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The Wise Effort Show

The Wise Effort Show

By: Dr. Diana Hill
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The Wise Effort Show with Dr. Diana Hill is a show about how to live wisely. You’ll learn how to put your energy into places that matter most to you while making a difference in the world. This show is for you if: ...you’re a high achiever feeling burned out from tasks that don’t matter. ...you want to invest your energy in fulfilling and sustainable ways. ...you seek holistic living without the pressure of a rigid wellness checklist. ...you care about your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. ...you appreciate science but are open to exploring spirituality and contemplative practices. ...you have an open, beginner’s mind. ...you believe there’s a better way to live and are ready to apply your wisdom. We don’t have to burn ourselves out or engage in things that are not worth it. We can put our energy where it matters most and savor the good along the way. Join us at the Wise Effort Show!Copyright 2026 Dr. Diana Hill Hygiene & Healthy Living Personal Development Personal Success Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Science Social Sciences
Episodes
  • The Atlas of Emotions With Eve Ekman

    The Atlas of Emotions With Eve Ekman
    Jun 22 2026
    Dr. Diana Hill interviews contemplative social scientist and emotion researcher Dr. Eve Ekman, senior fellow at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and co-creator (with her father Paul Ekman) of The Atlas of Emotions, a tool requested by the Dalai Lama to help people understand how emotions arise and are experienced. They discuss why “emotion regulation” can miss the larger richness of emotions, and how the Atlas emphasizes triggers, physiology, personal history, and—most importantly—our responses, which can be constructive or destructive. Ekman describes building awareness over time rather than relying on quick fixes, the costs of suppression, and the role of sangha and relationships in working with emotions. The conversation also explores grief, caregiving, Father’s Day, impermanence, and Ekman’s experience losing her 91-year-old father after dementia, including relief, tenderness, and the social nature of emotions.Listen and Learn:Emotions are more than something to regulate.Emotional awareness is built through practice.Making room for grief can deepen love and connection.Related ResourcesGet enhanced show notes for this episodeBecome a Wise Effort Community memberSign up for my newsletterOrder 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.Diana's EventsSee Diana at an upcoming eventConnecting With DianaSubscribe for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Leave a 5-star review on Apple so people like you can find 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.Mentioned in this episode:Tell the Truth Salon Series You are invited to join me live in person or streaming online here in Santa Barbara to Tell the Truth Salon Series. This is something that I have been dreaming up for a while now. I want us to gather in person, online, and have real conversations, unedited, unscripted, with people who are change-makers in our world, but also to uncover our own inner truths. https://drdianahill.com/salonTell the Truth Salon Series
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    46 mins
  • Dare to Live What Is True

    Dare to Live What Is True
    Jun 15 2026

    Are you feeling disconnected from what you know is true for you—and overriding it anyway? In this live-recorded Wise Effort episode, Diana Hill explores “truth” (personal, collective, spiritual, and scientific) and how it’s often simple, close, profound, or even hard to accept. She shares ways truth emerges through rough initiations, deep listening to the body and intuition, unexpected states of consciousness, solitude, real conversation with epistemic humility, and connection to nature as a resilience factor. She closes with a “truth or dare” invitation to name a truth and take one action to live it this week.

    Listen and Learn:
    • There are overlapping truths from science and spirituality, including that we’re not separate selves, the mind extends beyond the brain, attention shapes the brain
    • Avenues to finding your truths
    • How awareness is different from thoughts and feelings.

    Related Resources

    Get enhanced show notes for this episode

    • Become a Wise Effort Community member
    • Sign up for my newsletter
    • 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.

    Diana's Events
    • See Diana at an upcoming event

    Connecting With Diana
    • Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
    • Leave a 5-star review on Apple so people like you can find 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.

    Mentioned in this episode:

    Tell the Truth Salon Series

     You are invited to join me live in person or streaming online here in Santa Barbara to Tell the Truth Salon Series. This is something that I have been dreaming up for a while now. I want us to gather in person, online, and have real conversations, unedited, unscripted, with people who are change-makers in our world, but also to uncover our own inner truths. https://drdianahill.com/salon

    Tell the Truth Salon Series
    Show More Show Less
    19 mins
  • Inside Information About Your Brain with Dr. Jud Brewer

    Inside Information About Your Brain with Dr. Jud Brewer
    Jun 1 2026
    Do you feel stuck in worry loops that drain your energy and pull you out of the present moment? In this episode of The Wise Effort Show, Dr. Diana Hill talks with neuroscientist and psychiatrist Dr. Judson Brewer about “inside information” on the brain—especially the default mode network and how self-focused rumination and worry activate the posterior cingulate cortex. They explore new, encouraging research showing that experienced meditators don’t show the same activation during worry recall, and that even beginners can deactivate this brain region quickly using a simple mindfulness “noting” practice (labeling seeing, hearing, feeling, thinking). Diana and Jud also discuss using technology to interrupt addictive habit loops (like compulsive checking) and how moving beyond anxiety can open the door to integrity, kindness, and flourishing—grounded in the reminder that “your actions are your only belongings.”Listen and learn:Your brain has a “me network” that can drain your energy.Noticing changes your relationship to experience.The goal is not just less anxiety, but more integrity, energy, and flourishing.“My actions are my only belongings.”Suggested Next Episode:Busting Brain Myths With Dr. Judson BrewerRelated ResourcesGet enhanced show notes for this episodeBecome a Wise Effort Community memberSign up for my newsletterOrder 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.Diana's EventsSee Diana at an upcoming eventConnecting With DianaSubscribe for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Leave a 5-star review on Apple so people like you can find 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.Mentioned in this episode:Tell the Truth Salon Series You are invited to join me live in person or streaming online here in Santa Barbara to Tell the Truth Salon Series. This is something that I have been dreaming up for a while now. I want us to gather in person, online, and have real conversations, unedited, unscripted, with people who are change-makers in our world, but also to uncover our own inner truths. https://drdianahill.com/salonTell the Truth Salon Series
    Show More Show Less
    54 mins
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