Every conversation leaves an imprint upon us. Some are light. Some linger. Some inspire. Some quietly change the way we see the world. Most are fleeting. Others remain with us for years, returning unexpectedly in a phrase, a gesture, or a memory that suddenly feels new again. Every exchange leaves a thread behind. One that quietly becomes part of the way we see, create, and connect with the world.

Over the past few months, as Memories Through Time has continued to grow, we found ourselves becoming increasingly curious about those quieter conversations.

Listen Here

The ones that don’t rush. The ones where there is enough space for memories to arrive naturally. Enough curiosity for unexpected stories to emerge. Enough silence for another person’s world to gently unfold.

It made us wonder...

What would happen if, instead of weaving together many voices, we simply stayed with one? Not to interview them. Not to celebrate what they have built. But to discover who they are. To become curious about the person before the profession. The memories before the milestones. The way of seeing that quietly shaped everything they would one day create.

So this August, Memories Through Time begins something new.
Our very first Encounter.

Our first Encounter is with Lou Medina, founder and Creative Director of MEDINA. Together, we wandered through craftsmanship, beauty, the sea, the feeling of a second skin, the art of slow creation, and the women who quietly shaped her life. It wasn’t an interview. It became a conversation. One where pauses were welcomed. Curiosity led the way. And memories arrived gently, often when neither of us expected them.

Listening back, I realised something. We weren’t really speaking about swimwear. We were speaking about heritage. Identity. The women who shape us. The people who leave their fingerprints upon us long after they’ve gone. The invisible threads that continue to weave themselves through everything we create. Perhaps that is what these Encounters will become. A place to meet artists, founders, makers, thinkers, and dreamers. Not through the lens of what they have built. But through the memories that built them.

Because every creation has a story. And every story begins with a memory.

Thank you, Lou, for trusting us with your memories, your philosophy, and your way of seeing.

Created and guided by Olivia Panella of Uma Gaia, in partnership with AMNIENS.
Original compositions and sound design by Merciel.
Watercolour artwork by Sophie Dherbecourt.

The August Encounter : Episode IV

There is something about July that asks us to return to the body.
Not to the mind.
Not to the calendar.
Not to the endless lists waiting patiently for September.
But to the body.
To the place where life is first experienced.
This month, I found myself thinking about touch.
The first language we ever knew.

Long before we could speak, we understood the warmth of another hand, the comfort of being held, the coolness of water upon the skin, the gentle reassurance of presence.

Perhaps that is why July feels so unforgettable.
It doesn’t simply ask to be seen.
It asks to be felt.

Listen Now

It arrives through sun-warmed shoulders and linen that still remembers the clothesline.

Through the first morning swim before the beach awakens.

Through sticky fingers stained by peaches, cherries, nectarines and watermelon.

Through the weight of warm sand beneath bare feet.

Through lemonade made slowly by hand.

Through a breeze that suddenly brushes across your face after a day spent beneath the sun.

This month, while writing The Touch of July, I realised something unexpected.
So many of our strongest memories are not attached to places.
They’re attached to sensations.
The feeling of lying on warm stones after swimming.
Salt drying upon the skin.
The comfort of another shoulder leaning gently against yours in a hammock as the evening quietly arrives.

The wind finding your fingertips as your arm rests outside the car window.
Perhaps memory has always lived in the body before it ever reached the mind.

One of my favourite passages from this month’s episode explores the Tramontane—the powerful wind that arrives each summer at my husband’s family mas in the south of France, perched high upon a hill between the Mediterranean Sea and the Canigou.

Some days she stays for hours.
Sometimes for weeks.
She whistles beneath the doors, moves through every open window, and quietly reminds us that not every touch arrives softly.
Some ask us to be tender.
Others ask us to yield.

Every month, together with AMNIENS, we invite voices from around the world to answer a series of questions inspired by the season.

It is one of my favourite parts of creating this project.
People I’ve never met.
Friends I’ve known for years.
Different countries.
Different generations.
Different lives.
And yet, the same July somehow appears again and again.

