@mindfulnessmode.com with ‘Coaching Session' in the subject line. We'll set up a zoom call and talk about how you can move forward to a better life.

Neuroscientist Dr Caroline Leaf talks with Angela about the mind, what it is and how you can reduce toxic stress and tune into the signals to make positive change In this fascinating look at the non-conscious, subconscious and conscious aspects of the mind Dr Caroline explains how the mind is the driving force that keeps the brain and body going and discusses the ways it processes and brings understanding to our experiences As Dr Caroline discusses we can't see mind but the product of  mind are how we communicate and express our uniqueness   KEY TAKEAWAYS The mind is the ability that we have as humans to use our brain and body to express our uniqueness The mind is the driving force that keeps the brain and body going The mind is our aliveness, our ability to think, feel and choose on a psychological level It is what helps the heart, beat and the body make new cells The biggest driving force part of the mind is the non-conscious It's the part that is active all the time helping us to process and understand our experiences   The most obvious part of the mind is the conscious mind and it draws on the non-conscious for understanding The subconscious part of the mind is the bridge between the infinite non-conscious and the finite conscious parts of the mind Thoughts are made of memories and our mind makes these thoughts made of memories out of experiences and builds them into the brain as structural changes We build every experience into the brain, body and mind and this is driven by the non-conscious As humans, we need to tune into the signals so that we can move things into the conscious mind and change We need to allow ourselves to feel depression and anxiety, accept it and then weaken the pathway to You can train yourself with the neurocycle process to get your conscious mind to connect with and listen to the subconscious to find the thoughts in the non-conscious and deconstruct and reconstruct them Thoughts can be changed when they are pulled into the conscious mind When we build in the wrong expectation the result is a loss of selfhood     BEST MOMENTS ‘Everything about  your aliveness is coming from this driving force of the mind ‘You can't see mind but you see the product of mind in our ability to communicate Post-natal depression is a very normal response to a challenging situation What we say and what we do is an outpouring of our thoughts         RESOURCES FOR THIS EPISODE Limited Offer: Claim Your 2 Week Free Trial to The Female Biohacker Collective - angelafoster.me/fbc   Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking - https://amzn.to/3Vqnqzr    Neurocycle app: https://neurocycle.app  CF program: https://neurocycleinstitute.com  Book: https://drleaf.com/collections/all/products/pre-order-cleaning-up-your-mental-mess     Visit my website at https://drleaf.com  for more free resources -Instagram: @drcarolineleaf:  https://www.instagram.com/drcarolineleaf/-  -Facebook: Dr. Caroline Leaf: https://www.facebook.com/drleaf  -Twitter: @drcarolineleaf: https://twitter.com/DrCarolineLeaf  -Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/drcarolineleaf      VALUABLE RESOURCES High-Performance Health Podcast Series -https://angelafosterperformance.com/podcasts/ Biohack Your Way to Your Best Self - Join My Exclusive Female Biohacker Collective – angelafosteracademy.com/female-biohacker-collective-enrol Get a free health check and personalised report www.yourtotalhealthcheck.com Watch my Free Masterclass on how to master your metabolism -www.angelafosteracademy.com/master-your-metabolism Download my free Guide to Harmonising Your Hormones -www.angelafosterperformance.com/hormones Download my  free Fasting Guide - www.angelafosterperformance.com/fasting/ Download my free Guide to Sleep Like a Boss -www.angelafosterperformance.com/sleep Join my free Facebook Community -www.facebook.com/groups/femalebiohacker Get my bestselling book Rethink Health - https://amzn.to/3vbzYOV     ABOUT THE HOST Angela Foster Angela is a Nutritionist, Health, and Performance Coach. She is also the Founder and CEO of My DNA Edge, an Exclusive Private Membership Site giving individuals the tools and bio hacks needed to optimise their genetic expression for optimal health and performance. After recovering from a serious illness in 2014, Angela left the world of Corporate Law with a single mission in mind: To inspire and educate others to live an energetic, healthful, and limitless life. Angela believes that we can truly have it all and has spent the last 5 years researching the habits and routines of high performers, uncovering age-old secrets, time-honoured holistic practices, and modern science to create a blueprint for Optimal Human Performance.   CONTACT DETAILS Instagram Facebook LinkedIn See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Caroline Leaf is a communication pathologist and cognitive neuroscientist with a Masters's and Ph.D. in Communication Pathology and a BSc in Logopaedics, specializing in cognitive and metacognitive neuropsychology. In this episode of Stuck to Unstoppable with Dr. Caroline Leaf, we dive into: * How to Detox our Minds for Success * The Difference between Brain and Mind * The Power of Faith * How to Improve your Mental Health Learn more about Dr. Leaf at www.drleaf.com Check out her latest book "Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking" Here - https://amzn.to/3AaWqdz

Lauren Roskilly is a coach, author, and speaker. Today, Lauren shares about growing up in rural Sussex, England, leaving paganism, and finding dramatic physical healing. Lauren also describes significant mental health issues she suffered, including a suicide attempt, and how the Lord began to change her after a prayer of desperation. Lauren's story reminds us that even when we suffer, the Lord is present and powerful when we turn to him. Listen to Lauren's story now! Stories Lauren shared: Growing up in rural Sussex, England Calling herself a “white witch” The stranger who knew things about her at the pub The conversation with window cleaner that changed her life Attempting suicide after struggling with mental health because of a health condition Where God was while she was suffering Praying in desperation to the Lord and his response The moment of surrender with the Lord Stepping out in faith that the results for her health The woman on the bus who healed her Learning to listen and recognize the Lord's voice Great quotes from Lauren: My focus wasn't on Him anymore but He was there. I wasn't asking why. I was asking what. The difference is key. It wasn't an instant zap; it was a journey. Resources we mentioned: Lauren's website Healing Toxic Emotions by Mary Islieb Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking by Dr. Caroline Leaf Related episodes: Gil Bentham and Living in the Locks with the Lord James Prescott and Processing Grief Well Kari Bartkus and the Friendship of Jesus The post Lauren Roskilly and Trusting God For Healing appeared first on Eric Nevins.

