Dr. Caroline Leaf Podcast

In this podcast I talk about the importance of step 5 in my Neurocycle process: the active reach. This is a replay of a Neurolive webinar I did on my app. For the full AD-FREE episode please see neurocycle.app. In case you haven’t listened to any of my other podcasts or read any of my books or research, the Neurocycle is a way to harness our thinking power that I have developed and researched over the past three decades (I discuss this in detail in my book Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess and my app Neurocycle). It has 5 steps. The first step is to 1. gather awareness of how we feel mentally and physically and our perspective when we are dealing with a past wound. The second step is to 2. reflect on how we feel. Then we 3. write down our reflections to help organize our thinking. The fourth step is to 4. recheck: think about what our thoughts and feelings are trying to tell us. What does it say about what happened to us? What is our “antidote”— how will we work through how our thoughts are affecting us? Lastly,

In this podcast I talk about how to find peace amid the chaos of life.  Every so often, I feel like my peace is threatened, especially when faced with multiple, competing demands at the same time, mixed in with relationship struggles or concern for a loved one. It doesn’t help that there is so much going on in the world around—it is easy to feel overwhelmed and like everything is a mess! 

In this podcast I talk about a powerful way to rest and recharge the brain: thinker moments!   This is a replay of a live webinar I did for my 2024 Brain Detox Challenge on my app Neurocycle. Listen AD-FREE here: https://www.neurocycle.app/

In this podcast I talk about how to manage being the “villain” in someone else’s story. It is impossible to always be the “good guy” in life. You may not see yourself as the villain, but someone else might. This is often the case with people you have had a more intense relationship with, which may have ended badly, or is in the process of ending. It can be incredibly frustrating process, and hard to deal with, especially if it’s a close friend or family member. 

This podcast is a recent replay of a Neurolive webinar I did on my app for my 2024 Brain Detox Challenge on the truth behind compassion fatigue. For more information on joining this challenge and watching my most recent webinars, see https://drleaf.com/pages/brain-detox-challenge. 

In this podcast I talk about the problem with the phrase “time heals all”.  There are so many phrases that we use without really thinking of their impact until it hits us—we are in a place where we experience first-hand the pain that a blithe statement, meant as comfort, can cause, even something as simple as “time heals all”. So why does the phrase “time heals all wounds” feel so frustrating and untrue at certain times in our lives?

In this podcast I talk to NASA astronaut, Columbia professor, speaker, podcast host and bestselling author Dr. Mike Massimino about not accepting failure, the power of passion and grit, committing to your dreams, and so much mor.e  Get his book here: https://www.amazon.com/Moonshot-Astronauts-Guide-Achieving-Impossible/dp/030683264X

Join my annual Brain Detox Challenge here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://drleaf.com/pages/brain-detox-challenge#?utm_medium=sms&utm_source=attentive&utm_campaign=Message-01-16-24-10:28⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ In this podcast how recognizing and embracing our faults is a powerful way of increasing our mental resilience and brain health. As hard as it is, recognizing our own faults is a powerful way of developing mind management skills that will teach us how to be more self-aware so that we can better regulate the way that we show up in the world and how our thoughts and choices affect our wellbeing.

Join my annual Brain Detox Challenge here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://drleaf.com/pages/brain-detox-challenge#?utm_medium=sms&utm_source=attentive&utm_campaign=Message-01-16-24-10:28⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ In this podcast I talk to developmental psychologist, professor, and podcaster Dr. Aliza Pressman about raising good humans, her amazing new book on parenting, transforming the lives of others, and so much more! https://draliza.com/pre-order/

Join my annual Brain Detox Challenge here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://drleaf.com/pages/brain-detox-challenge#?utm_medium=sms&utm_source=attentive&utm_campaign=Message-01-16-24-10:28⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ In this podcast I talk about why curiosity is great for our mind and brain health. Curiosity helps you expand your life experiences, move forward, grow, improve your autonomy, change your brain health for the better, learn to process what you go through, and can increase your wellbeing and longevity. It helps you develop a deeper and richer understanding of yourself, your thoughts, your mental and emotional wellbeing, and the world around you. 

