The Doula Johanna Podcast: Keeping Death Close. Living More Fully.

This is the third episode in my End of Life Essentials series, and today we are talking about something almost no one prepares for even though it can spare your loved ones weeks of stress and confusion. If the unthinkable were to happen, would your partner, your children or your closest friends know where to begin? Would they know where your important documents are, who to call, what accounts exist, or what you would want?

Most of us assume our family will simply figure things out, but that is rarely the case. The truth is that creating one simple folder or binder can turn chaos into clarity at a time when your loved ones will already be grieving. This episode walks you through the essential documents every family needs and why preparing them now is one of the deepest acts of love you can offer.

I also created a downloadable Plan Ahead Checklist so you can gather everything step by step without feeling overwhelmed. It is free, and it is designed to give you and your family more peace of mind: https://preview.mailerlite.io/forms/777532/171662106735675376/share

If you want to live more intentionally and begin shaping a life with fewer regrets, I invite you to join my Intention Setting Party on December 28. It is a gentle space to reflect on the past year, connect with what matters and set your direction for the year ahead:

https://the-no-regrets-womens-circle.mn.co/plans/1928186?bundle_token=ab5ebfe45ca38338b2c6e9aeca054192&utm_source=manual

Thank you for being the kind of person who is courageous enough to look at these topics. Keeping death close helps us live more fully. I am so glad you are here.

🌟Welcome to The Doula Johanna Podcast 🌟

I’m Dr. Johanna Canady — your life doula for birth, death, and everything in between.

Weekly reflections & conversations to help you:

Live with more intention, gratitude, and courage

Keep death close — and use it as a compass for a fuller, more meaningful life

Reconnect with your body, joy, and purpose in motherhood and midlife

✨ Topics: motherhood, mortality, mindfulness, midlife, meaning, grief, legacy, abundance, and intentional living.

🌼 Join the Community

I’m creating a home for English-speaking mothers who want to live more intentionally, keep death close, and grow together.

It’s a space for connection, reflection, and real conversations about what matters most.

👉 Learn more & join us → https://doulajohanna.com/community/

🤍 Other ways to work with me:

Birth Doula Support (Munich area) → https://doulajohanna.com/birth-doula-...

Death Doula Support → https://doulajohanna.com/death-doula-...

📲 Follow & connect:

Instagram → @doulajohanna

Website → www.doulajohanna.com

Etsy Resources → Doula Johanna Shop

This episode is part of the End of Life Essentials series, created to help you make life easier for the people you love most.

If you have ever thought that your partner or your closest family member could simply step in and make decisions for you if something happened, this episode will give you the clarity you deserve. A Power of Attorney, or Vorsorgevollmacht, is not just paperwork. It is an act of love and protection, and it takes real courage to look at this topic honestly.

Facing this now will spare your loved ones confusion, conflict and unnecessary pain later. It will give you peace, because you will know that if life ever surprises you, the right person will speak for you. Not a stranger. Not the court. Not chance.

In this episode you will learn:

• What a Power of Attorney really is and how it differs from a Living Will

• What happens when you do not have one

• How to choose the right person to speak for you

• Why this is one of the kindest gifts you can give your family

If you feel drawn to a more intentional life and want to end this year with clarity, I invite you to join my Intention Setting Party on December 28. We will reflect on the year that has passed, set grounded intentions for the next chapter and do it in a way that honours life, time and the people we care about: www.doulajohanna.com/community

Here are the official sources for creating a Power of Attorney in your country:

Germany:

Vorsorgevollmacht on the Federal Ministry of Justice website

https://www.malteser.de/fileadmin/Files_sites/malteser_de_Relaunch/Angebote_und_Leistungen/Patientenverfuegung/Vorsorgevollmacht.pdf

United Kingdom:

Lasting Power of Attorney through GOV UK

https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney

United States:

Overview of Durable Power of Attorney and Health Care Proxy through USA.gov

https://www.usa.gov/power-of-attorney

(Each US state provides its own form. Search “[your state] durable power of attorney form.”)

Thank you for being brave enough to think about this today. Preparing now is not morbid. It is mature, loving and deeply life affirming. If this episode helped you, share it with someone who needs this conversation too.

🌟Welcome to The Doula Johanna Podcast 🌟

I’m Dr. Johanna Canady — your life doula for birth, death, and everything in between.

🎧 Weekly reflections & conversations to help you:

Live with more intention, gratitude, and courage

Keep death close — and use it as a compass for a fuller, more meaningful life

Reconnect with your body, joy, and purpose in motherhood and midlife

✨ Topics: motherhood, mortality, mindfulness, midlife, meaning, grief, legacy, abundance, and intentional living.

