The Resilient Mind - To Change Your Life, You Have to Become Someone Else - Dr. Joe Dispenza

Episode Date: August 9, 2026

Dr. Joe Dispenza is a renowned author, speaker, and educator in the fields of neuroscience, epigenetics, and quantum physics. He has spent over three decades studying the mind-body connection and the ways in which we can harness our thoughts and emotions to create positive change in our lives.Take action and strengthen your mind with The Resilient Mind Journal. Get your free digital copy today: ⁠https://bit.ly/Download_JournalExplore tools from past guests of the podcast. Some links below are affiliate links, meaning we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you:💓 HeartMath: https://www.heartmath.com/resilient🧠 Muse: https://choosemuse.com/resilientmind🌿 Brain Ritual: https://www.brainritual.com/THERESILIENTMIND🌍 The Resilient Mind Podcast is a proud member of 1% for the Planet — building resilient minds and a resilient planet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You know, all of this scientific, philosophical, spiritual, theoretical, theoretical information that is so available to us right now, really begins to leave biological changes within us. Because every time you learn something new, you make a new connection in your brain. That's what learning is. learning is forging new synaptic connections. And the Nobel Prize laureate Candell in the year 2000

found that when people learned just one bit of information, they doubled the number of connections in their brain from 1,300 connections to 2,600 connections. But if they didn't review that information, if they didn't repeat it, if they didn't think about it, or contemplate on it, those circuits pruned apart within hours or days. So if learning is making new synaptic connections,

then remembering is maintaining and sustaining those connections. Physical evidence in your brain as a result of your interaction in the environment, footprints of consciousness. But if you can take that information and apply it, personalize it, demonstrate it, modify your behaviors in some way and do something differently. Get your actions equal to your intentions and your mind and body working together.

You are going to run into a new experience. And when you're in the midst of an experience, all of your five senses plug you into the external environment. And as your brain is gathering all this vital sensory data, data, all that information rushes back to your brain and jungles of neurons organize themselves into networks, reinforcing the philosophical information, enriching the circuits in your brain because that's what experience does. And the moment those neurons string into place, the brain makes a chemical.

And that chemical is called a feeling or an emotion. And in that moment, you begin to chemically teach your body to understand what your mind has intellectually understood. And we could say that knowledge is for the mind and experiences for the body. And in that moment, you are embodying the truth of that philosophy. And you're signaling new genes and new ways in rewriting a program. emotionally teaching your body or instructing it to understand what the mind is intellectually understood. That's what experience does.

So when you feel like a leader, when you feel successful, when you feel like a patient parent, when you feel compassion, now your mind and body are working together, but it's not enough to do it once. If you've done it once, it means you should be able to do it again.

And if you can repeat any experience it will and do it over and over again, you are going to neurochemically condition your mind and body to work as one. And when the mind and body become one, or the body now knows how to do it as well as the mind, now it's innate in you. It's second nature. It's easy, it's familiar, it's effortless, it's who you are. In fact, you know how to do it, but you don't know how you know how, because it's become like a subconscious program. And you begin to master that philosophy.

And so our job at this time in history is to go from philosopher to initiate to master. from knowledge to experience to wisdom, from mind to body to soul, and from thinking to doing to being, learning it with your head, applying it with your hands, and knowing it by heart. And you and I have all the biological

and neurological machinery to do this. And common people around the world right now are doing the uncommon. They're healing themselves of fatal diseases, cancer, diabetes, MS, lupus, endocrine disorders, chronic pain, anxiety, depression, and even rare genetic conditions that medical science has no solution for. People are healing themselves from past scars and traumas that keep them anchored to the past, and they're reborn again in the same life. And they're creating new lives and new opportunities,

creating whole new reality. Because this is a time in history where it's not enough to know. This is a time in history to know how. And if you can combine a little quantum physics with a little neuroscience, with a little neuroendocrinology, with a little psycho-neuroimmunology, with little epigenetics,

all of those sciences point the finger at possibility, and they should empower you. Because if knowledge is power, knowledge about yourself is self-enpowerment. And the problem is, and most people wait for crisis or trauma or disease or diagnosis or law. They have to reach their lowest denominator before they make up their mind to change.

