Welcome.
I’m Leigh Hopkins, Founder and Director of Viva Institute.
My work is rooted in a simple belief: how we care for ourselves shapes how we care for the world.
Raised in a small town in Upstate New York, I felt an early pull toward teaching and helping others.
Today, through Viva Institute’s online classes, 1:1 Sessions, and community offerings, I’m committed to supporting big thinkers (like you!) who want to make a positive impact on the world.
Here are a few of the ways I might be able to help:
- If you’re working to stay open-hearted in a world that doesn’t always make it easy, you don’t have to do it alone. I believe in the power of community and shared exploration. Together, we can chart a path forward, work through what’s holding you back, and discover what becomes possible when we journey alongside one another.
- If you’re in a helping or healing profession and feeling stretched thin, know this: you deserve care, too. Through coaching and embodied practices, I help practitioners find their way back—so you can show up for the work that called you in the first place, with the presence, alignment, and strength it deserves.
- If you’re searching for deeper meaning, creative fuel, or just a clearer sense of what’s next, there’s a way forward. Whether you’re beginning something new, finishing what you’ve started, or making peace with what came before, we’ll work together to help you move ahead with intention, purpose, and a little more ease.
I'm here to help.
1:1 Sessions
Has your life path been unconventional? Let's work together to make sense of the journey.
Online Classes
What if clarity and community are just one class away? Explore your path at your own pace.
Connection Circles
Join our welcoming weekly Zoom circle where each month brings a fresh theme.
In other words...
I'm here to help you embrace your path, wherever you've been.
I began my career teaching creative writing to elementary schoolers but quickly realized I wanted more flexibility and openness than public schools allowed. I launched a private tutoring business, building a trained team and gaining the freedom to pursue my passions. That experience led me to a high-profile nonprofit, where as Vice President for Education I supported 500 literacy programs and designed an after-school program cited by President Obama as an example of what’s possible in community-based institutions.
I worked at the intersection of listening and action—gathering stories from people doing vitally important community work and bringing them to members of Congress to advocate for social programs in urban centers.
Along the way, I learned how to help people and organizations clarify their vision, harness their strengths, and create meaningful impact—skills I bring to anyone looking to shape a better world while understanding their own path.
The most important changes begin with listening.
I’m not here to direct you toward the “right” solution, but to listen carefully, respect the talents you already carry, and help bring forward your gifts.
People often ask how I knew this was the work I was meant to do. The truth is, it wasn’t one lightning-bolt moment. It was a long accumulation of listening—to my own body, to the people I worked with, and to the patterns I saw again and again: smart, capable people burning out; helpers losing themselves; systems that rewarded capitalism and productivity while ignoring wholeness.
Viva Institute is my response to that reality.
I don’t want to pretend that the path to this work was an easy one. My life has been a series of tipping points and dividing lines, beginning with the place where I was born—a small white ranch house beneath the highway, the halfway mark between rural and suburban, a few blocks past the tracks and within walking distance of five-cent corn.
Somehow, even as a small girl, I knew I was destined for an unusual life. So it wasn’t a surprise when I quit that Big Job and moved to Brazil, bought a farm above Rio de Janeiro, and—after rigging a satellite dish to a boulder in a banana field—Viva Institute was born.
Since 2010, Viva Institute has been committed to creating life-affirming online courses and community offerings, offering hundreds of classes focused on advancing creative potential, consciousness, and community connection.
My own unconventional path has given me a particular interest in supporting people who have lived unusual lives. I’ve always been curious about what makes some people thrive through change, in spite of incredibly challenging circumstances.
Change is constant. At pivotal moments, perspective changes everything.
I support writers through trauma-informed, body-centered writing instruction and editorial coaching, meeting people at every stage of their process. In my own writing, I write personal essays, political commentary, memoir, fiction, and in-depth arts and culture interviews, with new writing workshops always on the horizon.
I believe that when people are supported to develop self-awareness, regulation, and ethical clarity, everything changes—how they relate, how they work, how they lead, and how they contribute to the world around them.
This philosophy, paired with years of practice and ongoing learning, has shaped everything we offer at Viva Institute: our courses, our 1:1 Sessions, and our community.
Which brings me to you.
If you’re here, I suspect you’re someone who cares deeply—about your work, about other people, and about doing things well. Maybe you’re at a threshold, sensing that something needs to shift. Maybe you’re already on the path and looking for steadier ground, better tools, or a more aligned community.
However you arrived, I’m glad you’re here.
Viva Institute exists to serve. Our work is rooted in care, integrity, and a genuine commitment to supporting sustainable change. Through our educational offerings and resources—many of which are shared freely—we aim to make high-quality, thoughtful training accessible to those who need it.
We’re proud to sustain ourselves through our work. But our deepest commitment is to support you in embracing your path and building a life and practices that are resilient, ethical, and alive.
I don’t present myself as an authority with all the answers. I’m a human being who continues to learn, reflect, and grow—sometimes gracefully, sometimes not! (If you follow me on social media, you know I get pretty fired up about some things.) What I promise you is honesty, depth, and a sincere offering of what I’ve found to be helpful, without hype or shortcuts.
If you’ve read this far, thank you. I truly hope this is the beginning of a meaningful connection.
If you’d like to stay in touch, learn more about our offerings, and receive reflections and resources from Viva Institute, I invite you to join our community by signing up below.
I’m grateful you’re here, and I look forward to what unfolds next.
Big love,
Leigh Hopkins
Founder, Viva Institute
