We'll see if I keep Caroline in here, I do like the Neurocycle process but I'm not sure if invested too much time into this topic, although perhaps for a certain stage this would be perfect. I like the 5 step process but not her incessant need to hide everything behind a pay-wall, and to then go and preach at a church wearing designer clothing. She seems a bit stuck in the materialistic side of things, at least in my own opinion - and her books seem to lack in a certain quality - being repetitive and somewhat long sales pitches for you to download her app at $20 a month.
I have used the app myself and did find some great benefits, and it's not really that spendy, but again, not really how I would want to distribute what could be a powerful tool for people that need it.

Dr. Caroline Leaf is a PhD communication pathologist and clinical neuroscientist who specializes in the intersection of psycho-neurobiology(mind-brain-body) and metacognitive(thinking about thinking) neuropsychology(brain activity and behavior). With the fancy jargon out of the way, what is it she actually does? Since the early 1980s, Mrs. Leaf has dived in the fascinating terrain of the mind-brain connection, the nature of mental health, and the formation of memory. Caroline was one of the first in her field to study how the brain can change (neuroplasticity) from directed mind input (managing your thinking). During her years of clinical practice and work with underprivileged teachers and students across South Africa, she developed her theory (called the Geodesic Information Processing theory) of how we think, build memory, and learn, into tools and processes. By sharing her findings with others, Caroline has helped to transform the lives of thousands of individuals suffering from learning disabilities: ADD, ADHD, autism, dementias, and mental ill-health issues such as PTSD, anxiety and depression. She’s assisted people with traumatic brain injury — those who other medical professionals had written off as permanently disabled — to not only recover from their injuries, but excel (in areas like academics, where highly functioning brain power is a prerequisite).

Her research explores the concept of "toxic thoughts" and their negative impact on brain health and wellbeing. She advocates for managing our thought life through techniques like mindfulness, cognitive reframing, self-reflection, and most notably her 5 step Neurocycle process.

A mind that is filled with toxic, depressing, or anxious thoughts - it’s in a messy state. In the same way that you manage your garden so it doesn’t get overwhelmed with weeds, we need to manage our mind so the flowers have room to get sunshine and blossom. When Lil John said, in 2010, "Get outta your mind," we seemed to, as a species, have taken this far too literally. Outrageously dangerous levels of crunk have perpetrated our world ever since. In turn, this has led to the disastrous worldly conditions we find ourselves in now. Luckily, Caroline has some neat information to help us get back into our mind, look around, see what is in there, and perhaps get started in cleaning up what we find.

What's in a Thought?

The mind contains trillions and trillions of thoughts. These are real physical things that occupy space within our brain and mind. A thought begins to etch itself into your brain as you use your mind - as you think, feel and make decisions. Each time the brain is stimulated by your mind it responds in many different ways including electromagnetic, neurochemical, and even genetic changes. It moves in step with your mind's activity. Constant mental chatter isn't just noise; it's the brain's way of processing situations, emotions, and decisions. With every experience you have, in every moment of every day, with every breath you take, every step you make, your mind is watching you, working as your brain is changing. Recent researchers have given a name to this aspect of mental activity and termed it "thought worms." These thought worms represent the transitions between different thoughts in our minds, the dynamic nature of our thinking process. On average, it's estimated that we experience around 6,200 of these thought transitions every day. We are constantly shifting from one idea to the next. You might as well direct this mind process of constant thought building to your advantage. Understanding and influencing these transitions can be a powerful tool in shaping our mental landscape. We can learn to control our mind, therefore becoming the architects of our brain, and, by extension, our lives. The knowledge of neuroplasticity is a gift from the heavens.

The wiring inside of the brain ends up looking like trees, and in the neuroscience world are referred to as having an arbor-like structure. Inside of this structure are the embedded memories, which there can be any number of in a single thought. Thousands upon thousands of memories can contribute to a single thought, in the same way that a tree can have thousands of branches.

Made up of dendrites, a thought tree itself is a concept, the big idea. Each "branch" of the tree represents a smaller component of the larger thought. These branches are formed by neurons and their connections (synapses) in the brain and symbolize the ties between different aspects of a thought or concept. They are pathways that link various related memories or ideas, creating a comprehensive network of understanding. In the same way that a root system is organized so that a plant is able to absorb as much water and nutrients as possible, your memories intertwine so that you have a conceptual repository built with as much detail as possible that you can retrieve information from. New information integrates into our existing network of knowledge by forming associations with established concepts. This interconnected web of associations helps us retrieve and use information more efficiently. Thinking of one concept, you access related memories or ideas.

A thought is a cluster of information, a cluster of memories. What are memories? There are two main divisions that we can separate memories into.