🌼 Join the Community

I’m creating a home for English-speaking mothers who want to live more intentionally, keep death close, and grow together.

It’s a space for connection, reflection, and real conversations about what matters most.

👉 Learn more & join us → https://doulajohanna.com/community/

🤍 Other ways to work with me:

Birth Doula Support (Munich area) → https://doulajohanna.com/birth-doula-support/

Death Doula Support → https://doulajohanna.com/death-doula-support/

📲 Follow & connect:

Instagram → @doulajohanna

Website → www.doulajohanna.com

Etsy Resources → Doula Johanna Shop

Have you ever avoided thinking about what would happen if you couldn’t make decisions for yourself? Most people do. We push the thought away because it feels too heavy, too final, too uncomfortable. Yet somewhere deep down we know that avoiding it doesn’t protect us or our loved ones — it only leaves them uncertain when they’ll need clarity the most.

In this first episode of End-of-Life Essentials I invite you to see the Living Will, or Patientenverfügung, in a completely different light. Instead of a sad document about dying, it’s a declaration about how you want to live and what truly matters to you. It ensures that the people you love never have to make impossible choices in the dark. Creating one isn’t about expecting tragedy; it’s about choosing peace, responsibility, and love while you still can.

When you know that your wishes are clear and your affairs are in order, something beautiful happens: your mind quiets, your heart opens, and you start living more fully. You stop postponing joy because you’re no longer haunted by unfinished business. This episode will help you understand how to make those decisions calmly and how to turn what feels scary into a powerful act of tenderness.

And if you’re one of the rare, brave souls who knows that keeping death close is a way to stay awake to life, I’d love to invite you to join my Intention-Setting Party on December 28. It’s a live online gathering for women who want to step into the new year with courage, clarity, and connection. We’ll reflect on what truly matters, honour the fragility of life, and set intentions that feel alive and real. You can join us through my website at https://doulajohanna.com/community/

Take action today! You can download the official Living Will or Advance Directive forms directly from trusted national sources:

• Germany (Patientenverfügung) : https://www.malteser.de/fileadmin/Files_sites/malteser_de_Relaunch/Angebote_und_Leistungen/Patientenverfuegung/Patientenverfuegung.pdf

• United States (Advance Directive) – National Institute on Aging – overview & state links: https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/advance-care-planning/preparing-living-will

• United Kingdom (Advance Decision / Living Will) – NHS guidance and forms: https://www.nhs.uk/tests-and-treatments/end-of-life-care/planning-ahead/advance-decision-to-refuse-treatment/

Time stamps:

0:00 Why plan ahead?

0:54 What a Living Will is

1:28 My personal story

2:37 The big misconception

3:53 Questions that matter

6:07 What is a good death

7:53 How to actually make one

🌟Welcome to The Doula Johanna Podcast 🌟

I’m Dr. Johanna Canady — your life doula for birth, death, and everything in between.

🎧 Weekly reflections & conversations to help you:

Live with more intention, gratitude, and courage

Keep death close — and use it as a compass for a fuller, more meaningful life

Reconnect with your body, joy, and purpose in motherhood and midlife

✨ Topics: motherhood, mortality, mindfulness, midlife, meaning, grief, legacy, abundance, and intentional living.

🌼 Join the Community

I’m creating a home for English-speaking mothers who want to live more intentionally, keep death close, and grow together.

It’s a space for connection, reflection, and real conversations about what matters most.

👉 Learn more & join us → https://doulajohanna.com/community/

🤍 Other ways to work with me:

Birth Doula Support (Munich area) → https://doulajohanna.com/birth-doula-support/

Death Doula Support → https://doulajohanna.com/death-doula-support/

📲 Follow & connect:

Instagram → @doulajohanna

Website → www.doulajohanna.com

Etsy Resources → Doula Johanna Shop

These are the lessons that shaped me — from perfectionism and purpose to love, health, and what really matters when we remember that life is finite.

If you’ve ever wondered what it means to live with intention, to stay grateful in the chaos of midlife, or to create a life you’ll be proud to look back on, this episode is for you.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:34 Being Human with Kindness

03:54 Love and Relationships

07:14 Work and Purpose

09:06 Body and Health

11:25 Gratitude and Freedom

13:47 The One Big Truth

In this episode I share:

🌿 What I’ve learned about being human with kindness and honesty

💗 How to build real connection in love and relationships

💰 Why meaningful work and financial awareness bring peace

💪 How to care for your body like the sacred home it is

🕊️ And the one truth that connects them all: keeping death close helps us live more fully.

