There's a moment before every ending where we already know — and still, we hold on. In this episode, I talk about why we're so bad at letting go: the reasoning we spin, the story we add, the ways we get stuck replaying the past instead of moving through it. Using the psychological science of the "action crisis," along with what I learned ending something I built and loved, I walk through six steps for moving through an ending with more grace — so you can honor what's closing and make room for what's next.

We spend our twenties and thirties collecting achievements, and then one day we look up and ask: is this all there is? In this episode, I sit down with NPR health correspondent Allison Aubrey — author of Your Turn: How to Create a Midlife You Love — to talk about what it actually takes to answer that question. We get into the parts of ourselves we've left behind, the dreams we've stopped letting ourselves have, and the concrete, science-backed practices that can help you build a life with more room in it.

After a client checked in on her wellbeing following a newsletter that said she felt overwhelmed, Diana reflects on how modern life collapses the space we need to know what fuels us versus drains us. She shares creating space through an “energy audit,” moving commitments, stepping back from Instagram, and hiring help, alongside preparing for an emotionally significant talk at her son’s prestigious prep school where her eating disorder and perfectionism began. In her Sangha/Dharma talk, she reframes “space between stimulus and response” into space within, between, and around us, emphasizing psychological distancing—relating to thoughts and feelings rather than being inside them. Drawing from time in the ER with a close friend recovering from extensive cancer surgery, she explores interbehavioral fields, brain “syncing” research, and the idea that what holds everything is consciousness. 

Every year, Dr. Diana Hill brings her family to Plum Village in Southern France, no small feat with two teenagers. This episode distills five lessons from this year's retreat: why letting yourself cry is an act of love, the mantra "sometimes things like this happen," the idea that you're the missing instrument shaping the harmony around you, how disease can purify the soul, and why every movement, every step, every conversation has its own small life. Practical wisdom from the monastics of Plum Village, translated for wherever you're using your energy right now.