But my message has always been, why wait? You can learn and change in a state of pain and suffering, or you can learn and change in a state of joy and inspiration. And that if you can begin to teach people by demystifying the mystical, and science has become the contemporary language of mysticism. It is science that demystifies the mystical. The moment you start talking about religion or culture or tradition, you're going to divide an audience.

But science creates community. And I know, without a doubt now, that if you can give people sound information and nothing is left the conjecture. Nothing has left to dogma. Nothing is left to superstition. And those people can understand those concepts made simple. And if they can turn to the person next to them and explain it,

they're beginning to wire that information in their brain. And as they describe that model of understanding, they're firing and wiring. new circuits in their brain, and they're beginning to install the neurological hardware in preparation for the experience. And if they can't explain it, it's not wired in there. And once they can build a model of understanding that's reflected in neurological networks, and you can set up the conditions for them to experience it. And you give them the proper instruction, essentially, certain percentage of those people are going to have a new experience.

And my passion in the last four years has been measuring transformation. Because if I can gather more information from what I'm studying in common people that look just like you, they're not Buddhist monks, they're not nuns with 40 years of devotion, they're not ministers, they're not priests, they're not academics, they're not scholars, they're not rabbis, they're common people just like you, of every age, of every color, of every race, of every culture, of every profession, that giving people the understanding of how to empower themselves, and then do the measurements to prove it's just not a subjective experience, but we could measure it objectively. And if I could interpret and understand that

scientific measurement, I'm going to have more information to teach transformation the next time. And if I could have measured again, I'll have more information to teach transformation the next time. And we can begin to close the gap between knowledge and experience. And so we have done over 4,000 brain scans. We have measured hearts during meditation. We have measured the energy of the room, the energy around people's bodies, the energy centers of their bodies. We've done epigenetic changes. We've measured neurotransmitters.

And I can tell you, people are having transformative experiences. And the beauty behind that is that those experiences are so profound that they can't go back to business as usual ever again. We've happened to measure what that looks like in real time. the neuroscientists and researchers that come and study our work think our students are having seizures because the amplitudes of energy are so high in the brain

and I say to the scientists take a look at her does she look like she's having a seizure and she's blist out in the meditation and she can't make her brain do that you see it's happening to her and after 4,500 brain scans I can tell you that you are at your absolute best when you get beyond yourself that when you analyze your life with some within some

disturbing emotion that's bothering you you are going to make your brain worse I've seen it over and over and over again because that emotion usually is derived from the hormones of stress that arouse the brain for the short term, but the problem is the emotion is a record of the past, and you are thinking in the past. And all it does is drive the brain further and further out of balance. And when we saw that when brain scan after brain scan,

we got really simple on how to teach people on how to do it. And so my passion in the last four and a half years is studying common people, doing the uncommon. And if you teach people the what and the why, the how gets easier, how many people in this audience, just curious, believe in the idea that the way you think has some effect on your life. Just curious.

You do. So you believe on some level that your thoughts have an effect on your life. Yes? So you think 60 to 70,000 thoughts in one day. 90% of those thoughts are the same thoughts as the day before. So what is the likelihood of something happening different in your life? if 90% of those thoughts, conscious or unconscious, are the same thoughts as the day before. Because the same thoughts will always lead to the same choices.

The same choices will lead to the same behaviors. The same behaviors will create the same experiences. And the same experiences produce the same emotions. And those same emotions drive your very same thoughts. And your biology, your neurocircuitary, your neurochemistry, your hormones, and even your genetic expression is equal to how you think, how you act, and how you feel. And how you think, how you act, and how you feel is called your personality. and your personality creates your personal reality. That's it.

So then if you want to create a new personal reality, a new life, then you're going to have to start changing your personality. How many people are with me? Come on, London, yes? You see, most people try to create a new personal reality as the same personality, and it doesn't work. You literally have to become someone else. So there's a principle in neuroscience that says that nerve cells that fire together, wire together.