🎉 Join me for No Regrets: An Intention-Setting Party for 2026

A live 3-hour online gathering on December 28, 2025 (2 PM Munich time)

Together, we’ll reflect on the past year, set meaningful goals, and make space for what truly matters.

Early bird price: €9.99

(The price will go up to €16.99 by December 10, 2025)

👉 To join, simply send your contribution via PayPal:

paypal.me/doulajohanna

Please include a current email address in the message so I can send your Zoom link and event details within 24 hours.

🎧 About The Doula Johanna Podcast

This is a space for reflection on life, death, and everything in between.

I’m Johanna, a birth doula, mother of three, and hospice volunteer in training, exploring how keeping death close helps us live with more gratitude, clarity, and joy right now.

If this episode spoke to you, I’d love for you to:

✨ Subscribe to the channel

✨ Leave a comment and share your favorite lesson

✨ Sprinkle a little magic dust on the world around you

Thank you for being here. 💛

#DoulaJohanna #TheDoulaJohannaPodcast #LiveMoreFully #IntentionalLiving #MidlifeReflections #NoRegretsLife #KeepingDeathClose #GratitudePractice #MeaningfulLife #PurposeDrivenLiving #MidlifeAwakening #WomenWhoReflect #LifeAndDeathWisdom #SoulfulLiving #PresenceOverPerfection

Recorded under the Tuscan sun, this heartfelt conversation invites you to look back with compassion, honesty, and a little courage.

In this episode, I explore the legacy of our parents: the patterns we inherited, the beliefs that shaped us, and the power we have now to choose what continues and what ends with us.

As parents ourselves, we know how easy it is to mess up and how healing it can be to repair.

That perspective can open a new kind of compassion for our own mothers and fathers, especially when we start seeing their story as part of our own.

This episode includes a “pattern audit” exercise, a gentle but powerful practice to notice what we’ve carried from our parents and what we’re ready to lovingly let go of.

Because healing isn’t just about breaking cycles; it’s about honoring where we came from while creating something new for the next generation.

✨ In this episode:

Why midlife offers a unique chance to reframe our parents’ legacy

How compassion deepens when we see our parents through a parent’s eyes

The “pattern audit” that helps you release what no longer serves you

A simple gratitude practice to share with your parents if you can

Recorded in Tuscany as part of The Legacy Series: a reflections on motherhood, memory, and what truly matters in the middle chapters of life.

What will you remember when it’s all said and done?

In this second episode of the Legacy Series, recorded under the warm Tuscan sun, I share something very vulnerable: how even on a beautiful family vacation, I found myself exhausted, overwhelmed, and wondering why joy still felt out of reach.

As a mother in midlife, I often feel like I’m supposed to have it all figured out, but the truth is, sometimes I still hit my limits. I still needed my husband to hold me and ask, What do you need to make tomorrow a better day?

That question changed everything. It reminded me that what truly matters isn’t the hustle or the future we keep waiting for: it’s this moment. The love we give and receive. The faces we hope to see before our inner eye when it is our time to leave this world.

Reflection prompt:

If you were looking back on your life today, what would you want to remember most?

Who are your forever people?

We’ll talk about:

Feeling burned out, even in beautiful places

The healing power of being seen and supported

Why your life is happening now, not in some distant future

How to become your own great love story by caring for yourself and those you love intentionally

This episode is for every mother who’s ever felt like she cannot do anything right. You are not alone. Let this be your invitation to slow down, breathe, and remember what’s real.

Think of this podcast as your little life doula, holding space for your heart and gently reminding you that love, rest, and connection are the truest forms of success.

🌟 Welcome to The Doula Johanna Podcast 🌟

I’m Dr. Johanna Canady — your life doula for birth, death, and everything in between.

🎧 Weekly episodes to help you:

Reclaim your body, joy & purpose

Navigate big transitions with courage and curiosity

Embrace desire, rest, money, and meaning — unapologetically

✨ Topics: motherhood, sex, money, health, grief, career change & more.

🧭 Need support right now?

Book a 1:1 coaching session: https://www.doulajohanna.com/coaching

We can explore anything from pregnancy, intimacy, and parenting to purpose, identity, and big life decisions. It’s all welcome.

📬 Want more support, sneak peeks & soulful tools?

Join my email list: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/777532/153375709920757750/share

📲 Stay connected:

Instagram → https://instagram.com/doulajohanna

Website → https://www.doulajohanna.com

🛒 Resources & downloads:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/DoulaJohanna

🎙️ Listen on:

Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/7KcnWjJieuLm5aYJfFSoqT

Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-doula-johanna-podcast-how-to-be-your-own-life-doula/id1786126722

#workingmoms #lifedoula #selfcareforwomen #momburnout #coachingformoms #momlifeafter40 #intimacyafterkids #motherhoodandmore

When your children grow up and look back, what will they actually remember about you? Not the to-do lists or the rushing, but the feeling of being with you.

