Dr. Caroline Leaf Podcast

Many of us are spending a lot more time at home these days (and dealing with a lot more stress!), so there is no better time to look at how we can make our living spaces happier and healthier. In this week’s blog and podcast, I speak with bestselling author, journalist, podcast host and filmmaker Max Lugavere on how we can get rid of toxins in our home that may be contributing to our anxiety, and how we can all make simple and easy changes to our lifestyle that can boost our mood and improve our wellbeing.To get Max's new book The Genius Life visit: https://geniuslifebook.com For more info on Max visit his website: https://www.maxlugavere.com  Podcast Time Highlights-2:20 How Max went from pre-med to telling people’s stories-7:54 Why nutrition is just one part of the health story-12:35 Why exercise is medicine for the brain-18:28 Why we should take more cold showers & the power of thermal exercise-23:55 Environmental toxins and the game of chemical whack-a-mole-30:40 How to de-stress and manage anxiety at

This calming audio guide will help you pre-, during, and post-panic attack. It is taken from my new brain detox app SWITCH. In this app you will learn how to identify the root of whatever is causing you mental distress, how to eliminate the toxic thinking habit and patter, and rebuild a healthy new neural network. It's 5 step 21 day program that takes 15-30mins each day.To download the app today visit: https://theswitch.appWith all the stress, anxiety, social distancing and isolation stemming from the coronavirus, the need to connect with each other is more critical than ever. Join our dedicated Facebook group to stay connected with others and share your challenges and best tips for dealing with our new normal: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870578619744226/?ref=shareVisit my website at https://drleaf.com for more free resources, tips, and tools to help you improve and heal your mental health! And be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get even more mental self-care tips delivered to your inbox week

We all know that exercise is good for us, but did you know that movement changes us from the inside out, improving both our mental and physical health? In this episode I discuss the power of movement with bestselling author, research psychologist and lecturer at Stanford Dr. Kelly Mcgonigal, and how exercise can help defeat depression, anxiety, loneliness and shame, making us feel more connected with ourselves and with others. PLUS Kelly shares some great tips on how to get more movement and exercise at home and in your daily routine so you don't even have to go to a gym! Podcast Time Highlights-2:39 What Kelly wants written on her tombstone-4:25 How exercise helps heal depression and anxiety  -9:11 Your brain on exercise-13:20 How exercise makes you a nicer person -16:45 How movement connects us -21:00 Why all movement is good movement -25:00 How exercise helps us deal with toxic stress-32:18 Hope molecules -37:44 Exercise and the gut microbiome-44:00 How movement can help you love yourself -48:13 Exercise a

The world is currently riveted in fear of what is known as COVID-19, a new type of coronavirus that has put a lot of people at risk of getting ill or potentially dying. I understand that this situation can be frightening, and we should take all necessary precautions, following the WHO and CDC guidelines. We need to bring balance to the fear, because the fear can be more dangerous than the virus. In fact, fear-based stress and anxiety can and will weaken your immune system, the very thing that needs to be strong during a health crisis! In this special podcast episode I cover tips, techniques, and simple strategies to help protect and boost your mental and physical health during this pandemic. WHO website: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/events-as-they-happenCDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/cleaning-disinfection.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fcommunity%2Fhome%2Fcleaning-disinfection.html Additional resources:

Life can be tough. You will fail at certain things. You will be stressed. Bad things will happen to you. People will disappoint you. But did you know that, despite all these things, life can be awesome? Yes, it is true! In this week’s blog and podcast, I talk with bestselling author and speaker Neil Pasricha about how we can all learn to be more stress-resilient and failure-proof, how life is still awesome even when things don’t go our way, and how we can teach our children to thrive in a world where change is inevitable. Neil is no stranger to bad news. A number of years ago his first wife left him and his best friend committed suicide. To cope with his grief, he decided to start a blog called 1000 Awesome Things to cheer himself up, which focused on life’s simple pleasures. This blog soon became viral, was voted one of the best blogs in the world and led to Neil’s his first bestseller, The Book of Awesome, which focuses on how, despite the ups and downs of life, there is so much to be thankful for and amaze

