Dr. Diana Hill guides a non-dual, open-awareness meditation beginning with listening to a bell, landing in the body through sound, contact with the ground, and breath (“Breathing in, I’m alive; breathing out, I’m here”). Participants visualize their life as a timeline stretching left into the past—through birth, ancestors, and even a star’s “cracking open”—and right into the future through their continuing influence. They are invited to meet a younger self from a moment of growth, bring that self to sit on the left, and then welcome an older, more authentic, flexible, focused, and harmonious self to sit on the right, offering stability while feeling “lost” in the unknown. The practice emphasizes presence, radical acceptance, and saying “I don’t know,” followed by a Shel Silverstein reading on “growing down,” and closes with the three refuges: being, becoming, and belonging.

You can also enjoy Diana's related talk--Episode 193 Secret Sangha: Growth.

Get enhanced show notes for this episode

• Order my book, Wise Effort: How to Focus Your Genius Energy on What Matters Most, and receive special bonus gifts.
• Want to become more psychologically flexible? Take Diana's "Foundations of ACT" course.

• Reserve your spot in Diana's Costa Rica retreat in 2026!
• See Diana at an upcoming event

• Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
• Leave a 5-star review on Apple so people like you can find the show.
• Sign up for the free Wise Effort Newsletter.
• Become a Wise Effort member to support the show.
• Follow Diana on YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Diana’s website.

Thanks to the team, Craig and Ashley Hiatt, and Benjamin Gould of Bell & Branch for your beautiful music.

Do you keep trying to make big changes, only to burn out or get stuck at the choice point? In this episode of The Wise Effort Show, Dr. Diana Hill talks with Eric Zimmer, host of The One You Feed and author of How a Little Becomes a Lot, about why lasting transformation happens through small, consistent actions—shaped by clear values, a “middle way” mindset, supportive structure, and compassionate self-talk. Drawing from Eric’s recovery from heroin addiction, Diana’s pushup challenge, and everyday examples like food choices and pain language, they explore how to navigate motivation, self-doubt, autopilot, and other traps, and why meaningful change requires both inner skills and connection with others.

1. How “little by little” creates real change over time
2. How to decide what is worth wanting and work with values conflicts
3. How the middle way and self-compassion help you move through setbacks

Share this episode with someone who needs a steadier, more sustainable approach to change.

Get enhanced show notes for this episode

• Order my book, Wise Effort: How to Focus Your Genius Energy on What Matters Most, and receive special bonus gifts.
• Want to become more psychologically flexible? Take Diana's "Foundations of ACT" course.

• Reserve your spot in Diana's Costa Rica retreat in 2026!
• See Diana at an upcoming event

• Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
• Leave a 5-star review on Apple so people like you can find the show.
• Sign up for the free Wise Effort Newsletter.
• Become a Wise Effort member to support the show.
• Follow Diana on YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Diana’s website.

Thanks to the team, Craig and Ashley Hiatt, and Benjamin Gould of Bell & Branch for your beautiful music.

Dr. Diana Hill guides a Compassion Practice beginning with soothing rhythm breathing, slowing the breath to match one’s nervous system while breathing in clarity and breathing out tension. She then leads a grounding visualization, rooting the body into the earth and calling to mind compassionate teachers, people, or animals, distilling their wise, loving essence into light that illuminates the body and evokes a warm face, strong back, and open heart. From this “Bodhisattva” compassionate self, the listener offers care to their own current struggle, then brings in a person they find difficult and holds both perspectives with understanding. The practice expands to include the suffering of the wider community and world, offering intentions for unity, freedom from suffering, and peace, followed by silent sitting.

Listen to the Diana's Secret Sangha talk on Compassion

Get enhanced show notes for this episode

• Order my book, Wise Effort: How to Focus Your Genius Energy on What Matters Most, and receive special bonus gifts.
• Want to become more psychologically flexible? Take Diana's "Foundations of ACT" course.

• Reserve your spot in Diana's Costa Rica retreat in 2026!
• See Diana at an upcoming event

• Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
• Leave a 5-star review on Apple so people like you can find the show.
• Sign up for the free Wise Effort Newsletter.
• Become a Wise Effort member to support the show.
• Follow Diana on YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Diana’s website.

Thanks to the team, Craig and Ashley Hiatt, and Benjamin Gould of Bell & Branch for your beautiful music.

This breathwork and guided meditation session, led by Dr. Diana Hill, is part of the Diana's weekly Sangha community. This meditation guides a mindfulness practice beginning with “butterfly breath" and then invites listeners to rest attention on calming sounds arising from silence, adopt a stable and open posture of equanimity, and notice the natural steadiness of breathing. Listeners are asked to inquire inwardly what part of themselves needs tending to, meet sensations or emotions with steady love, and ask what that part wants them to know, responding with “I hear you, I see you.” The practice emphasizes being the spacious “prior condition” that holds sounds, feelings, worries, and others’ pain with presence, and offers three anchors to return to when off balance: breath, body/posture, and heart.

You can also enjoy Diana's related talk--Episode 188 Secret Sangha: Equanimity.

Get enhanced show notes for this episode

• Order my book, Wise Effort: How to Focus Your Genius Energy on What Matters Most, and receive special bonus gifts.
• Want to become more psychologically flexible? Take Diana's "Foundations of ACT" course.

• Reserve your spot in Diana's Costa Rica retreat in 2026!
• See Diana at an upcoming event

• Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
• Leave a 5-star review on Apple so people like you can find the show.
• Sign up for the free Wise Effort Newsletter.
• Become a Wise Effort member to support the show.
• Follow Diana on YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Diana’s website.

Thanks to the team, Craig and Ashley Hiatt, and Benjamin Gould of Bell & Branch for your beautiful music.