And if you keep thinking the same thoughts, making the same choices, demonstrating the same behaviors, creating the same experiences that stamp the same networks of neurons into the same patterns, all for the familiar feeling you call you to reaffirm that identity, over and over again, you begin to hardwire your brain into automatic programs. And by the time you're 35 years old, this is science now, 95% of who you are, by the time you're 35, it's a set of memorized behaviors, automatic habits, emotional reactions, beliefs, perceptions, and attitudes that function like a subconscious computer program. and the constant firing and wiring,

making the brain work in the same sequences, the same patterns, and the same combinations over and over again, begins to create a very finite signature in the brain. And that finite signature, the most commonly fired, neurologically wired set of thoughts, behaviors, and emotions that's acquired through frequent repetition, is the habit of yourself. And a habit is, when you've done something so many times,

that the body knows how to do it better than your mind. And so 95% of most people, they are unconscious 95% of the time. And I assert if you're not in the present moment, you're running a program. So then in order for you to create a new personality, the first step is you've got to think about what you've been thinking about and change it, Would you agree? You got to become aware of your unconscious habits and behaviors and modify those. And then you have to look at those emotions that keep you anchored to the past, that you wear on your sleeve. And you have to decide if those emotions belong in your future.

See, most people trying to create a new personal reality as the same personality, find out that it doesn't work. because they're thinking the same thoughts, performing the same actions, living by the same emotions, but secretly expecting their life to change. But would you agree with me then? New thoughts, new information, new knowledge should lead to new choices. And new choices should lead to new behaviors, and new behavior should create new experiences, and new experiences should produce new feelings and emotions and those new feelings and emotions should inspire new thoughts and that's called evolution but you see the hardest part about change is not making the same choice as you did the day before that's the hardest part and you see 95% of

who you are is a set of unconscious thoughts behaviors and emotions And the moment you start becoming conscious of those unconscious thoughts, the more aware you are of them, the less unconscious you go. And every single person in this room at some time in their lives has done something great. And you know, the problem is that the brain is organized to reflect everything you know in your life. Your brain is a record of the past. It's an artifact of everything you've learned and experienced to this moment. And if feelings and emotions are the end product of past experiences,

and you can remember experiences better because you remember how they feel. If you're feeling the same way every single day, doesn't that mean nothing new is happening in your life? And if those emotions are driving your thoughts, and you can't think greater than how you feel or feelings have become the means of thinking are you thinking in the future are you thinking in the past?

Come on. The emotion is a record of the past and those emotions are driving your thoughts than you're thinking in the past. And if you told me that you believe that your thoughts have something to do with your destiny, the law still applies. But sure, keep creating your past.

over and over again. Are you with me still? Come on, is this too much for you? Take a breath. So then, reason this with me. You keep thinking the same thoughts. You turn on a set of circuits in your brain. You have an insecure thought.

You have an unworthy thought. You have a self-depreciating thought. You turn on different networks in your brain. You produce a level of mind. Another part of the brain makes a chemical that makes you feel unworthy, insecure, or self-depreciating. The moment you feel those emotions, the brain is checking in with the body.

And the brain begins to generate more corresponding thoughts equal to that emotional state. And all of a sudden, now, it makes more chemicals for you to feel that exact same way, and then you think more corresponding thoughts equal to your feelings. And then you say, after 20 years of that, I am insecure. because thoughts are the language of the brain and feelings are the language of the body and how you think and how you feel creates a state of being. And a state of being is when mind and body are working together.

So whenever you say, I am anything, you are commanding your mind and body to a destiny. Now here's the problem. The redundancy of that cycle over and over again, 20 or 30 or 40 years, conditions the body to subconsciously become the mind of that emotion. And now the body is the mind. And the body as the unconscious mind does not know the difference

between the actual experience in your life that creates the emotion and the emotion that you're fabricating by thought alone. To the body, it's exactly the same. So the body is believing it's living in the same past experience, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The body is enslaved to the past. And if the body has become the mind of that emotion, the body literally is in the past.