Too many of us have believed the lie that “I'm broken” for far too long. When you believe something long enough, it gets hardwired into your brain. God made it possible for us to rewire or renew our minds so we can believe the truth (Romans 12:2). Here's a 5-step Nerocycle process that Dr. Caroline Leaf developed. Use this to renew your mind to God's truth about yourself. Dr. Leaf says our mind heals in 3 - 21 day cycles, so pick one toxic thought you want to renew and go through this process daily for 63 days. 5-Step Nerocycle: 1. Gather: Gather is the awareness stage. You are becoming aware of what you're thinking. Think of it as gathering fruit in a basket. No judgment or shame; just pick the fruit, the information, and put it in the basket. Questions to gather: My Emotions: What are the emotional warning signs coming up? Your feelings. Panic attack, despair, anxiety, depression, etc.? My Body: What are your physical/bodily responses? How is your body feeling? Heart fluttering, chest tight, gut hurting or butterflies? My Behaviors: What are my behaviors or actions? What am I saying or doing? My Perspective: What do I think about this? What's my perspective? Do I think this is bad, terrible, overwhelming, etc.? 2. Reflect We're like detectives in observation mode, trying to discover why. Look at the basket of information you just gathered from your emotions, physical body, behaviors and perspective. Reflect on it. What's it trying to tell you? What's the origin story? 3. Write Write down your thoughts. Write to empty your brain onto paper, phone or computer. Each day you write, you gain more and more clarity and order to help clean up your thoughts or lies you've believed about yourself. 4. Recheck Now you're going to go back and look at the warning signs you wrote down earlier. You're looking for patterns, noticing where you can make changes or solutions, and then planning your new thoughts. You're freeing yourself from internal negative thoughts and positively planning a way out. 5. Active Reach It's time to practice your newly designed thoughts from stage 4. Rehearse things mentally. Each time you rehearse a new thought, you strengthen your memory by adding energy: the more energy, the more impact on your memory. This stage weakens the old toxic or negative thoughts and creates new thoughts in your mind. You can study this process further in Dr. Caroline Leaf's book, Clean Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking. * https://amzn.to/3A9r1Jz That's renewing and renovating your mind! Change doesn't happen overnight, but change comes with consistency. That will begin your renovation process–turning your mind into something astonishing. To learn more about your identity, check out Mirror moments - a 99-day devotional to inspire and heal a woman's heart. I had the privilege to co-write it with friends Sharon Fletcher and Donna McDaniel. https://www.heatherlbunch.com/store/mirror-moments-book Until Next Time, Live Fearlessly Free *This is an affiliate link. I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase using this link.

So many decisions....so little time....so many mistakes! Has this ever happened to you? You thought you made the right choice. You listened to your instincts - so why didn't that work? Today is all about using 6 steps to help you make a rational decision. 1 - Define the Problem 2 - Identify the criteria 3 - Weigh the criteria 4 - Generalte Alternatives 5 - Rate each alternative 6 - Compute the Optimal decision Let me know if this system works for you! How do you make big decisons? Live an Inspired Life! #decide #Empowerment #flourishmom Find out more about Flourish at the links below: ➡️ https://www.Flourish.Mom ➡️ Facebook https://www.Facebook.Com/Flourish.Mom   ➡️ Twitter: https://www.Twitter.Com/FlourishMom ➡️ Instagram: https://www.Instagram.com/FlourishMom ➡️ Pinterest: https://www.Pinterest.ca/WowFlourishMom ➡️ Watch on YouTube:https://youtu.be/B05NDaniS1k

What does the content of your mind look like? Do you sometimes have thoughts you don't want to have? Do you sometimes feel emotions you don't want to feel? My guest today has recently published a book called Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: Five Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress and Toxic Thinking which contains techniques and practices that can help any of us whether we have a diagnosed mental health problem or not. My guest is Dr. Caroline Leaf, a cognitive neuroscientist, researcher and best-selling author. Since the 1980s, Dr Leaf has researched the mind-brain connection, the nature of mental health and the formation of memory. She was one of the first in her field to study neuroplasticity and how the brain can change with directed input from our minds. Over the years, Dr Leaf has helped transform the lives of many people around the world - she's helped people with traumatic brain injury, stress, anxiety and depression, but the tools that she shares are relevant for anyone who wants to improve the functioning of their minds. We begin our conversation talking about the difference between our minds and our brains - these two terms are often used interchangeably but Dr Leaf explains why this is a mistake. She explains how it's our mind, both our conscious mind and our non-conscious mind, that actually control our brain. It is because of this, she says, that we are much more in control of our symptoms than we might think. Dr Leaf believes that many of the conventional clinical approaches to mental health and well-being are misguided and limiting. Her approach reframes things like depression and anxiety as a response, rather than an illness. Signs and symptoms, she says, always point to a thought or belief that has caused them. So instead of medicating them away, Dr Leaf believes that we need to spend more time looking for the cause. It is Dr Leaf's firm belief that we can all benefit from what she calls ‘mind management'. Whether we want to build a healthier, more resilient brain, whether we want more focus or whether we want to reduce negative thoughts that are affecting us, Dr Leaf has pioneered a five-step protocol to help us do so. In this conversation, she reveals just what those steps are and how we can all put them into practice in our everyday lives.Thanks to our sponsors:https://www.leafyard.com/livemorehttps://www.athleticgreens.com/livemorehttps://www.vivobarefoot.com/livemoreOrder Dr Chatterjee's new book Happy Mind, Happy Life: UK version: https://amzn.to/304opgJ, US & Canada version: https://amzn.to/3DRxjgpShow notes available at https://drchatterjee.com/281DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified health care provider with any questions you have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Are you having a hard time setting and achieving goals? Do you set a goal but then can't find the motivation or time to get to the end of that goal? If so you aren't alone. Achieving goals can be time consuming and hard but with the right scientifically proven steps, you can achieve your goals starting today. In this episode of, Don't Quit, Paige Alexandra, will step you through how to achieve your goals as well as explain why goal setting is so crucial to a fulfilling life. You will learn how to use visualization techniques to achieve your goals, how to write out your goals, how to use knowledge to reach your goal, among many other ways. By the end of the episode you will be ready to tackle your biggest goals that have been set aside for years! Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here - Your review helps in my goal to help others in this crazy life. Post a screenshot of you listening on Instagram & tag us so we can thank you personally! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/paige-alexandra-podcast/support

Dr Caroline Leaf is a world-renowned Neuroscientist and a best-selling author of multiple books. We sit down to discuss her latest book, Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking and how you really can renew your mind! I love how Dr. Leaf reminds us that feelings of depression and anxiety are completely normal human responses! She simply teaches us how to process and deal with our experiences and emotions rather than try to hide from them! If you've ever felt overwhelmed by feelings of anxiety and depression you are not alone! And in this episode we discuss the app Dr. Leaf created that has had overwhelmingly positive results on renewing the mind. Check it out here! My Tangled book is found here! Or you can get the e-copy through the course here! And if you want to check out a free mental health assessment and how healing your gut can help with your mental health, check that out here! Or find out about the gut health products here!

