How to Give Yourself a New Prompt and Get Different Results
Reprogram your inner critic
The inner critic can be a relentless voice that sabotages your self-worth, magnifies your mistakes, and leaves you feeling inadequate.
For years, I wrestled with this inner critic, allowing it to dictate my actions, thoughts, and even my sense of self. But through my personal journey of recovery from stress and trauma, I discovered a way to transform this critic into an inner ally — a supportive voice that encourages growth and compassion. This transformation was largely due to the practice of yoga, mindfulness, and a powerful integration of Dr. Joe Dispenza’s guided meditations.
Recognizing the Inner Critic
The first step in changing your relationship with the inner critic is to recognize its presence and its origin.
This voice, which often feels like an ever-present judge, is born out of fear, past trauma, and insecurity.
For much of my life, my inner critic was a constant companion, pushing me to overachieve while simultaneously reminding me that nothing I did was ever good enough.
It wasn’t until I began my journey through yoga and meditation that I became aware of how deeply ingrained this voice was.
Yoga became a mirror, reflecting the thoughts I had about myself.
As I moved through poses, especially in moments of challenge or discomfort, the critic would speak up:
“You’re not strong enough,”
“You’ll never get this right.”
It was through this practice of mindful movement that I began to see how the critic wasn’t a motivational force, but a destructive one.
The recognition of this voice was the beginning of its transformation.
The Power of Breath and Presence
One of the most transformative elements of yoga for me was the discovery of how breath can quiet the mind and shift focus away from the inner critic. This is where the Moore Breathing Method became central to my practice.
By focusing on deep, deliberate breathing — particularly slowing the exhale — I found that I could calm my mind, quiet the critical voice, and create a sense of inner stillness.
When you bring full attention to your breath, your brain can no longer afford to engage in the loop of criticism and fear. The focus on breath creates a gap, a space where you can observe the critic without being consumed by it.
Dr. Joe Dispenza’s teachings also had a profound influence on this process. His work on neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to rewire itself through repeated thought and behavior — helped me understand that my inner critic was not an unchangeable fixture in my mind, but rather a learned pattern that could be unlearned.
Through breath and mindfulness, I was able to bring awareness to this pattern, and through guided meditations, I started to consciously reshape it.
The Stages of Yoga for Retraining the Inner Voice
In the ten-class yoga series that I developed, each class serves as a step toward detoxifying the body of stress, calming the mind, and retraining the subconscious.
The series follows three core stages that are integral in transforming the inner critic: calming the brain, clearing emotional toxins, and reprogramming emotional patterns.
Stage 1: Calm the Brain
The first stage of transformation is all about calming the mind, which often operates in a high-beta, fight-or-flight state when the inner critic is most active. Through intentional breathwork, I learned to shift from this high-beta state to a calmer, alpha brainwave state. In this state, the mind becomes more receptive to positive thoughts and less reactive to the critic’s harsh judgments.
By inhaling for three counts and exhaling for five, I created a rhythm that brought my attention inward, slowing my thoughts and calming the nervous system.
As Dr. Joe Dispenza often teaches, when we calm the brain and reach a meditative state, we create the conditions for neuroplasticity — allowing us to rewrite old patterns and open ourselves to new, healthier emotional habits.
Stage 2: Clear the Emotional Toxins
Yoga is not just about physical movement; it’s a tool for emotional detoxification. In the second class of the series, I introduced the Breath Coil, a practice that combines visualization with breath to help release deep emotional toxins stored in the body. The inner critic thrives on these unresolved emotions — past traumas, fears, and insecurities — that we carry within.
Heart-opening poses like camel and cobra were crucial in this stage. These postures forced me to confront vulnerability, which the inner critic had always resisted.
By combining these poses with breathwork, I visualized my breath spiraling down into my core, gathering negative emotions and releasing them with each exhale.
This practice was transformative because it made space within my emotional body, space that could then be filled with compassion and healing.
This is also where Dr. Joe Dispenza’s meditations came into play. After releasing the emotional toxins through yoga, I would end my practice with one of his guided meditations.
His meditations often focus on creating a new future self — one that is free from the limitations of past trauma and old beliefs.
In this relaxed and open state, I was able to visualize myself as I wanted to be: confident, self-compassionate, and free from the critic’s grip.
Stage 3: Reprogram the Subconscious
The final stage in this transformation is about reprogramming the subconscious mind.
After clearing the emotional toxins, the mind and body are in a receptive state, ready to absorb new, healthier patterns.
This is when Dr. Joe Dispenza’s teachings on emotional rehearsal became vital to my practice. Emotional rehearsal is the act of mentally and emotionally practicing the future you wish to experience.
During Shavasana, the resting pose at the end of each yoga class, I used this time to integrate his guided meditations. Lying in complete stillness, with my mind calm and my body relaxed, I would visualize myself as the person I wanted to become — someone who spoke to themselves with kindness, who embraced challenges with confidence, and who felt worthy of love and success.
Dr. Dispenza teaches that when we repeatedly practice these elevated emotions — like gratitude, joy, and self-love — we begin to condition the brain and body to feel these emotions automatically.
Over time, this practice literally rewires the brain, replacing old patterns of self-criticism with new patterns of self-compassion. For me, this daily practice of emotional rehearsal was the key to transforming my inner critic into an ally.
Repetition and Integration
The transformation of the inner critic isn’t a one-time event; it’s a process that requires consistency and repetition. Each yoga session, coupled with Dr. Dispenza’s meditations, acted as a daily reset. The more I practiced, the quieter the inner critic became. It didn’t disappear overnight, but over time, it transformed from a harsh judge into a supportive guide.
As I repeated the ten-class yoga series, each time layering in more intention and more self-compassion, I found that the critic’s voice grew softer and less influential.
Eventually, it became a voice of reason and encouragement — a voice that now helps guide me rather than hold me back.
Transforming the inner critic into an inner ally is not only possible, but it’s also a powerful step toward lasting emotional freedom and well-being.
Through the practices of breathwork, mindful movement, and guided meditation, I was able to retrain my mind to be less reactive to negative self-talk and more open to self-compassion.
The integration of Dr. Joe Dispenza’s meditations at the end of my yoga sessions allowed me to go deeper into this transformation, using emotional rehearsal to create a new future self — one rooted in love, gratitude, and kindness.
This process requires patience, consistency, and a willingness to confront the discomfort of vulnerability.
But with each step, you’ll find that the inner critic becomes quieter, and in its place, a supportive, compassionate voice will emerge.
This voice will become your greatest ally, helping you navigate life’s challenges with grace, and self-love.
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