Three years ago, I was having panic attacks, crying in a car park each morning before work. I was in a job that no longer aligned with who I had become, and my body was letting me know it was time for a change.
Carl Jung is one of the most influential psychologists of all time. He spent his life exploring a single question: how do you become who you really are before your time runs out?
Jung had a description for the gap I was living in back then… the distance between the face you show the world and who you actually are underneath.
I mention him because of what happened recently. The Jung Center of Houston (Texas), the institution in America that carries his name, has invited me to teach the Aliveness Practice, live.
Jung’s ideas helped me shape Aliveness. Now I get to teach Aliveness at the institution that bears his name. Feels like I’ve come full circle.
And I want you in the room.
Please join me live on Saturday November 14th
10am–12pm CT / 4pm-6pm UK
$40
Around two years ago, I made the biggest change of my life and left behind an identity I had been growing for almost thirty years.
After training as a Soul Midwife (a form of end-of-life guide) and sitting with dying people in hospital, I started a mission to explore how an awareness of our mortality can allow us to live in deepest purpose.
This idea, built on the great wisdom traditions and modern psychology, became ALIVENESS in April 2026. The philosophy of living fully in the awareness that life is finite. I boiled it all down to a simple 2-minute daily practice.
And still, I had no idea where this road was taking me. All I know is that Aliveness was curing me, and helping lots of others too.
I want to thank the whole team at the Jung Center for the invitation. Special thanks to Jasmine Shah, former director of their Mind Body Spirit Institute, who opened this door.
This is one of the most significant milestones for Aliveness, bringing serious credibility to the project, and I feel genuinely honored to be acknowledged in this way.
Some of the benefits of practicing Aliveness
When you start to become aware, on a daily basis, about how precious and fleeting life is, all aspects of your well-being improve. Expect to see:
A sudden, radical clarity about what actually matters. The noise falls away and you can finally see what matters most in your life.
You make the decision you’ve been avoiding. The job, the conversation, the passion project. Choices start coming from courage instead of fear.
You become more present with the people you love. You listen properly. Ordinary time with your kids, your partner, your parents stops feeling disposable.
You stop performing who you think you should be.
Your mental & physical health improves. Less energy lost to what you can’t control. Better sleep.
You feel more alive. More willing to act, to create, to use the time you actually have.
And underneath all of it: the feeling that you’re not wasting your life.
A few testimonials from my last Aliveness workshop
“The Ultimate Meditation helped me re-envision my life as it stands and what needs to change. John’s thoughts on fear and how that relates to death have propelled me forward in the weeks since, and I feel I am already moving towards something or someone that is more me.” (James)
“A colossal reframing of my existence. What I got is that I can stop making and remaking the decision to commit my life to art, and just honour that decision. To give myself to it with love, glee and a sense of adventure.”(Jeremy)
“Looking at life through the awareness that our time is finite did not feel dark or confronting. Quite the opposite. Looking back from the perspective of an older version of myself brought a remarkable simplicity to questions that can otherwise become incredibly complicated. What matters? What am I postponing? What would I regret not becoming?” (Monica)
Book Now
The Aliveness Practice
2 hours, virtual, so you can join from anywhere.
Saturday 14 November
10am–12pm Houston time (4pm UK).
Tickets are limited and cost $40
This week’s question:
What’s the one thing you’d regret not doing, if your time turned out shorter than you think? Please reply below.
Make the most of the time you have.
Live happy,
Hoppy
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I am a former CEO & filmmaker, as well as a trained Soul Midwife and Druidic Bard. Aliveness emerged from my own near death experiences, sitting with the dying, and the wisdom of the Stoics, Buddhists and great thinkers on mortality. My dream is that Aliveness will become as impactful as Mindfulness: a daily practice helping people live more bravely, leave fewer regrets and create a more present and generous world.
I love the idea of your own mortality being the gateway to more presence in life!