Book SummaryCleaning Up Your Mental Mess, by Caroline Leaf

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess

Do you need a mental detox? In Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess (2021), Caroline Leaf presents her approach to healing your mind from trauma and toxic thinking. This approach, which she calls neurocycling, teaches you to exercise mental self-control and leverage neuroplasticity—your ability to literally rewire your brain for the better. Leaf argues that neurocycling is both innovative and effective: While traditional mental health treatments ignore the power of the mind over the body, neurocycling takes full advantage of that relationship, enabling you to become happier and healthier.

Leaf is a communication pathologist who teaches mental techniques for healing and healthier living through her books and podcast, also titled “Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess”. Additionally, she’s the force behind the Neurocycle app, which helps you put neurocycling into practice.

(Shortform note: According to [Leaf’s...

Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess Summary Understanding Mental Toxicity

The crux of Leaf’s argument is that the root cause of mental illness is unhealthy thinking, not deficiencies or abnormalities in your physical brain. She refers to this kind of unhealthy thinking as mental toxicity. In this section, we’ll lay some groundwork for understanding mental toxicity by discussing the nature of the mind, the brain, and thoughts. Then, we’ll define mental toxicity and explain how toxic energy accumulates in your mind and brain. Finally, we’ll explore the effects that Leaf says mental toxicity can have on your mind and body.

Your Mind, Your Brain, and Your Thoughts

According to Leaf, your mind and brain are two independent but interconnected entities: The mind is an energetic field that constantly creates, contains, and responds to the interplay of thoughts, emotions, and choices that make up our moment-to-moment existence and identity. In contrast, the brain is a physical structure that enables you to be conscious. It’s not the source of your mental experiences; rather, your mental experiences shape your brain.

(Shortform note: This perspective—that the mind and brain are independent entities—is known as...

Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess Summary Why Neurocycling Could Help You Overcome Mental Toxicity

Now that you understand mental toxicity and its impact on your health, let’s explore the program Leaf says can detoxify your mind and brain—neurocycling. We’ll describe the six-step program in detail later; for now, we’ll explain why this program could help you overcome mental toxicity. First, we’ll discuss the theoretical basis of neurocycling. Then, we’ll explore Leaf’s research on neurocycling.

The Theoretical Basis of Neurocycling

Leaf says that neurocycling is uniquely effective at clearing mental toxicity for two reasons: It overcomes the limitations of neuroreductionism, and it leverages directed neuroplasticity to positively shape the brain. Let’s explore each of these concepts in more detail.

Neuroreductionism

Leaf argues that historically, mental health experts have placed too much emphasis on the physical brain: They believe that every mental process, including mental dysfunctions and illnesses like depression, is determined by the brain’s material makeup—its structure, neurological wiring, chemical functions, and so on. She refers to this point of view as neuroreductionism since it “reduces” mental experiences to purely physical phenomena....

Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess Summary How to Clear Mental Toxicity With Neurocycling

Now that you know why neurocycling could help you overcome mental toxicity, let’s dig into the program’s logistics. In this section, we’ll describe the six steps of the neurocycle, explain when to practice the neurocycle, and discuss four ways the neurocycle could help you live better.

(Shortform note: Leaf says that the neurocycle has five steps, but this count doesn’t include an additional step she recommends—grounding yourself. For this reason, we’ll refer to the neurocycle as a six-step process.)

The Six Steps of the Neurocycle

Recall that mental toxicity results from repeated failures to process unhealthy thoughts. With neurocycling, you remedy that by giving yourself opportunities to do that processing. According to Leaf, the six steps of the neurocycle are as follows:

1) Ground yourself: Leaf says neurocycling can be taxing, so it’s important to begin from a calm, grounded place. Grounding yourself entails connecting with your body or the present moment to stabilize your emotional state. You can use any number of grounding techniques at this stage; one that Leaf recommends is deep breathing.

(Shortform note: You may also find it beneficial to do grounding...

Shortform Exercise: End Toxic Thinking

Leaf says that neurocycling helps you reverse negative thinking and improve your mental health. In this exercise, we’ll explore how you could apply this in your life.

Reflect on a negative thought that you often find yourself grappling with. How does this thought typically make you feel, and in what situations does it most frequently arise?