In this podcast I interview the incredible creator and founder of Whole30 and bestselling author, Melissa Urban, on her health journey, dealing with trauma, how to recover from addiction, how to help someone who is battling with depression and much more! Melissa didn’t just wake up on day and decide to found the Whole30 movement. Her journey to health was a long one: even though she grew up in a good home, she was sexually abused by a family member as a teenager. To suppress the trauma, she turned to drugs, and what started off as a distraction soon became an addiction. She tried to hold in her pain, and started self-destructing internally—trauma and pain cannot be suppressed, and will manifest in other areas of our lives if we do not embrace, acknowledge and deal with the hard stuff in life.  Podcast Time Highlights: 2:34 What inspired the Whole30 movement? 4:08, 43:00 How community lays the foundation for true success 6:00, 8:08 How Melissa overcame her drug addiction 19:08 How we are not defined by any one

There is so much to be anxious about these days, including what to eat. But did you know that there is a way of eating that can actually help reduce the level of anxiety you experience on a day-to-day basis? In this week’s podcast, I discuss the anti-anxiety diet with RD Alie Miller, how you can balance your hormones and reset your adrenals, and how to heal the brain and body by changing what you eat! We also discuss the best way for women to do keto, and how probiotics are nature's prozac! Allie is an integrative functional medicine practitioner and bestselling author. She focuses on functional medicine, that is looking at the body from a holistic standpoint and helping people achieve and maintain optimal mental and physical health. She is known as the “body’s detective”, and has made it her life’s work to find the root causes of the chronic conditions many people today battle with. Podcast Time Highlights:2:16 How Allie become the “body detective”5:00 Why stress is the Achilles’ heel of whole body wellness8

In this episode I interview master life coach Kara Loewentheil on how to overcome imposter syndrome, defeat self-doubt, boost your self-confidence, and deal with past hurt and rejection. Kara gives some great tips on how to "unf*ck your brain!"Kara Loewentheil is a Master Certified Coach with a B.A. from Yale and J.D. from Harvard Law. In the last three years after pivoting from a legal career, she has grown her life coaching business from 0 to 7 figures. She's the host of the iTunes top-rated self-help podcast Unf*ck Your Brain which has been downloaded over 5M times, and she has been featured in outlets like Marie Claire, Mind Body Green, MSN.com, and The Huffington Post. Kara lives in New York City.Learn more about Kara and her podcast at unfckyourbrain.com and find her on social media @karaloewentheil!Podcast Time Highlights:2:45 How Kara went from practicing law to deprogramming the patriarchy5:40 How perfectionism stops us from reaching our goals7:51 Shutting up your inner critic 11:55 Why faking it til

We have all experienced shame before: the feeling that we are not enough, or that we do not live up to certain standards or ideals. But what happens when this shame spirals out of control? What happens when it overtakes our life, and affects the way we think and behave?In this week’s podcast I speak with Megan Bruneau, a psychologist and registered counselor who specializes in crisis support, compassion-based therapy and executive coaching, about the problem of shame, learning how to love yourself despite your imperfections, how to help someone with an eating disorder, the danger of medicalizing normal human emotions and why positive affirmations often fail. Megan has been featured on national television programs like Good Morning America and The T.D. Jakes Show) and is a regular contributor to Huffington Post, MindBodyGreen and Forbes. Using both her personal and professional experience, her goal is to teach people to face and learn to live with their imperfections and be kinder to themselves. As Megan says,

In this podcast I talk to Harvard-trained nutritional psychiatrist Dr. Georgia Ede about how certain diets can affect our mental wellbeing, what foods help the brain function best, and what foods to avoid if we want to heal and improve our mental and physical health. Dr. Ede, in both her personal life and practice, has found that making certain lifestyle modifications can help treat major mental health issues such as ADHD, depression, anxiety and panic attacks. Through her research, she has found that nutrition can help heal and restore brain function, empowering people to take back control over their mental state and their lives, without the stigma and negative side-effects so common to pharmacological treatments for mental distress.For more on Dr. Ede visit: https://www.diagnosisdiet.com Highlights from this episode:4:13-How Dr. Ede changed the way she treated mental health5:53-How nutrition affects mental health8:16-What is mental ill-health, and how can food help?9:00-Food myths, and the best way to eat f