The first is source memories. Like the roots of a plant, these are the initial experience, the origin story. Right now at this very moment, you have little protein structures that are forming in correlation with your exposure to these words and the information that they contain.

After that we have interpretation memories, which we could say are the branches that grow outwardly from the source memory. These show up secondary, as you think, feel, choose, and go about your life. This is the impact that the source experience has had on your life. How you interpret things can change overtime.

Furthermore you divide memories into another 3 additional categories.

1. Informational memories
   1. All the details. Particulars, facts, data, associations, links and whatever else is associated with that thought. These are akin to the branches of a thought tree.
2. Emotional memories
   1. The feelings that are associated with the informational memories. These could be seen as the leaves on the branches of a thought tree.
3. Physical memories
   1. Embodiments of the sensations experienced at the time the thought was built, which are coupled with the emotional memories and informational memories. The physical impact and manifestations of our thoughts and experiences in the brain and body. This includes the physical changes in brain structures and patterns as a result of learning, trauma, and repetitive thought processes.

How are memories formed?

In the Parable of the Sower, a story told in chapter 13 of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus shares a metaphor that resonates deeply with both spiritual and scientific truths. He offers a profoundly neuroscientific explanation for how the seeds of wisdom take root in the human heart and mind.
A sower scatters seeds, representative of ones exposure to God’s message, across four unique types of soil, each representing different states of the mind/consciousness and their readiness to receive the “Word.” From a neuroscientific perspective, these soils can also symbolize the varying conditions under which memories are formed from our life experiences and integrated within our minds. Our memories, as they are stored, shape our behavior and alter the ways we engage with life. It is a sort of parable of parables, learning how to learn. By understanding this parable, you are primed to be able to absorb the wisdom encoded within all the rest. The first quote is from the moral story itself, the second one is Jesus’s explanation.

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.”

“When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.”

The first soil, the hardened path, represents a mind closed off to understanding. Someone that is overly stimulated, consumed by trauma, overwhelmed by stress, or dominated by toxic thinking. People who have experienced trauma have little space left for learning. Their constant state of tension and arousal can leave them unable to concentrate, pay attention, or retain/recall new information. Perhaps someone is burdened by negative character traits such as cynicism, intellectual pride, or emotional numbness—each of which can prevent one from accepting the message of God, or integrating new knowledge. Here, the seeds, which symbolize divine wisdom or new experiences, are quickly snatched away by the birds. These birds are representative of “the evil one,” but we can also view them as symbolic of our own ignorance. Our lack of active and open engagement with the new information we are exposed to as-well as the experiences that we have. This could be seen as information that fails to transition from short-term to long-term memory, quickly forgotten because the mind is not giving it the energy it needs to develop within our brain. These seeds lie on the surface, exposed and vulnerable, much like thoughts that never embed into our neural architecture, leaving us unchanged by what we have heard. In one ear and out the other. Temporary memories not given proper attention or focus will fade away before they can be consolidated into a stable, long-term memory.

“Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.”

“The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.”

The second soil was rocky, where seeds that were scattered sprouted, but couldn’t grow deep roots, so they withered under the sun. This represents a mind that rides the initial excitement and wave of neurotransmitters which are released upon exposure to new experiences and information, but isn’t able to capture the deeper lasting value of the knowledge. Without the proper mental environment for those ideas to take root—such as focused attention, reflection, and reinforcement—these thoughts quickly fade away. Temporary memories, like the seed, cannot establish strong neural connections and thus fail to consolidate into long-term memory. As a result, when faced with “trouble or persecution,” when it comes time to embody new understandings and to live from a place of learnedness, “they quickly fall away.” When things no longer become pleasurable, do you persevere? When you aren’t extremely motivated for something anymore, when things begin to become dull or difficult, do you give up? It is easy to get excited and to become enticed by ideas. I’m going to start a business! I’ve been looking into entrepreneurship and have decided that the freedom to do what I want and the scaling pay scale are perfect for me. Oh wow, this is f*^k!ng hard… Have you ever made plans with someone that you were incredibly excited for(maybe after a few drinks), and then nothing came about from it? It takes conscious engagement with the thoughts we have, ultimately our willpower, to bring these things to the real world. Faith and vision are necessary proponents to the equation and what we must run off of when things are no longer incredibly neurologically stimulating. We have to have a depth to our character, what this verse is trying to inspire, enough at-least for roots to get a foothold. Our capacity for depth of character is directly related to the health of our mind and the ways in which it regularly handles thoughts. Heeeeeyy, were we still on for that kayaking trip? You have to really mean it. Understanding our proclivity to ride these excitatory neurochemicals can allow us to know our own nature and to be careful with what we plant, reserving soil space for that which we know we are truly willing to cultivate. We save our fertilizer for the good stuff.

“Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.”

“The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.”

The seed cast in the thorns is representative of a mind that is open, but has previous toxic brain patterning come up and kill new brain formations. Perhaps they really do mean it. I’m going to start going to the gym every day! I’m going to read every morning, meditate, and start eating healthily. When we say these things we truly have the intention of dedicating ourselves to this effort which is beneficial to us. Perhaps we start an exercise program and fill our fridge with organic foods, buy a few books, and get a meditation cushion. The difficulty is in staying consistent. You may begin going to the gym and stay consistent for a few weeks straight, but once that habit of smoking weed and eating Dorito’s to a nightly Netflix marathon rears its ugly head, your new plant gets snuffed out. Now you’re waking up a little groggy and begin to skip your morning meditation and throw on some TV instead of reading. Next thing you know, you’re back to the way things were before. The new thoughts which began to speak belief into you, those tied to the remembrance of goals and your desired values, motivating you to go do the difficult thing, to avoid your already established undesired circuity, begin to lose steam. Unresolved trauma can linger and have long-lasting effects on a person’s mental, emotional, and physical health. Someone begins a relationship with a person that is wonderful for them, but after a month the emotions become too intense and bring things up from the past that lead them to sabotage the connection. A toxic self-perception of worthless overwhelms someone as they look into the mirror and see a body that they aren’t happy with, even after a month of dedicated efforts, and so they are stimulated to begin binge eating again. Instead of accepting and loving oneself as is, celebrating the amazing work that has already been done, intense emotions can resurface and cause someone to act in ways that act like Raid-Kill to new seedlings. Perhaps one has negative aspects to their character, like a tendency to be dishonest and steal. These character traits, thorny patterns of behavior, will cause issues in someone’s entrepreneurial ventures and kill their chances at developing successful long-term partnerships that may have otherwise have brought them wealth. Every rose has its thorn, and the beautiful plants we are looking to grow come with their difficulties. By clearing out our weeds we are able to create headspace for new sprouts to come up without fear that they are going to be suffocated out. This doesn't mean that taking 2 steps forward and 1 step back isn't completely normal. But it's how many steps back are we taking. Do you go all the way back before the starting point?

“Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

The good soil, where the seeds fell and yielded a fruitful harvest, represents a mind that is fully prepared and open to receive new ideas and insights. It represents a mind that is healthy and in a place to be receptive to new information. A perspective which is open and present, able to discern. This mind not only experiences the initial surge of neurotransmitters that accompany initial experiences but also nurtures these ideas by giving them sustained attention and reflection. Like roots that dig deep into the soil, neural connections in the brain are built out, strengthened and reinforced, allowing the memory to consolidate effectively. Through repeated engagement, whether by revisiting the information or applying it in new contexts, these thoughts are integrated into long-term memory, becoming resilient and ready to bear fruit in the form of wisdom, growth, and meaningful action. In fertile ground, ideas have space to flourish and even multiply, producing lasting change and a harvest far greater than the original seed sown. A good enough seed, if able to sprout and see the day of light, has the ability to multiply and create for us a bountiful garden with enough to share with all of those around us.

more science to be integrated here soon, particularly the development of neurons over timelines

What is the mind?

Most of the time, when people think of the brain, they think of the mind as though it were the same thing. They are not identical. The mind works through the brain and body, it is a force which energizes the other two to function. Mind drives the brain and actively affects it. When you're dead it doesn't work. It is your aliveness. Your ability to experience existence. Behind the scenes it's working through electromagnetic waves, gravitational fields, quantum energy, space-time energy, aromatic rings etc. Caroline even relates the mind to the soul / spirit.

Divisions of The Mind

Conscious

The conscious mind is the smallest portion of the mind and is responsible for your present moment experience. It is also the slowest, processing only about 2,000 bits of information per second. This is where conscious action takes place and is only in operation when we're awake. Fully aware, this part of the mind is intentional, functions best when we are deliberate, actively self-regulated, and proactive. It's important to note that it can be incredibly difficult to truly, fully enter just the present moment, as it is somewhat out of time. Here lies a place where our present, the amalgamation of the past and the road to the future all intertwine into a single instance and bid for attention. You may not be fully aware of it, but the non-conscious is consistently bringing the past into the present and looking to plan for the future as-well. The conscious mind is what navigates these waters and is incredibly important in terms of steering through the seas vs. being thrown around by them.