As we continue to deal with the global pandemic, more and more of us are struggling with anxiety, intrusive thoughts, depression and fear, which is causing problems with concentration, burnout, strained relationships and physical health problems. Dr. Caroline Leaf has released a book  that she hopes will help those who are struggling. It's called, Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking.    Today on Connections, Dr. Leaf shares what those five steps are and how we can start cleaning up our mental mess. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Happy New Year Friends!   Today I want to share with you the 5 precious things I want to take with me in 2022.  Often, we think about what we would like to leave behind instead, so I flipped it and made a list of things I want to take with me and I share them with you here:   1. The lessons I learned and my experience with healing from the inside (spiritual, mental, emotional). 2.  The lessons I learned about the 5-week leave-of-absence I took from work due to burnout. 3. Celebrating our 10-year wedding anniversary. 4. More music, more singing! 5. New friends I've met, near and far.   I did include 1 thing that I would like to leave behind: toxic worrying.   What about you, friend, what would you like to take with you into 2022?  What would you like to leave behind?   Email me at grace@organizewithgrace.com and let me know! Would love to hear from you!   Connect with me! Check out my website:  https://www.organizewithgrace.com/  ****Make sure you get my TOP 5 "MUST-LISTEN TO" PODCAST LIST when you check out my revamped website!  Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/organizewithgrace/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/organizewithgracefb/    My new favorite Neuroscientist, Dr. Caroline Leaf's book is what I'm currently listening to: Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess- 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking  

On today's Reset Renew Revive Podcast, our host Dr. Bindiya Gandhi speaks with Dr. Caroline Leaf. Dr. Caroline Leaf is a Zimbabwean-born based American communication pathologist and cognitive neuroscientist with a Master's and Ph.D. in Communication Pathology and a BSc Logopaedics, specializing in cognitive and metacognitive neuropsychology. Dr. Leaf is also the bestselling author of Switch on Your Brain, Think Learn Succeed, Think and Eat Yourself Smart, and her latest book Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking. Dr. Leaf's journey from to Neuropsychology (1:20) What is Neuroplasticity? (4:55) Activating your mind to improve mental health (11:45) Dr. Leaf's App (27:29) How to find Dr. Leaf online (41:30) https://drleaf.com/ @drcarolineleaf

This episode is sponsored by truLOCAL. Go to https://trulocal.ca and https://trulocalusa.com and use code MP to get free meat! Today's guest, Dr. Caroline Leaf, is one of the first in her field to study how the brain can change with directed mind input. She discusses how you can eliminate toxic thoughts and brain pathways established in your brain. Dr. Leaf also answers Mikhaila's question about how long it usually takes to change your brain by changing your behaviour. Dr. Caroline Leaf is a communication pathologist and cognitive neuroscientist. She helps people understand their minds and change their lives for the better. Dr. Leaf is the bestselling author of Switch on Your Brain, Think Learn Succeed, Think and Eat Yourself Smart, and her most recent: Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking. The mental health and mind expert hosts the 'Cleaning Up The Mental Mess' podcast where she shares scientific tips on how to take control over your mental health and brain.

“You can transition from just being aware of your chaotic and toxic thoughts to being empowered to catch these thoughts in their early stages, manage them. From there, you can improve your overall peace and wellbeing.” Dr. Caroline Leaf is a communication pathologist and cognitive neuroscientist who for almost 40 years has been doing research into the mind-brain connection, the nature of mental health, and the formation of memory. Dr. Leaf is the host of the podcast Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess and the author of the book Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking. We talk in-depth about the book in today's conversation. Her overall message? You are not your brain. Your mind, in fact, controls your neurophysiology. When you understand your mind, you can begin to drive change in your brain and in your body. It's all under your control. She says that, contrary to popular belief, emotional and even physiological symptoms that result from stress are not the result of an irreversibly “broken” brain. Rather, it's a question of your paradigms or the narrative lens that you see the world through. “Because our brain is neuroplastic and we make a million new cells every second, we have a lot of power to influence and change” the stories we tell ourselves. Listen in and learn how you can become empowered to manage your “messy mind” so that you can then give the podium to the “wise mind”.   Follow Caroline @drcarolineleaf Follow Chase @chase_chewning   Episode resources: Save 20% on Pure and Gold by Organifi with code EVERFORWARD at http://organifi.com/everforward  Get Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3BENRrc  Join the Ever Forward Book Club at http://bit.ly/efbookclub  Get your free 30-day audio book trial with Audible at http://audibletrial.com/everforward  Learn more about Dr. Leaf and get complete show notes at https://chasechewning.com/podcasts/episode/504 