In this episode I interview New York Times Bestselling author and happiness expert Gretchen Rubin on what happiness is, how we can achieve sustainable happiness in our lives, dangerous myths about happiness, essential strategies for managing anxiety, stress, and worry, how to get more reading done, and more!Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential and thought-provoking observers of happiness and human nature. In her work, she draws from cutting-edge science, the wisdom of the ages, lessons from popular culture, and her own experiences to explore how we can make our lives happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative.Podcast highlights:-5:24 Gretchen Rubin’s background -6:54 What is happiness? And myths about happiness-7:51 Why we all have to figure out our own happiness project -10:00 The importance of relationships & how to build healthy, strong and sustainable relationships -14:02 Common barriers to happiness-21:42 How to form healthy habits-25:41 Anxiety and stress busting tips-39:55

From the moment we are born, our cells begin to age. But aging does not have to mean decline. World-renowned surgeon Dr. Steven Gundry has been treating mature patients for most of his career. He knows that everyone thinks they want to live forever, until they hit middle age and witness the suffering of their parents and even their peers. So how do we solve the paradox of wanting to live to a ripe old age—but enjoy the benefits of youth?In this episode I interview renown cardiologist and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Steven Gundry to discuss how we may be living longer but not better, how to reverse the disease of aging and prevent Alzheimers, how some vegetables may actually be harming our health, how lectins could be related to the rise of autoimmune diseases, how to help children develop healthy habits, and so much more! For more info on Dr. Gundry visit: https://drgundry.comI also highly recommend his books:The Plant Paradox: https://drgundry.com/books/The Plant Paradox Family Cookbook: https://dr

In this episode I interview functional medicine expert Dr. Frank Lipman on eastern healing traditions that can help improve mental and physical health, how to improve our gut microbiome, how to beat seasonal affective disorder, why fake meat like the impossible burger is bad, the best and worst trends in wellness, and more! For more information on Dr. Frank Lipman visit: https://drfranklipman.comVisit his wellness center: https://elevenelevenwellness.comFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/DrFrankLipman/Twitter:https://twitter.com/drfranklipman Instagram @franklipmanmdSign up for his weekly newsletter: https://drfranklipman.com/subscribe/ Additional resources:Get my new 21 day brain detox program here: https://theswitch.app Visit my website at www.drleaf.com for more resources, tips, and tools to help you improve and heal your mental health! And be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get even more mental self-care tips delivered to your inbox weekly and to see my upcoming events (you can sign up at drlea

Ever get the feeling the world is full of too many distractions? Research shows the ability to stay focused is a competitive advantage, in work and in life. However, in an age of ever-increasing demands on our attention, how do we get the best from technology without letting it get the best of us?In this episode I interview bestselling author, lecturer and investor Nir Eyal on his new book Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life. Nir's writing on technology, psychology, and business, appears in the Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, TechCrunch, and Psychology Today.In today’s episode I interview Nir on how technology has been designed to be addictive, how to break the addiction and become indistractble using his 4 step method, how to teach out children to be indsitractable and better manage technology, and why we need to stop blaming technology for all our mental health problems. Highlights from this episode:7:30- How companies design technology and products to be addictive15:06

This episode is from a recent interview Dr. Leaf did on The Cannonball Mindset Podcast with Chad Sanschagrin.You can listen to the original interview here: http://cannonballmindset.libsyn.com/communication-pathologist-and-cognitive-neuroscientist-dr-caroline-leaf Additional resources: Get my new 21 day brain detox program here: https://theswitch.app Visit my website at www.drleaf.com for more resources, tips, and tools to help you improve and heal your mental health! And be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get even more mental self-care tips delivered to your inbox weekly and to see my upcoming events (you can sign up at drleaf.com!) Special offers from our sponsors: Blinkist: To get your free week trial on Blinkist AND 25% off your subscription go to: https://blinkist.com/drleaf  Superfat Nut Butters: Get 15% off your entire order at https://superfat.com and use code DRLEAF at checkout. ThirdLove: Get 15% off your ThirdLove order here: http://thirdlove.com/drleaf Follow me on social media for dail