Subconscious

The subconscious mind could be thought of like a highway between the great reserve of information stored within our non-conscious mind and the presently situated conscious. Experiences we are having in the present moment are consistently being driven into the non-conscious, actively changing us in real time, while simultaneously we have information from the non-conscious coming into the present moment coloring it with information from the past. We need to use our conscious mind to pay attention to what is happening within our subconscious mind so that we can become aware of what our nonconscious mind is bringing forward. This material could perhaps be showing up in the form of intrusive thoughts or difficult emotions; which if you follow the trail, will lead you to a certain insight about yourself in relation to a particular environment or element of life. It could also be helpful information which is beneficial to your present moment, wisdom from the past, showing up in efforts to provide you the necessary intelligence to navigate a situation to the best of your ability. It's that tip of the tongue feeling. The subconscious is a bridge, it's a portal. Nothing is stored here. Think of the auto-suggestion on your phone that gives suggestions as you type.

Non-conscious

The non-conscious is the largest and fastest part of the 3 divisions of mind and is where all of our experiences, memories and thoughts are stored. Good and bad, this high energy powerhouse is the container for everything we have been exposed to and is active 24 hours a day. It’s always online working with the conscious while the conscious mind is awake, and is in constant conversation with the subconscious mind working to bring balance. Beyond space and time, like a quantum super computer; it stores memories from the past, plans for the future, and is directly influenced and actively affected by the observers perspective. Containing all of our memories, embedded with their informational, emotional, and physical aspects, rummaging through our non-conscious can teleport us through time. It connects us to a deeply spiritual and phenomenally fast quantum world. Here lies the real you, where your truth, values, intelligence, wisdom, and meaning are derived from an accumulated reservoir of life experience. Think of it like an informational bubble where the entirety of your memories are stored in a swirling mass of energy. It acts as the source of our intuition and is dynamically regulated by a process which affects our communication and behavior. The non-conscious is like a record library that holds everything from the past in storage that we can draw from. It is, however, malleable. We can go back and alter the perspective we have on events and consciously change the effect that history is actively having on us. We hold veto power over our perspective of things and can choose whether or not allowing them to affect us in the same way they have previously is what we want. When you are consciously engaging with the non-conscious mind through deliberate, intentional, strategic, and proactive deep thinking, you can draw your thoughts with their embedded memories, through the subconscious(like a straw) into the conscious. When they arrive in the conscious mind they are in a malleable state and have the ability to be changed, reconceptualized to another perspective, before being placed back into the filing cabinet. You can alter the records and therefore begin to take the cascade effect they have on your life. You have veto power over how it affects you. Take a sharpie, cross out the title and change it to something else. You override the force generated from the energy of the toxic thought and shift it to, whenever stimulated, generate positive energy instead. Typically it was thought that the conscious mind was where all processing took place, but truly, the non-conscious is where our super-computer powers reside. It will bring us what we need to know or look at throughout the day and organize our thoughts to bring us there like a Spotify que. This part of the mind processes 400 billion bits of information per second.

Unconscious

When we are asleep, knocked out, or under anesthesia.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

So.... how is it that we can eliminate stress, anxiety, depression and toxic thinking? Realizing that the unsavory emotions we experience and thoughts we have are stemming from things we have tucked away in the recesses of our nonconscious gives us clarity as to what the next step is - go within. By knowing what to do with those suppressed and undealt with things that we’ve kept hidden, often for far too long, we can actually begin to heal once and for all. Here we are turning the tide on what has been wreaking havoc on our brain, body, and relationships. You get into the dirt until you can find the original root from which things stem, develop an understanding of the nonconscious elements that are activating this discomfort within you, and then consciously install an anti-virus program that embraces, processes, and reconceptualizes what is shooting out SOS signals. You learn to control your thoughts instead of letting them control you. This is called mind management, the art of consciously directing and shaping the thoughts and emotions that flow through you. If you don't find some way to reconceptualize the toxic thoughts you are experiencing, they will continuously loop through you. No matter how hard you try to escape or ignore them, they will have nowhere else to go except out into your behaviors and emotions or into your body.

The 5 Step Neurocycle Process

We cannot control events
We cannot control circumstances
We cannot control people
But we can control how we respond to the situations life throws at us
However ... we aren't always perfect.
It's normal for us to have a difficult time with the hands we are dealt, in some cases it would be abnormal not to..
The good news is that our biology is equipped to handle this.
Stress is normal and can be catalyst for us to learn new things and grow, but distress is just downright uncomfortable.
If we stay in this pain, where stress is severe and prolonged, the negative energy it holds will eat us from the inside out. Accumulatively over time, the vulnerability of our brain and body will become impaired right down to the level of our DNA. --> Roots of Illness
Knowing the ways in which neuroplasticity works empowers us with the ability to clean things up and improve our situation.
We aren't broken or cursed to a fragmented experience of life. We don't have to sit in a garden drowning in weeds. A pill, in most circumstances, is a band-aid.
As long as we embrace, process, and reconceptualize our challenges, we can navigate our way through them.