(00:00-9:14): Brian and Aubrey shared their thoughts on Peter Newman's Gospel Coalition article, “Why Do We Go to Church? Because We're Forgetful.  (9:14-26:27): Clarissa Moll, Author, Co-Host of Christianity Today's “Surprised by Grief” podcast, and Host of the weekly Hope*Writers podcast joined Brian and Aubrey to talk about finding God's hope in the midst of grief, her Gospel Coalition article “Life Is Reopening. Why Am I Still So Sad?” and the new edition of her husband, Rob Moll's book, “The Art of Dying: Living Fully into the Life to Come.” Learn more about Clarissa at clarissamoll.com and connect with her on instagram at mollclarissa *This interview originally aired on 6/29/21* (26:27-35:25): What's the difference between having knowledge about God and knowing God through a personal relationship? Brian and Aubrey chatted about this topic and commented on a clip of Preston Sprinkle's recent interview with Francis Chan.   (35:25-44:06): Brian and Aubrey chatted about Tim Keller's Relevant Magazine article, “You Never Marry the Right Person.”  (44:06-1:03:15): Dr. Caroline Leaf, Cognitive Neuroscientist, Bestselling Author, and Host of the podcast, “Cleaning Up The Mental Mess,” joined Brian and Aubrey to chat about her new book, “Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking” and the Neurocycle app. Learn more about Dr. Leaf at drleaf.com and connect with her on Twitter at @DrCarolineLeaf *This interview originally aired on 5/21/21* (1:03:15-1:12:07): Brian and Aubrey discussed Jared Brock's Relevant Magazine article, “10 Ways to Simplify Your Life.”  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, for Brain Fact Friday and episode #147 that has taken me back to Dr. Jon Lieff from episode #143[i] and his book The Secret Language of Cells: What Biological Conversation Tells Us About the Brain-Body Connection, the Future of Medicine and Life Itself.[ii] I'm Andrea Samadi, author and educator from Toronto, Canada, now in Arizona, and like many of our listeners, have been fascinated with learning and understanding the science behind high performance strategies in our schools, sports, and the workplace with ideas that we can all use, understand and implement immediately, for improved results.   In Today's Brain Fact Friday You Will Learn: ✔︎ How Brain Fog is Created  ✔︎ How the Brain and Immune System Work Together ✔︎ How Cells Communicate with Each other ✔︎ How to Strengthen Our Brain-Mind-Body Connection by Understanding Our Brain State On our last Brain Fact Friday, episode #141, I talk about how meeting Dr. Lieff opened my eyes to the importance of keeping the cells in our body healthy for our future health, productivity, and results and that I had never thought about my health through this lens. His book explores the cellular conversation as a new way of understanding that our cells have constant, intelligent chatter between them, showing there is no separation of brain-body, mind-body or brain-immune and It got me thinking about neurogenesis, (how we create new cells in the brain) reminding me to take my Omega 3-DHA to increase Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor, (which is the best way to produce new brain cells) and the ties to keeping our brain cells healthy for learning, memory and retention. But what else is there? What are some other ways that I can look at health, wellness and productivity at the cellular level? Which Leads us to This Week's Brain Fact Friday Have you ever wondered why we get brain fog, or have a harder time thinking when we are stressed? Dr. Jon Lieff shared with me why this happens, and I think it's important that everyone understands this function of our brain and body. Did you know that the brain and immune system work together? T-cells (an essential part of the immune system, a type of leukocyte or white blood cell) sends a message to the neurons (the cells in the brain and nervous system) to stop making memory cells (when you are stressed) and you get brain fog. Dr. Lieff reminded us in our interview that stress is “at the interface of brain function and inflammation” and that “T cells are essential for dealing with stress…Both brain and immune cells pick up perceptions of stress. Brief stress related to learning or the unexpected can be helpful in stimulating positive brain activity. However, chronic stress (where the body has no way to break from a stressor) can trigger damaging inflammation.”[iii] We have all heard that stress causes inflammation in the body, that “leads to a number of chronic health conditions”[iv] like cancer and viral infections and Dr. Lieff comes to the conclusion that “all processes in the human body, in all animals and plants, and in microbe communities as well, are based on conversations and group decision making among cells.”[v] One of the many fascinating parts of my interview with Dr. Lieff, that I have had many messages about, was where he explained that no one knew there were immune cells near the brain. Cerebral fluid (a colorless fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord) he explained “is also for communication and that t-cells get into this fluid and send messages to neurons.”[vi] When there is an infection in our body, the immune cells send “a sick feeling” to our body signaling us to pay attention to what we are feeling and take a rest or break so that healing can take place. Have you ever felt that feeling? You are working and something feels off in your body? Stefanie Faye mentioned the concept of “interoception” (being able to perceive the sensations from inside the body in episode #39[vii] and Dr. Daniel Stickler mentioned it in on episode #96[viii] with an athlete's ability to read their body and not overtrain. Dr. Lieff shared that when everything is well within the body, “T cells signal to the brain that conditions are safe for normal activity” (page 35) but the minute there is an infection, or trauma, “the T cells change their messages to the brain to signal that the body is sick and the brain must slow down” until the t cells recognize that it is ok to return back to normal. We should be able to feel this shift in the body. This is a recent discovery that can serve us well to keep us operating at our highest levels possible. We must understand that our cells are smart, and that they communicate with each other, but this is just the beginning. What are some simple steps we can take to strengthen our brain? We will dive deeper into this next week with our interview with Dr. James Hardt[ix], who has worked with Tony Robbins, Michael Jackson, leaders of Microsoft, IBM and other high-powered executives to elevate states of intelligence and consciousness, but until then, here are my tips for keeping a healthy brain-body-immune system. HOW TO STRENGTHEN YOUR BRAIN-BODY-IMMUNE SYSTEM? UNDERSTAND YOUR PATTERNS AND BRAIN STATE: If our brain and immune system are closely tied, it makes sense to me that we should understand something about how our brains work. Do you know the brain state you are in, how you operate, and how to switch between different brain states to improve your productivity? We have talked about the importance of switching between different networks in the brain to improve levels of creativity, with episode #48[x] on Brain Network Theory (bringing us to heightened perception with GAMMA brain waves,  and Stefanie Faye just released an article that affirms “the more we start to notice the rhythms we have in our brain states, moods, relationships, and day to day functioning, the better we get at cultivating the right conditions ahead of time, in a preventative, systems-thinking and growth-oriented way.”[xi] Through the brain mapping she does, Faye believes that people who experience brain fog are operating with THETA BRAIN WAVES (4-8 HZ) which is slower than needed for higher levels of productivity experienced at the ALPHA (9-13 level). Dr. James Hardt, who will take us deeper into the power of changing our brain states to change our life, next week, reminds us that “the average person's brain state shows low ALPHA (where creativity exists) and high BETA (stress)” whether it's time urgency, financial stress, or health related, this type of stress we know leads to dis-ease in the body. I do look forward to sharing more on this topic next week, and diving deeper, as I think we have only just started to scratch the surface of how to reach these higher levels of thinking with our last interview with expert in Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Dr. Howard Rankin on “How Not to Think[xii]” and if we were to brain map ourselves, it would be very clear, that most of us do not think—or we think far less than we think we think. That's it for this week's Brain Fact Friday on understanding how the brain-body, mind-body and brain-immune system work together and I hope that you have taken away something useful to help you to understand how we get brain fog, vs mental clarity, with some thoughts on moving to new brain wave levels for improved results. The key to this week's brain fact is that switching brain states takes focused effort. We must first of all be aware of where we are, (Dr. Hardt thinks most of us are at the BETA STATE) before we can move to a new state.   The only way I know of to move to the ALPHA STATE is through a state of wakeful relaxation that can be cultivated with a mindfulness/meditation practice, or from deep thinking that takes us into our non-conscious mind that World Renowned Neuroscientist Dr. Carolyn Leaf explains in our bonus interview on “Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess.[xiii] From the research I am doing on Dr. Hardt, I can see there are quicker and easier ways to reach these higher levels and I look forward to sharing them with you. If you would like to see Stefanie Faye's recent article on “3 Ways to Get Rid of Brain Fog and Increase Mental Clarity” I will link her article in the show notes. Will see you next week with Dr. James Hardt, and I do look forward to sharing with you the new workshops we are creating for schools and workplace, as we begin to implement these ideas into our classrooms and workplaces. Stay tuned, and in the meantime, you can see what we have been doing on our website at www.achieveit360.com .   REFERENCES: [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #143 with Dr. Jon Lieff on “The Secret Language of Cells” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/jon-lieff-md-on-the-secret-language-of-cells-what-biological-conversations-tell-us-about-the-brain-body-connection/ [ii] The Secret Language of Cells: What Biological Conversation Tells Us About the Brain-Body Connection by Jon Lieff, MD. September 22, 2020 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084HKZ4HK/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 [iii] IBID page 91 [iv] Here's How Chronic Stress and Inflammation Are Linked by Denise Shipani October 16, 2018 https://www.everydayhealth.com/wellness/united-states-of-stress/link-between-stress-inflammation/ [v] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #143 with Dr. Jon Lieff on “The Secret Language of Cells” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/jon-lieff-md-on-the-secret-language-of-cells-what-biological-conversations-tell-us-about-the-brain-body-connection/ Page 2 [vi] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #143 with Dr. Jon Lieff on “The Secret Language of Cells” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/jon-lieff-md-on-the-secret-language-of-cells-what-biological-conversations-tell-us-about-the-brain-body-connection/ [vii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #39 with Stefanie Faye on “Using Neuroscience to Improve our Mindset, Self-Regulation and Self-Awareness” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/neuroscience-researcher-stefanie-faye-on-using-neuroscience-to-improve-our-mindset-self-regulation-and-self-awareness/ [viii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #96 with Dr. Daniel Stickler on “Expanding Awareness for Limitless Peak Performance, Health, Longevity and Intelligence” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dr-daniel-stickler-on-expanding-awareness-for-limitless-peak-performance-health-longevity-and-intelligence/ [ix] Change Your Brain Waves, Change Your Life with Dr. James Hardt Published on YouTube September 10, 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_00ttCddWM [x] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #48 on “Brain Network Theory: Using Neuroscience to Stay Productive During Times of Change and Chaos” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-network-theory-using-neuroscience-to-stay-productive-during-times-of-change-and-chaos/ [xi] Stefanie Faye “3 Ways to Get Rid of Brain Fog: And Increase Mental Clarity”  Published July 14, 2021 https://stefaniefaye.com/articles/3-ways-to-get-rid-of-brain-fog-and-increase-mental-clarity/ [xii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #96 on “How Not to Think” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/expert-in-psychology-cognitive-neuroscience-and-neurotechnology-howard-rankin-phd-on-how-not-to-think/ [xiii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast BONUS EPISODE with World Renowned Neuroscientist Dr. Caroline Leaf on “Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety and Toxic Thinking” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/worldrenownedneuroscientistdr-caroline-leaf-oncleaningup-your-mentalmess5-simplescientifically-proven-stepsto-reduceanxiety-and-toxic-thinking/