Addiction is something many of us have experienced, whether we ourselves have battled with addiction, guilt and shame, or we know a loved one, friend or family member who is dealing with addiction. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 19.7 million American adults (aged 12 and older) battled a substance use disorder in 2017 alone! When it comes to addiction, whether we are talking about addiction to drugs, alcohol, food, sex and so on, people are often faced with conflicting messages: they are damaged goods with little or no hope of overcoming their addiction, or it is all their fault and they are just “bad apples”.Yet reality is far more complicated, and, thankfully, far more hopeful: it is possible to take responsibility for our lives while recognizing and dealing with the negative consequences addiction. In this week’s podcast I speak about addiction and how it is possible to overcome it with Adi Jaffe, Ph.D. who is a nationally recognized expert on mental health, addiction, rela

In this episode Dr. Leaf discusses why we overthink, what happens in our brains when we go into toxic rumination, and how to stop overthinking once and for all. This is a re-airing of one of the most popular episodes form 2019. Additional resources:SWITCH app: https://theswitch.app Visit my website at drleaf.com for more resources, tips, and tools to help you improve and heal your mental health! And be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get even more mental self-care tips delivered to your inbox weekly and to see my upcoming events (you can sign up at drleaf.com!) Special offers from our sponsors: Ritual: Get 10% off your first three months of Ritual multivitamins at www.ritual.com/drleaf Magic Spoon: Get a variety pack at www.magicspoon.com/drleaf and use code DRLEAF at checkout for free shipping! Comrad Socks: Get 20% off your order at www.comradsocks.com/drleaf with code DRLEAF If you enjoyed this episode please leave a 5 review on iTunes, Google Play, or wherever you are listening! And don't forg

In this episode I interview journalist and top podcaster Jordan Harbinger on what mindset it takes to become successful, how people are doing self-help all wrong and what we should do instead, and why telling other people about our goals can actually be counterproductive and detrimental.Jordan Harbinger is often referred to as “The Larry King of podcasting,” is a Wall Street lawyer turned interview talk show host, and a communications and social dynamics expert. Jordan has hosted a top 50 iTunes podcast for over 12 years and receives over six million downloads per month, making The Jordan Harbinger Show one of the most popular podcasts in the world.To learn more about Jordan and his podcast visit: https://www.jordanharbinger.com app www.instagram.com/jordanharbinger www.twitter.com/jordanharbinger www.YouTube.com/thejordanharbingershow Articles we discussed in this episode:https://www.jordanharbinger.com/five-signs-youre-self-helping-the-wrong-way/ https://www.jordanharbinger.com/want-to-accomplish-your-goals

Uncertainty is a certain in life, so we need to learn to become comfortable with the uncomfortableness of not knowing. In this podcast, I discuss WHY we hate uncertainty, why we feel so much discomfort with uncertainty, and HOW to become comfortable with uncertainty and use it to your advantage. Additional resources: Think Learn Succeed: https://drleaf.com/collections/all/products/think-learn-succeed-book The Perfect You: https://drleaf.com/collections/all/products/the-perfect-you-bundle SWITCH app: https://theswitch.app Visit my website at drleaf.com for more resources, tips, and tools to help you improve and heal your mental health! And be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get even more mental self-care tips delivered to your inbox weekly and to see my upcoming events (you can sign up at drleaf.com!)  Special offers from our sponsors:  Rothys: Check out all the amazing styles available right now at rothys.com/drleaf Blinkist: To get your free week trial on Blinkist AND 25% off your subscription go

Boundaries are vital to protecting your mental and physical health. But when do we need to set certain boundaries? How do we set them? And how do we best enforce boundaries? In this episode I interview leading boundaries expert Dr. Henry Cloud on all things related to boundaries and mental health. We also discuss how to deal with a narcissist, how to deal with gaslighting, and so much more! Dr. Cloud is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, and his books have sold nearly 20 million copies. Dr. Cloud's work has been featured and reviewed by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Publisher's Weekly, Los Angeles Times, and many other publications. Success Magazine named Dr. Cloud in the top 25 most influential leaders in personal growth and development, alongside Oprah, Brene Brown, Seth Godin and others. He is a frequent contributor to CNN, Fox News Channel, and other national media outlets. In his leadership consulting practice, Dr. Cloud works with CEO's, Fortune 500 com