In this podcast I speak with psychologist, Harvard professor and bestselling author Dr. Ellen Langer about what mindfulness is, how our minds affect our mental and physical wellbeing, what mind over matter really means, and so much more! Jon my annual Brain Detox Challenge here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://drleaf.com/pages/brain-detox-challenge#?utm_medium=sms&utm_source=attentive&utm_campaign=Message-01-16-24-10:28⁠⁠⁠⁠

In this podcast I talk about the power of the nonconscious mind, and the different parts of the mind and how they work together.  This is a replay of a live webinar I did for my 2024 Brain Detox Challenge on my app Neurocycle. For more information on the challenge and watching my upcoming live webinars, see https://drleaf.com/pages/brain-detox-challenge To listen to the podcast where I talk about fiction and the mind, see https://drleaf.com/blogs/news/how-to-live-a-good-life-tips-from-a-centenarian For more on the different parts of the mind, see my blog on this topic https://drleaf.com/blogs/news/the-difference-between-the-nonconscious-subconscious-conscious-mind?_pos=1&_sid=afe297eca&_ss=r

In this podcast I talk to master strategist, best-selling author and speaker Rory Vaden about finding the question you are the answer to and the problem only you can solve, how to multiply your time, when to say no, and so much more! Jon my annual Brain Detox Challenge here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://drleaf.com/pages/brain-detox-challenge#?utm_medium=sms&utm_source=attentive&utm_campaign=Message-01-16-24-10:28⁠⁠⁠⁠

In this podcast I talk about how you can save yourself from the intrusive thoughts that are affecting you.  It is important to realize that you are your mind, and your mind runs your brain and body. This means that you have a lot of control over your life. So, even though you are the one who has to sit with the thoughts that make you feel so much pain or frustration that you will do anything to avoid them, that you are the one who has to deal with those “would have, should have, could have, if only” thoughts that affect your wellbeing, that you are the one who has to hear the endless round of shame and hatred in your head that makes you think less of yourself, and that you are the one being crippled by all those intrusive thoughts, you also have the power to change ALL of this.  Jon my annual Brain Detox Challenge here: ⁠⁠⁠https://drleaf.com/pages/brain-detox-challenge#?utm_medium=sms&utm_source=attentive&utm_campaign=Message-01-16-24-10:28⁠⁠⁠

In this podcast I talk to Tay Lautner, registered nurse, mental health advocate and co-host of the popular podcast The Squeeze, about her experiences as a health care provider over Covid, why her and her husband started their podcast, how she manages her mental health while living in the public eye, and so much more! Jon my annual Brain Detox Challenge here: ⁠⁠https://drleaf.com/pages/brain-detox-challenge#?utm_medium=sms&utm_source=attentive&utm_campaign=Message-01-16-24-10:28⁠⁠

In this podcast I talk about what happens when we develop an overreliance on therapy, and how this can potentially affect our ability to work on our coping skills and self-reliance. Jon my annual Brain Detox Challenge here: ⁠https://drleaf.com/pages/brain-detox-challenge#?utm_medium=sms&utm_source=attentive&utm_campaign=Message-01-16-24-10:28⁠ One Nation Under Therapy book: https://www.amazon.com/One-Nation-Under-Therapy-Self-Reliance/dp/0312304447

Jon my annual Brain Detox Challenge here: https://drleaf.com/pages/brain-detox-challenge#?utm_medium=sms&utm_source=attentive&utm_campaign=Message-01-16-24-10:28 In this podcast I talk about the negative effects of “toxic positivity”, and why we don’t have to be happy or positive all the time.  Although this may sound counterintuitive, too much positivity can be toxic. It can harm people who are going through difficult times, and make them feel ashamed for experiencing normal human emotions like sadness, grief, depression, anger, and so on. If someone is made to feel that things have got to be positive all the time, then they may think that if they feel bad in some way, there must be something wrong with them, which can exacerbate their mental distress at a time when they need support and community. 

Jon my annual Brain Detox Challenge here: https://drleaf.com/pages/brain-detox-challenge#?utm_medium=sms&utm_source=attentive&utm_campaign=Message-01-16-24-10:28 In this podcast I talk to professional therapists and codirectors of the Yellow Chair Collective Soo Jin Lee and Linda Yoon about the aftereffects of anti-Asian hate during the pandemic, dealing with racial trauma, understanding family history and generational trauma, their amazing new book Where I Belong, and so much more! https://www.whereibelongthebook.com/

In this podcast I talk to lucid dreaming teacher and bestselling author Charlie Morley about harnessing the power of dreams and sleep for psychological growth. Charlie Morley been lucid dreaming for over 20 years and was “authorised to teach” within the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism by Lama Yeshe Rinpoche in 2008. Since then he has written four books which have been translated into 15 languages and has run workshops and retreats in more than 30 countries.

In this podcast I talk about why it is okay if things are not good or happy all the time, and how our “social media” expectations can impact our mental health. We all know instinctively that things can’t be good all the time. No one’s life is perfect, regardless of what we may see on social media or what we hear or see as we go about our lives.  I think we are all guilty of this—I know I am! Have you ever just looked at someone’s social media post or thought, why isn't this happening in my life? What am I doing wrong? Why do good things like this never happen to me? And, if we continue down this rabbit hole, we can feel worse and worse about our lives, which affects our mental health. It is important to remember that whatever we think about the most grows, and whatever we grow the most into our networks will drive us!