Who hasn't dealt with anxiety and depression, especially after this pandemic!? But what do we do about it? Thankfully, I have the incredible communication pathologist and cognitive neuroscientist, Dr. Caroline Leaf, with us to share her 5 step process to managing our MINDS. She is here to shift the narrative about mental health and encourage us to put a stop to the shame spiral once and for all. Let's get the tools we need, stop repressing, start self-regulating, and clean up our mental mess! About The Guest:Dr. Caroline Leaf is a communication pathologist and cognitive neuroscientist with a Masters and PhD in Communication Pathology and a BSc Logopaedics, specializing in cognitive and metacognitive neuropsychology. Since the early 1980s she has researched the mind-brain connection, the nature of mental health, and the formation of memory. She was one of the first in her field to study how the brain can change (neuroplasticity) with directed mind input. 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 (called the Geodesic Information Processing theory) of how we think, build memory, and learn, into tools and processes 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 to succeed in every area of their lives, including school, university, and the workplace. Finding Dr. Caroline Leaf:Website: https://drleaf.com/ Read Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic ThinkingListen to her podcast: CLEANING UP THE MENTAL MESS with Dr. Caroline LeafTwitter & Instagram: @drcarolineleafYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DrCarolineLeaf Review this podcast on Apple Podcast using this LINK and when you DM me the screen shot, I buy you my $299 video course as a thank you! To pre-order Overcome Your Villains NOW and get the bonus bundle click here: https://overcomeyourvillains.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, for Brain Fact Friday and episode #135 on my biggest AHA moment from EPISODE #134 with Kristen Holmes, the VP of Performance Science of WHOOP[i], a wearable personal fitness and health coach that measures sleep, strain, and recovery. To see the images in the show notes, and Andrea's Data, click here. In Today’s Brain Fact Friday You Will Learn: ✔︎ How the wearable health tracker WHOOP measures recovery. ✔︎ Why this data is useful for athletes, and humans in general, for mitigating physical, mental, and emotional stress. ✔︎ Strategies to improve recovery and decrease physical and psychological stress. ✔︎ See Andrea’s data and how she achieved her highest recovery rates using these strategies. ✔︎ How you can measure your own recovery to improve performance and resiliency. Welcome back, I'm Andrea Samadi, a former educator who has been fascinated with understanding the science behind high performance strategies in schools, sports, and the workplace for the past 20 years. If you have been listening to our podcast, you will know that we’ve uncovered that if we want to improve our social and emotional skills, and experience success in our work and personal lives, it all begins with an understanding of our brain. The purpose of this podcast is to bring the most current brain research to you, so you can make it applicable in your life whether you are a teacher in the classroom, or using these ideas to improve productivity and results in your workplace. As I am researching and learning new ideas, I’m also implementing them myself, and making connections to past speakers, so that we can all benefit from the research that is emerging in this new field of educational neuroscience. If you listened to EPISODE #134[ii] with Kristen Holmes, the VP of Performance Science with WHOOP whose Ph.D. work is in multilevel interactions of stress and circadian behavior[iii] or the impact of light on sleep optimization, you’ll know that I first came across Kristen while researching Heart Rate Variability for EPISODE #125[iv] where I started to see how important this one measurement was for tracking health, recovery, and resilience which is crucial to brain health and performance. After listening to the WHOOP podcast, with Founder Will Ahmed, I joined the community so that I could measure my HRV that I learned from Neurohacker Collective[v] is “the most important biomarker”[vi] --a measure that captures what’s going on in a cell at any given moment that can serve as an early warning system for your health.  As someone who has been working hard to make use of every second of the day, I thought, “I’ve got to know this number if I want to be operating at my highest capacity.” No one wants to intentionally leave anything on the table to chance or luck and staying on top of these metrics is a guaranteed way to take the guesswork out of human performance. Which leads us to this week’s Brain Fact Friday with a powerful AHA Moment I had during the interview with Kristen Holmes. After a month of measuring my data, and looking at the daily recovery score, I adjusted my behavior based on that number, and thought that recovery was based on the idea that I had to let my body recover physically after those days that I had high strain or exercised harder than usual. Even without measuring this data, we have a pretty good idea of days that we need to rest, based on how we feel.  I looked at the recovery score each morning, and it was never showing GREEN which would be 66%-100% recovered. My recovery score (that you can see a snapshot of in the show notes) was either yellow (recovering) or RED (not ready to take on strain) that I thought meant give your body more rest to prevent injury.  I even had a chart that told me that multiple days above my optimal strain targets (that averaged a score of 16) will promote fitness gains, but to dedicate time to rest if I continue this behavior, so I told Kristen that I actually stopped some of my workouts.   My thinking was close, but not exactly accurate, and since I’m new to measuring this data, was missing some key information that I would learn from Kristen. What would you think recovery means?  When you are tired mentally and physically, how do you restore yourself?  There is a way to use this data to improve future performance, that goes beyond what I think we would usually think about, and this was the biggest AHA Moment I had with my interview with Kristen Holmes, and also from listening to the podcast WHOOP did with Patrick Mahomes[vii], a world-class athlete who quantified the strain of his NFL season using the WHOOP device.  I thought it was crazy to see that he averaged over 20 for strain on game days and learned to change his behavior (both mentally and physically) to recover after these high intensity days. Bringing us to this week’s BRAIN FACT FRIDAY: DID YOU KNOW that recovery is “a measurement of physiological stress (how our body responds to our environment, or the demands we are putting on our physical body with our workouts), and psychological stress (manifested from our Autonomic Nervous System)?  Patrick Mahomes talked about the mental aspect of his training in depth, going into detail of how he uses visualization and the importance of his mental mindset, in addition to working on the fundamentals, for his success. Kristen Holmes reminded me that recovery is based on “how well you are coping with external stress”[viii] and the WHOOP device measures this score based on 4 measurements which each are important, but the first two gave me the insight I needed to better understand how we can measure and improve recovery. HRV: heart rate variability or the distance measured between our heartbeats. “The higher your HRV (the more variability you have between heartbeats), the more your nervous system is in tune with your environment, and the better you’ll perform. A lot of things affect your HRV, with stress as the most common factor”[ix] and HRV will be low when you are exercising at a high capacity and really pushing it and goes back up higher when you allow your body the rest and recovery needed for repair.  HRV levels can tend to be lower when you are tired and go higher when you get enough sleep. Activity level, stress, illness, hydration, alcohol consumption, nutrition and how tired you are can all impact your HRV levels. Sleep: how much you needed vs what you actually are getting, and how much sleep you spend at each sleep stage. Resting heart rate: that’s an indicator of physical fitness and heart function. Respiratory Rate: (that usually doesn’t usually change from day to day, but is something to pay attention to, if this measurement does change.” Kristen went on to explain that recovery is “a measurement of physiological stress (how our body responds to our environment, or the demands we are putting on our physical body with our workouts), and psychological stress (manifested from our Autonomic Nervous System). And that the “more recovered you are, the more responsive your heart will be to both demands of the ANS—and the less recovered, the less responsive you will be.”  If your recovery score is low, and you are trying to run from a tiger (as an example) you won’t be as responsive to the stress, or if your recovery score is low, and you are hoping to perform at work or school, you will not have the reservoirs of fuel that you could have, if you had done things differently, and were operating from a highly recovered score. Since the WHOOP recovery score correlates to your HRV score, for those who don’t use the WHOOP device can still use their HRV score (you can measure this for FREE using an app on your phone)[x] and remember that “the more variability you have between heart beats (or the higher your HRV score) the more capable you are of adapting to external stress (relationship stress, financial stress, or the stress our body goes under with the foods we are putting into it etc.).” (Kristen Holmes) So here was my AHA Moment: Recovery was lower not because of too much exercise, but not enough sleep, hydration, and other physical stressors. What strategies do you have to mitigate your daily stress? What is your relationship with light, and do you know how to use light to help your circadian rhythm?  Can you improve your sleep quantity and quality? Some great questions to think about with this AHA Moment, making me reflect on some strategies from past episodes that can help improve the psychological stressors to improve recovery, and then I was speaking to a colleague from Israel, named Shlomit, who was sharing with me the turmoil her country has been experiencing with the missile attacks earlier this month.