In this first episode of the Legacy Series, recorded during my summer stay in Tuscany, I invite you to pause and reflect on the emotional traces we leave behind for our kids. Surrounded by olive groves and slow Italian afternoons, I share some of my own stories and fears about what my daughters might remember if I keep living life on fast-forward — and what I hope they carry with them instead.

💭 Reflection prompt for you: What do you want your children to remember about how it felt to be with you?

✨ We’ll talk about:

The power of sensory memory in shaping childhood

The difference between how we were parented and what we choose now

Real examples of small, ordinary moments that create lasting memories

This is not about perfection. It is about presence, connection, and legacy.

Think of this podcast as your little life doula, holding space and reminding you of what matters most.

In this final episode, I invite you to slow down, close your eyes, and sink into a deeply nurturing guided meditation created just for mothers who are ready to welcome more abundance, joy, and prosperity into their lives.

This practice weaves together everything we’ve explored so far: reconnecting with your body, honoring your dreams, letting go of what no longer serves you, and planting the seeds of powerful, sustainable habits. It’s a gentle yet potent reminder that you are worthy of receiving, not just giving.

You can save this meditation to return to whenever you need a reset or a moment of reconnection. If you’d prefer to listen to the pure audio version, you’ll find it on Insight Timer: https://insighttimer.com/doulajohanna/guided-meditations/sleep-meditation-for-mothers-to-manifest-abundance

or available for download via my Etsy shop.

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey. If this series resonated with you, please subscribe so we can keep growing together as mothers, as women, and as creators of our best possible lives.

Let this be just the beginning.

🌟 Welcome to The Doula Johanna Podcast 🌟

I’m Dr. Johanna Canady — your life doula for birth, death, and everything in between.

🎧 Weekly episodes to help you:

Reclaim your body, joy & purpose

Navigate big transitions with courage and curiosity

Embrace desire, rest, money, and meaning — unapologetically

✨ Topics: motherhood, sex, money, health, grief, career change & more.

How deeply are you aware of the financial impact of motherhood on your life? Like so many women, I chose to step back from my career when my children were little. I knew I was trading income for time and presence, and I don't regret that. But I never fully understood just how big that trade-off would be in the long run, especially when it comes to retirement savings, pension contributions, and financial security in later life.

This isn’t about blaming anyone. It’s about taking a clear-eyed look at the numbers and making sure we, as mothers, don’t keep paying the price for our care work in silence. We'll talk about the "motherhood penalty," how to calculate your personal retirement gap, and why it's never too late to make small, powerful shifts that support your financial well-being.

If you're a mother in midlife who wants to feel more abundant, more informed, and more in control of your financial future, this episode is for you. Whether you’ve been working part time, took a long career break, or are just starting to think about your long-term finances, I hope this conversation helps you feel seen and motivated to take your next right step.

This is episode 7 of my 8-part Abundance Series for Mothers in Midlife.

This series is all about helping you reconnect with your power, your voice, and your vision of a truly abundant life — and financial security is a big part of that

You can watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtu.be/9B9ykIj8Fqg

🌟 Welcome to The Doula Johanna Podcast 🌟

I’m Dr. Johanna Canady — your life doula for birth, death, and everything in between.

🎧 Weekly episodes to help you:

Reclaim your body, joy & purpose

Navigate big transitions with courage and curiosity

Embrace desire, rest, money, and meaning — unapologetically

✨ Topics: motherhood, sex, money, health, grief, career change & more.

Feeling stretched thin or stuck in survival mode? In this episode — part 6 of my 8-part Abundance Series — we explore 7 simple yet powerful habits that can gently shift you into a more abundant state, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. These habits are designed with mothers in midlife in mind and honor your capacity, your rhythms, and your dreams. Whether you're navigating burnout, reinvention, or a desire for deeper fulfillment, this is your invitation to show up for yourself in small daily ways that make a big difference.

🌟 Welcome to The Doula Johanna Podcast 🌟

I’m Dr. Johanna Canady — your life doula for birth, death, and everything in between.

🎧 Weekly episodes to help you:

Reclaim your body, joy & purpose

Navigate big transitions with courage and curiosity

Embrace desire, rest, money, and meaning — unapologetically

✨ Topics: motherhood, sex, money, health, grief, career change & more.