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Mar 2025
57m 2s

What the Dying Can Teach Us About Living...

CINDY HOVINGTON, PH.D.
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What can the dying teach us about living? In this transformative conversation, Dr. Kathy Zhang, a palliative care physician, shares profound insights from her work with patients at the end of life that can revolutionize our approach to parenting and emotional wellbeing.

Dr. Zhang reveals how witnessing death daily has paradoxically enhanced her appreciation for life's simple joys. Rather than creating fear, regular exposure to mortality has normalized it, allowing her to find deep gratitude in mundane moments like "just waking up." This perspective shift offers parents a powerful lens through which to view their daily interactions with their children.

The conversation takes an unexpected turn as Dr. Zhang introduces her "bathtub metaphor" to explain the crucial difference between rest and restoration. Many parents mistakenly believe that "doing nothing" on weekends will recharge them, then wonder why they feel just as depleted on Monday. She explains that rest merely "plugs the drain" to prevent further energy loss, while true restoration actively "adds water to the bathtub" through meaningful connection with yourself or others.

About Dr. Zhang:

Dr. Luyi Kathy Zhang is a hospice & palliative care physician, TEDx speaker & hypnotist. She has comforted thousands of dying patients and held space for their deepest secrets, biggest regrets and final wishes. She’s made it her mission to share these life-changing insights so people can benefit from deathbed wisdom while they’re still young and healthy. 

Follow Dr. Zhang on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/dr.luyikathyzhang/

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https://curiousneuron.com/podcast/

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