[xi] She mentioned to me the psychological and mental conflict these attacks have had on many people in her area, disrupting their daily life and bringing uncertainty, fear and stress. Their peace and safety were taken away in a heartbeat, and she realized this was something she had taken for granted for so long. She didn’t ever worry about not having safety and security in her own home and suddenly she is sharing a bomb shelter with another family and not even sure she can finish her shower, for fear of evacuation. Much like the freedom that many people around the world lost during the Pandemic, and the upheaval this time has caused families worldwide. During this conversation, Shlomit asked me if I knew the meaning of the word “Shalom” and although I had heard this word often, especially during Passover, I couldn’t give her the meaning. She told me it meant “peace” and was also used to say hello or goodbye, and that her name, Schlomit, was the feminine version of the word peace and that although there was much fear, turmoil, stress and uncertainty in her world, she knew she had to savor the peace in her life, and never take this freedom for granted again the future. My AHA moment with Kristen, on the importance of managing psychological stress, paired with my conversation with Schlomit, reminded me to look back at the bonus episode we did with Dr. Carolyn Leaf[xii], on Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess[xiii]: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety and Toxic Thinking for our strategies to improve psychological well-being, that will improve our recovery score. You can download her APP Neurocycle[xiv] (formerly called the Switch App) that walks you through the 5-step process that I cover in my review of her book,[xv] based on 38 years of research, on how to change your brain (which is neuroplasticity in action) and get rid of toxic thoughts through self-awareness, journaling and reflecting. These 5 steps do take some time, but if you want to clean up your mental mess and close the gaps you might have with energy you are wasting on toxic thinking, it’s important to do this work. STEP 1: Gather Awareness (of what’s bothering you). We’ve all heard of the importance of knowing our emotions, or when we name what’s bothering us, we can tame it[iv]. What about those worries that we name, and they don’t go away? These worries or fears really can impact our mental health, and we have seen with our recovery score, can impact our health and performance. If you have something on your mind, the first thing you can do is to take out a journal, and write out some of the worries that are taking space in your mind. I’ve also heard this being called a CRAP Board, where you write out all of your conflicts, resistances, anxieties and problems. Once you have gotten them out of your head, and see them on paper, it’s easier to look at them and think “am I worrying about something that has not happened yet?” If so, get it out of your head, and stop worrying about things that may or may not happen in the future. Schlomit reminded me to savor the peace and safety in your day, as it can be quickly taken away, like hers was. STEP 2: Reflect and Analyze: Answer, Ask and Discuss Some Questions to Find the Root Cause of Your Emotions or What’s Bothering You. This is how we pull thoughts from our non-conscious mind to our conscious mind, where it becomes weaker. It’s no longer suppressed but acknowledged. Use your mind to ask yourself questions, and it will be interesting to see what comes up. This process takes time, reflection and daily effort. Our emotions are unique signals to learn how to cope with challenges, but over time, they will damage our brain with consistent worry.  See if you can get a new perspective on what you are worrying about. Is there anything positive you can gather from your insight? STEP 3: Write out what you discover from step 2. Begin to capture what’s bothering you and see if you can come up with root causes, or why you think this worry is on your mind. Learn to write in pictures, add color, shapes. Learn how to write in a metacog  formula.[v] STEP 4: Recheck and Edit What You Have Written Down. Re-read what you have written and see what comes up. Can you add more to your answer to help make more sense of it? Dig deeper, look for patterns, triggers and keep looking for the root cause of the problem that’s occupying your mind. STEP 5: Practice and Apply Through Active Reach. Look at what you have written and see if you can come up with an action statement to practice what you have learned from your introspection.  You will read out your daily Aha Moment 7x a day to remind yourself what you are re-shaping, or make it easy, and let the app or your phone send you a reminder. Example: I am worrying about xyz because I am afraid of xyz…but this hasn’t happened, and most likely will not happen, so this worry is wasting my time. If it happens one day, I will deal with this problem then, but not wasting the mental energy worrying about something that I cannot control. I can control my reaction to my worry. So in my journal, I wrote out my worries like branches on a tree, and the trunk she says is the perspective of the thought. I begin to look at my worries from a different angle or perspective. Right here you should notice a shift in energy about the problem. I started to see mine differently here looking at it from a distance. Then the roots of the tree are the origin story, or root of why I am worrying about this problem, which is what we want to uncover. This activity will give you an incredible amount of self-awareness. The next day, I had my highest recovery day in the past month:   If you have something like this on your mind, I highly suggest taking the time to upload the app on your phone, grab a journal and begin the work to eliminate and clean up your mental mess. You could also learn more about Resonance Frequency Breathing[xvi], that Kristen Holmes suggested as “the best way to improve HRV, sleep, recovery and reduce anxiety.” (Kristen Holmes, WHOOP). This type of breathing is when the frequency of our breath matches the frequency of our heart, bringing coherence, giving us a stronger ANS (Autonomic NS) and allows us to control our stress response better, and become resilient to physical, mental and emotional stressors. To review this week’s Brain Fact: DID YOU KNOW that recovery is “a measurement of physiological stress (how our body responds to our environment, or the demands we are putting on our physical body with our workouts), and psychological stress (manifested from our Autonomic Nervous System)?  It’s important that we have strategies in place to mitigate our physiological and psychological stress. Once you have these strategies in place, (like Dr. Leaf’s 5 steps to Cleaning Up Our Mental Mess), Meditation, or what Kristen suggested as the best way to improve HRV, sleep, recovery and reduce anxiety, with Resonance Frequency Breathing, it’s as simple of implementing them, measuring how your recovery has improved and then knowing when to add more strain. The key is to not just guess with these numbers. If you have a passion to improve your performance and life and are human, I highly recommend looking at the WHOOP device to learn more about your recovery score. Episode #134 with Kristen Holmes received so much feedback and interest from high level performers, past podcast guests, athletes, Google executives, people in the health and wellness industry, from around the world, letting me know how much they love this wearable health and wellness tracker. I look forward to seeing you next week with another case study, this one is a fascinating story of Lois Letchford, whose son failed first grade, could only read 10 words, had no strengths, and was given a low IQ. Lois used the principles from Dr. Immordino-Yang, from interview #100, and her son was able to defy the odds, and graduated from Oxford University with his Ph.D. in 2018. I can’t wait to share her story with you, but until then, have a good weekend. See you next week.   RESOURCES: Recovery Tips from Leading WHOOP Members https://www.whoop.com/thelocker/recovery-tips-from-leading-whoop-users/ REFERENCES: [i] https://www.whoop.com/ [ii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #134 with Kristen Holmes, VP of Performance Science of WHOOP.com on “Unlocking a Better You: Measuring Sleep, Recovery and Strain” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/kristen-holmes-from-whoopcom-on-unlocking-a-better-you-measuring-sleep-recovery-and-strain/ [iii] Let there be circadian light Feb.20, 2020 University of Washington Health Sciences https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200220141731.htm [iv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #125 “What is Heart Rate Variability and Why is it Important for Tracking Health, Recovery and Resilience”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/what-is-hrv-and-why-is-it-important-for-tracking-health-recovery-and-resilience-with-andrea-samadi/ [v] https://neurohacker.com/ [vi] Biomarkers https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/science/biomarkers/index.cfm [vii] Patrick Mahomes’ WHOOP Data: Quantifying the Strain of an NFL Season by Mark Van Deusen https://www.whoop.com/thelocker/patrick-mahomes-heart-rate-strain-data/?utm_source=members&utm_campaign=the-locker&utm_medium=email&utm_content=patrick-mahomes-heart-rate-strain-data&_ke=eyJrbF9jb21wYW55X2lkIjogIlBBQm5XSyIsICJrbF9lbWFpbCI6ICJhbmRyZWFAYWNoaWV2ZWl0MzYwLmNvbSJ9 [viii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #134 with Kristen Holmes, VP of Performance Science of WHOOP.com on “Unlocking a Better You: Measuring Sleep, Recovery and Strain” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/kristen-holmes-from-whoopcom-on-unlocking-a-better-you-measuring-sleep-recovery-and-strain/ [ix] IBID [x] https://welltory.com/ [xi] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-57094737 [xii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast BONUS EPISODE with Dr. Carolyn Leaf on “Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety and Toxic Thinking” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/worldrenownedneuroscientistdr-caroline-leaf-oncleaningup-your-mentalmess5-simplescientifically-proven-stepsto-reduceanxiety-and-toxic-thinking/ [xiii] Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress and Toxic Thinking by Dr. Caroline Leaf AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW (March 2, 2021)  https://www.amazon.com/Cleaning-Your-Mental-Mess-Scientifically/dp/0801093457 [xiv]https://theswitch.app/?_ke=eyJrbF9jb21wYW55X2lkIjogIktxZ0g5ZCIsICJrbF9lbWFpbCI6ICJhbmRyZWEuc2FtYWRpQGNveC5uZXQifQ%3D%3D [xv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #106 Review of Neuroscientist and Best-Selling Author Dr. Carolyn Leaf’s “Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/book-and-app-review-of-neuroscientist-and-best-selling-author-dr-caroline-leafs-cleaning-up-your-mental-mess-coming-march-2-20201/ [xvi] Resonance Frequency Breathing Published on YouTube Sept. 25, 2020  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIi1Tc5i8s4&t=694s

