Fiann Paul is a Zürich-trained Jungian psychoanalyst, world record-holding explorer, and endurance athlete.
A multi-faceted Jungian and modern-day Renaissance figure, his life reads like a myth written in both ink and saltwater. He is the world’s most record-breaking explorer, the only human to have rowed every ocean, and, as a pioneering polar expedition leader, the architect of over 40 Guinness World Records. A question about the expedition he led across the Drake Passage was once part of the American television show Jeopardy! But his voyages are not confined to geography.
Fiann is also a practicing Jungian psychoanalyst, whose inner expeditions rival his polar crossings. His foremost area of exploration is consciousness. He lectures at the C.G. Jung Institute in Zürich and works at the intersection of depth psychology and elite performance. His practice bridges the physical and the archetypal, from the gymnasium to the soul, from indigenous wisdom to leadership consulting. His insights have appeared across the world’s leading media outlets. His artistic work in photography, music, and poetic storytelling arises from the same place as his athletic records, a need to give form to what moves through him.
Trained as an architect, Fiann has lived on five continents, shaped by diverse cultures, an experience he calls his experiential education. His proudest achievement is not any accolade or title, but the act of becoming a psychologically self-made person, someone rebuilt without borrowed templates.
Among his other notable titles and accreditations are: Chartered Geographer at the Royal Geographical Society, London; European Engineer at the European Federation of National Engineering Associations (FEANI), Brussels; President of the Ocean Rowing Society International, London; and Honorary Master Mariner of the Association of Master Mariners, Gdynia, Poland.
This is not a conversation with merely a former professional athlete or artist. It is a meeting with someone who does not fear the unknown.
This interview was recorded on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. It’s 01:30:01 long and 86.6 MB. You can listen to it right here in your browser (click the play button in the bar below) or watch the video edition with photos, graphics, videos of Fiann, as well as several of his original songs, on our YouTube channel.
SHOW NOTES
Join us on Patreon Contribute to our Tip Jar for just $5/month and you will receive all of Laura’s extensive notes for each episode
Speaking of Jung on YouTube Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Temenos Dream The revolutionary dream recording app
America Absurdity Aureola Diagram by Fiann Paul
James Hollis, Ph.D. Jungian psychoanalyst, author, and teacher (includes all of his books)
The Best of James Hollis Episode with the book’s author, Logan Jones, Ed.D. (includes book link)
The Witcher Books by Andrzej Sapkowski
LINKS
Row, Laugh, Explore Fiann’s official website
Fiann Paul Photography Arctic • North • Mystic • Nude & Fitness • Projects • Rowing
No♪es: Retrospective Lyrical Blog Fiann’s music
Ocean Explorer (and Psychoanalyst) Fiann Paul Explains How to Use Frustration as Fuel by Ryan Stuart, Men’s Journal, Feb. 23, 2021
What 200 Hours of Rowing Does to the Human Body Discovery, Jan. 3, 2020
The Impossible Row Discovery Channel
AUDIO
Fiann Paul on Spotify Main Artist • Composer • Lyricist • Producer
Jungian Prayer Fiann Paul and James Hollis, Mar. 22, 2025 (first song clip)
Greenland (second song clip)
sub-arctic (third song clip)
Tribute to Fairytale (clip at the end of episode)
VIDEOS
Fiann Paul’s Official YouTube Channel Includes playlists on exploration and ocean rowing, and “Iceland, Greenland and Faroe Islands in Art”
Inside the Game: Guest Fiann Paul, World’s Most Record Breaking Explorer Interview by Sergiusz Ryczel, Polish Television, Oct. 22, 2021
Gifts of Wounds and Personality Disorder Traits TEDxBEND talk by Fiann Paul, Aug. 27, 2019