And you can't create a new future holding on to the emotions of the past. Are you with me still? And so then, all of you have done something great in your life. And when you decided to step outside of your comfort zone and take a risk in the unknown, the moment you made that decision, you started to feel uncomfortable. Because the moment you leave the familiar feelings and habits and step into that unknown, the body that's been conditioned to be the mind emotionally can predict the future. It would rather hold on to its guilt than step into the unknown.

It's entirely possible that you judge yourself and judge others all day long and don't even know that you do that because it's a subconscious program. Some people would rather cling to their unworthiness than take a chance and possibility, and they will argue for their limitations the entire way. But the moment you make a decision to change the way you think, to change the way you act, or change the way you feel, get ready

because you are going to feel uncomfortable. It's going to feel unfamiliar. There's going to be some uncertainty and you're not going to be able to predict your future. in the moment you make that choice from the old self to the new self, you just stepped into the river of change. And the body which has been conditioned to be the mind, where you said, I'm not going to complain, I'm not going to judge,

I'm not going to make excuses, I'm not going to feel sorry for myself. You made all those decisions in the morning. And things went really well for about three hours, but the body is craving those chemicals, just like an addict, because it's addicted to those emotions. And the body starts sending signals back up to the brain. It's trying to unseat you

to return back to safety, to the familiar territory. And you start to hear these sub-vocalizations in your head. You start to hear these thoughts, these voices, and they say, why don't you start tomorrow? tomorrow's a better day. You're really tired.

This isn't going to work for you today. It's my ex-husband's fault that I'm this way. It's my mother's fault. This doesn't feel right. That's the body sending signals back to the brain. And if you respond to that thought as if it's true, that thought is going to lead to the same choice, which is going to lead to the same behavior.

it's going to create the same experience, and it's going to produce the same familiar feeling called you, and you're going to say, this feels right. It feels familiar. You see, going from the old self to the new self, is the neurological, is the biological, is the chemical, the hormonal genetic death of the old self. People who say to me, I'm in the river of change,

I'm in the unknown, I'm in this void. I can't predict my future. I always say the same thing to him. The best way to predict your future is to create it. Not from the known, but from the unknown. What thoughts do you want to fire and wire in your brain? What behaviors could you demonstrate in one day, one lifetime? The act of rehearsing your behaviors in your mind,

begins to install the neurological hardware in your brain to look like the experience has already occurred. Now the brain is no longer a record of the past. It's a map to the future, and you are priming your brain into the future. Here's the tough part. Could you teach your body emotionally what that future will feel like before it's made manifest? You know what that? That means you can't wait for your healing to feel wholeness. You can't wait for your wealth to feel abundance. You can't wait for your success to feel empowered. You can't wait for the mystical moment to feel awe. You can't wait for your new relationship to feel love or your new job to feel gratitude. That's the old model of reality of cause and effect. Waiting for something outside of

to change how you feel inside of you. When you feel differently inside of you, you pay attention to whoever or whatever caused that. And that event in and of itself is called a memory. That's Newtonian physics. To wait for our environment to give us relief. But the quantum model of reality is about causing an effect.

Which means when you feel whole, you begin to heal. When you feel empowered, you're going to be successful. When you're worthy enough, you'll feel abundant. When you are in love with life and in love with yourself, you will find an equal, or it will find you. And when you are in awe of the moment the mystical is going to bless you in a way that you never anticipated. And when you are in a state of gratitude, your job is on the way. That's causing an effect.

And by the way, what is the emotional signature of gratitude? Don't you give thanks when you get something or you receive something? So then what if you were to begin to give thanks or feel thanks before it manifested? Would your body as the unconscious mind believe it's in the future experience in the present moment? because gratitude is the ultimate state of receivership. And so we don't pray in our work to have our prayers answered. We get up as if our prayers are already answered. It is that state of mind and body that I know

that requires a clear intention and an elevated emotion. And the clear intention is an act of the moment. mind and the brain. And an elevated emotion is when you open your heart. When you combine those two elements, you just moved from living in your past, living in your future. Thank you for listening. Continue strengthening your mind by subscribing and listening to our other episodes.