On this week's episode of Trevor Talks, we are joined by World-Renowned Neuroscientist, Mental Health Expert, and Bestselling Author Dr. Caroline Leaf! Join us for a conversation about the brain and steps you can take RIGHT NOW to help clean up your mental mess! With over 30 years of clinical practice, Dr. Leaf has helped hundreds of thousands of people learn how to use their mind to detox and grow their brain to succeed in every area of their lives including school, university, and the workplace. Her new book, Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking, is available everywhere NOW!Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess BookNeurocycle App

(00:00-9:21): Brian and Aubrey reacted to Rep. Tim Ryan's speech on the House floor after the vast majority of House Republicans voted against an independent commission to investigate the January 6 attack on the Capitol. (9:21-18:53): Does in-person worship really matter? Are people who have been attending church online going to come back for in-person worship? Brian and Aubrey discussed Frederick Schmidt's Patheos article, “The Covid-19 Test: Do we really believe church is necessary?” (18:53-28:13): How can we develop spiritual practices? Brian and Aubrey shared their thoughts on Brandy Bagar-Fraley's Christianity Today article, “Read God's Words. Then Write Your Own.” (28:13-40:37): Brian and Aubrey chatted about their TOP FIVE Musicals. Aubrey's #2 pick was Wicked and Brian's #2 pick was Les Misérables. For the #1 spot, they both chose Hamilton! (40:37-50:03): Brian and Aubrey discussed Milton Quintanilla's Christian Headlines article, “Just 16 Percent of Millennials Classify as Born-Again Christians, Study Shows.” They also chatted about an interview with Matt Chandler about “Refuting Moral Therapeutic Deism.” (50:03-1:09:11): Dr. Caroline Leaf, Cognitive Neuroscientist, Bestselling Author, and Host of the podcast, “Cleaning Up The Mental Mess,” joined Brian and Aubrey to chat about her new book, “Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking and the Neurocycle app. Learn more about Dr. Leaf at drleaf.com and connect with her on Twitter at @DrCarolineLeaf (1:09:11-1:17:17): Brian and Aubrey talked about legacy and reacted to Bruce Garlow's Obituary, which he wrote himself.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reference made to Dr, Caroline Leaf. Get her latest book, Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking , Click Here!I start this episode off with a testimony of reducing my own toxic thoughts and the stress it caused. Learn from my mistakes in this episode and discover six brain boosters to help you find your voice, share your voice, and even market your voice.For more information on free resources, check out iKingsMedia.com

