Why Joe Dispenza’s Meditations Never Worked For Me (Until I Tried This)

The one change that made 300 days of practice not just possible, but transformative.

We’re told that sitting still, visualizing a better future, and feeling it deeply can rewire our brains and transform our lives. But what if that simply isn’t your experience?

I know because it wasn’t mine.

I dove into neuroscience and particularly Joe Dispenza’s work around 2016, diligently following his meditations. Yet nothing concrete changed. I felt numb. In fact, the practice started to feel like I was gaslighting myself into positivity. As a lifelong people-pleaser, this forced optimism didn’t feel like healing, it felt like I was abandoning myself all over again.

That is, until this year. Because today, as I write this, I have completed 300 days in a row of his meditations, which has been transformative.

So what changed? What made this time different?

To understand that, we have to go back to 2019.

I was still recovering from my car accident, suffering from concussion symptoms, and literally thinking I was losing my mind. I did not have the words to explain what was happening inside me. I had already been meditating regularly for about five years, but after the accident, I could not sit in stillness without spiraling into a panic attack.

Out of desperation, I began neuro-rehabilitation and somatic work. For the first time, a light switched on. I could feel I was making progress. I was reconnecting to my body, feeling more present and grounded rather than feeling like I was floating in space.

As you can imagine, this intrigued me. I dove deep into somatic work and breathwork, and later, posture work. These practices ultimately transformed my work and who I am today. This path was so powerful that it pulled me away from the mainstream neuroscience conversation for a long time.

This year, I suddenly felt the urge to revisit the work of Joe Dispenza (JD) and explore how it would land for me this time after focusing on somatic work for so long.

HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED

As I committed to daily meditations, two powerful patterns emerged.

First, the fog lifted. For someone who often struggled to know what I truly wanted, this was a revelation. The meditations created a space where my desires and, more importantly, the feelings I wanted to cultivate finally crystallized.

Then, there was a setback.

Every time I genuinely tapped into a deeper feeling of peace or joy, it was like tripping a silent alarm. Shortly after, something would trigger me significantly. An old wound would flare up, and a small inconvenience would send me into a spiral.

HERE IS WHAT I DID DIFFERENTLY

This time, I did not push through my triggers with more visualization. Instead, I paused and sat with the triggered part using Internal Family Systems (IFS) and somatic work.

This created a life-changing feedback loop:

1. A Clear Destination and a Stronger Self

Joe Dispenza’s work showed me the destination and strengthened my sense of self. His work is brilliant at cultivating a stronger, more conscious “Self”, the capable captain of your inner ship. However, my ship was already crewed by a team of protective “parts” that had been running the show for years.

2. The Trigger Revealed the Resistance

My triggers revealed which parts of me were terrified of arriving at that new destination. When my “Self” suddenly got stronger and started radiating calm and ambition, these old guards panicked. The hyper vigilant part that believes constant worry is necessary for safety would rebel when I felt peaceful. The part that holds shame would sabotage my feelings of self worth.

Here is what actually happens in the brain:

• Your Prefrontal Cortex (the CEO): “Okay, let’s imagine a future where we feel safe, joyful, and successful.”

• Your Amygdala (the Security Alarm): “Unknown state detected! This feeling does not match our known safe or unsafe database. This must be a trick! Initiate panic protocol!”

3. Integrating the Parts Through the Body

The somatic and IFS work comforted those parts, heard their concerns, and brought them onboard. Somatic practices do not start by talking to the CEO. They start by calming the Security Alarm and reassuring the survival brain. They work from the body up to the brain, not from the brain down to the body. Without this partnership, I would have quit by February. The work of visualization alone was like trying to build a skyscraper on unsettled ground. The somatic work went back to pour the foundation, allowing the new structure to stand.

In a well regulated nervous system, the CEO is in charge. It can send calm, clear messages like “We are safe” down to the Security Alarm, which then stands down. Visualizing a positive future from this state works because the entire system is receptive to new programming.

If you want to get a sense of what somatic work could look like when you feel triggered, give this a try.

The Three Transformations

Here are the key benefits I unlocked through my own personalized approach to Joe Dispenza’s meditations.

1. Brain and heart coherence

I began experiencing coherence between my brain and body. Before this, I could connect to my heart’s feelings and my body’s sensations with ease. But my mind? It was a separate, chaotic entity, a browser with loads of tabs open. Now, I feel there’s a more synchronistic rhythm where my mind’s intentions and my body’s feelings support each other, as if finally on the same team.

2. Breaking the glass ceiling

I used to operate with a strict, invisible ceiling on my well-being. I could only handle so much energy, joy, or feeling “good” before my nervous system would short-circuit, leading to a setback that required days to process. It was a constant two-steps-forward, one-step-back dance. This year, I believe my nervous system capacity has undeniably increased. Challenging events that would have previously halted my progress for weeks now feel like waves I can surf. I experience the emotion, but I don’t get drowned by it.

3. The ultimate success

Perhaps the most profound breakthrough came during a three-week visit with my parents in the same house. For years, I understood my triggers intellectually. I could map them out on a chart. But in practice, the second I walked through that door, my inner child would take the wheel, and all that intellectual understanding vanished. I was reactive, defensive, and emotionally exhausted. This time, something was fundamentally different. I saw my parents, for the very first time, as complete, complex humans. This wasn’t a forced understanding; it was a mind-blowing, genuine flood of compassion for their own journeys, their own wounds, and their own efforts. I had always said, “I’ll know this inner work has actually worked when I can be with my family and still be me.” For those three weeks, I was. We had our best time together in decades, because I finally managed to see the good in them without abandoning myself in the process.

If you are curious about trying JD meditations, here is a playlist I created from some of my favorite meditations of him, and the last track is my top pick!

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👁️ What your body has been trying to tell you?

If you want to go deeper and explore your body’s story, take this quiz to see what patterns show up for you!

The way we hold ourselves matters. Not just because of how it looks. But because it shapes how we live, how we relate, and what we’re capable of imagining. Let your body speak. Let it interrupt the collective war and offer you a new way of being entirely.

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Client’s Unconditioning ↓

If you feel called to re-pattern your body, regulate your nervous system, and reclaim your power, I invite you to book The Alignment Diagnostic call with me: https://tidycal.com/hedishah/the-alignment-diagnostic

During this session, we’ll assess your body’s current state, uncover hidden imbalances, and create a personalized movement plan to help you shift from tension into alignment.

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Offerings↓ ↓

꩜ Monthly Reset

Oct 29th . Wednesday . 3 pm GMT

Add to your calendar

These sessions are designed to release the stress you have been carrying, reconnect with your body’s wisdom, and step into the new month with clarity and intention. In the final week of each month, we will come together for:

• Nonlinear movement to shake off tension and emotional residue

• Guided reflection to integrate what the month brought

• Intentional planning to meet the next cycle grounded and resourced

This is about returning to your center, unconditioning yourself from systems built to keep you small, and living a sovereign life. Come as you are.

Leave lighter, clearer, and more connected.

Prepration:

- Wear comfy clothes

- Have plenty of space to move around

- Bring a pen and paper

Duration: 45-60 mins

Where: Insight Timer

Cost: Free or donation-based

Thank you for joining me on the path of unconditioning,

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Hedi Shah
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👁️ Bodyworker & Mindfulness Teacher
🌊 Teaching change makers to uncondition their bodies, nervous systems, and voices from systems built to keep them small so they can move, speak, and live with sovereign power.

📲 Website | Youtube | LinkedIn | Insight Timer