Switch on Your Brian by Dr. Caroline Leaf

Part of my goal for this year to read beyond my normal reading list and include some books that would be considered self-improvement or educational.  This book is a bit of both.  I saw her Ted Talk on the Science of Thought. The view she took intrigued me, as a former educator I knew that kids who thought or were told they were not smart were limiting themselves, so it makes sense the reverse it true.  I read the book and it is an interesting view not only of metagcognition, but also how to focus on stopping negative, or toxic thought (ex. anxiety) by using this knowledge.  The book had scientific information, which was explained and also had her specific terms to help make it  easy to digest and understand for those who do not have such an in-depth scientific background.

Dr. Leaf starts and makes it clear that she has faith, a belief in God, and that also impacts her research and method.  For those that are not comfortable with this then it is not the book for them. For those that want a faith based approach it is not a fully faith based approach, as science is involved, but she explains how both faith and science are interwoven in her theory.  What is interesting is not just that she incorporates faith, but that her theory is based on how your brain is functioning at its best when it focuses on happiness, love, positive thoughts, caring, and belief which for many that involves faith.

As a former educator I was interested in how students were able to help themselves improve their academic abilities by using some of her methods and theories.  I am not sure how well the brain detox, helping stop negative or toxic thoughts go as I am just about to start it, but the information on how to use metacognition was really interesting.  I am thinking that I might get one of her other books, because I think metacognition is important to know about, and her writing is helps me understand this topic better.