Toxic habits can be little pests that eventually grow out of control. We often don't notice negative behaviors until a relationship has been fractured. Listen in and learn tips to be able to notice toxic habits that may be lingering in your life.  We can only change and transform toxic behaviors when we know how to identify them.Resource: Book: Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking by Dr. Caroline Leaf

For the second primary episode (we have a bonus episode each month) we talk with Chaplain Lou Ramos of Chicago concerning Depression and Anxiety. Lou discusses the importance of being upfront about depression and anxiety and gives us a very helpful acronym for guidance in discussing the subject with loved ones. The acronym is TALK (Time to Talk, Ask directly about the situation, Listen to what they say, Keep safety in mind). Here are some of the resources that Lou recommends: Switch on Your Brain: The Key to Peak Happiness, Thinking, and Health - https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0801018390/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_GYPRJCVD8KVYY06FNBYZ Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking - https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0801093457/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_W67GXW9AVPWP0BFWMFKW Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life - https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0310362725/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_DD025ADBGBZ91C2BHW6Q The book Robert mentions during the episode is Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl - https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0807067997/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_YV5ZVPW3AR27A7G2J4J6 Please share your thoughts and suggestions with us through our Twitter handle - https://twitter.com/ChaplainCWT --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ccwt/message

Join us this week with Dr. Caroline Leaf, as she shares Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic ThinkingDr. Caroline Leaf is a neuroscientist specializing in cognitive and metacognitive neuropsychology. Since the early 1980s, she has researched the mind-brain connection, the nature of mental health, and the formation of memory.Connect with us:- Bobby's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobby-koneru-md-6873198- Bobby's Twitter - https://twitter.com/konerumd- Deepti's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepti-agarwal

Director of Inner Healing at Center for New Medicine, Virginia Dixon, discusses how to prepare for the holiday gatherings with family that may be emotionally triggering. We dive into why reuniting with family can be so difficult for many and Virginia provides tangible steps we can take to set boundaries, feel less triggered, and begin to heal old wounds. “...we are all perfected by the things we suffer. So if we can begin to look at the holidays, not as something we dread in terms of encountering everyone, but if we can go through the exercise of understanding how we love, how we've attached, and decide how we would like to show up.” Interview Links https://www.shopcfnmedicine.com/products/tranquilityformula60c?_pos=1&_sid=636c08214&_ss=r&variant=17637079416902 (Perfectly Healthy Supplements - Tranquility Formula) https://amzn.to/2I6t8FD (How We Love by Milan Yerkovich) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB_aNgVWFHk (Youtube video on the benefits of EVOX by Liliana Partida) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8RWMfS56zQ (Youtube video on REST and Healing by Virginia Dixon) https://amzn.to/36GVHDV (The Body Keeps the Score by Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk) https://amzn.to/3jJIePe (Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess, Scientifically-Proven Steps to Reduce Stress, Anxiety and Toxic Thinking by Dr. Caroline Leaf) https://amzn.to/3jEoJYd (Daring Greatly by Brene Brown) https://amzn.to/2GI62o0 (Soul Hunger, Satisfy Your Heart's Deepest Longings by Otis Ledbetter) https://www.shopcfnmedicine.com/products/tranquilityformula60c?_pos=1&_sid=636c08214&_ss=r&variant=17637079416902 (Perfectly Healthy Supplements - Tranquility Formula) Where to Find Virginia Dixon https://www.cfnmedicine.com/virginia-dixon (Center for New Medicine Bio) Where to Find Host, Leigh Ann Lindsey https://www.leighannlindsey.com/ (Website) https://www.instagram.com/leighannlindsey/ (Instagram) Center for New Medicine Information https://www.cfnmedicine.com/ (Website) Phone Number: (949) 680-1880 Email: info@cfnmedicine.com