Morning swims.
Long dinners.
Family.
Fruit.
Wind.
Sand.

It reminds me that a memory of one so often becomes a memory of another.

Perhaps that is the quiet beauty of listening.
In a world where we’re so often invited to speak, Memories Through Time has become our invitation to pause, to listen, and to discover ourselves within the stories of others.

If July has already left its gentle mark upon you, I hope you’ll join us for this month’s episode.
Close your eyes.
Listen.

The Touch of July : Episode III

And perhaps, somewhere within these stories, you’ll find a memory that feels a little like your own.

With warmth,
Olivia

The Touch of July is now available on Spotify.

Created and guided by Olivia Panella of Uma Gaia, in partnership with AMNIENS.
Original compositions and sound design by Merciel.
Watercolour artwork by Sophie Dherbecourt.

We extend our gratitude to this month’s contributors—Urska, Daria, Maud, Danielle, and Peter—whose memories, reflections, and stories helped shape this narrative.

UMA GAIA EXPERIENCES

JULY IN-PERSON UMA GAIA SESSIONS PARIS

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THE GAIA HOLISTIC PANAMA RETREAT

Discover All the Details

Perhaps it tastes like strawberries still warm from the sun. Farmers’ markets overflowing with abundance. Long tables shared amongst friends and family. The sweetness of something fleeting.

This month, we are delighted to share the second chapter of Memories Through Time: The Taste of June.

Listen Now

Created in partnership with AMNIENS, this monthly podcast explores a single month through a single sense. After listening to The Sound of May, we now turn our attention towards taste—and all the memories, rituals, and stories that arrive alongside it.

June is a month of abundance.

A month of strawberries and tomatoes that finally taste like tomatoes. A month of overflowing market stalls, summer solstice celebrations, bonfires beneath the longest day of the year, and meals that somehow stretch late into the evening.

Yet beyond the flavours themselves, we found ourselves returning to a deeper question:

What does it mean to eat with the seasons?

As we gathered stories from our contributors, conversations emerged around grandparents, gardens, countryside kitchens, and fruit picked directly from the earth. Again and again, strawberries appeared—not only as a fruit, but as a vessel for memory.

There is something to be said about grandparents and strawberries.

Perhaps it is because many of our grandparents carried within them a kind of humble richness—a luxurious simplicity. A way of living where very little still felt abundant, and where the purity of a strawberry could evoke the feeling of chests overflowing with gold.

The episode also invites us to consider the hidden life within what we consume: the water, the climate, the distance travelled, the hands involved, the time, and the care. A reminder that even a single strawberry carries an entire world within it.

To eat with the seasons is perhaps to return to a quieter form of awareness.

To notice what is available now.

To savour what is fleeting.

To recognise that abundance is not always found in having more, but in paying closer attention.

Guided by Olivia Panella of UMA GAIA, brought to life through the compositions and soundscapes of Yamin Alma (Merciel), and accompanied by the watercolor works of Sophie Dherbecourt, The Taste of June is an invitation to slow down and immerse yourself in the present moment.

We extend our gratitude to this month’s contributors—Sofia, Samantha, Aiko, Eva, Luna, and Philippa—whose memories, reflections, and stories helped shape this narrative.

The Taste of June is now available on Spotify.

Listen here to our second episode and allow yourself to be carried into an exploration of The Taste of June.

Episode II

As the season unfolds, may it inspire you to notice what is ripe, what is present, and what is asking to be savoured.

UMA GAIA EXPERIENCES

JARDIN JUNOT SUMMER SUNRISE MEDITATION SERIES PARIS

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What If Wellbeing Begins by Listening to the Stories of Others?

A question that brought Uma Gaia and AMNIENS together to create Memories Through Time — a podcast woven from the stories of others, for our own.

Launching today May 15, 2026, Memories Through Time begins with its first episode: The Sound of May.

Listen Now

A small and evolving universe shaped by curiosity about people, and the memories, moments, and experiences they carry. In a world increasingly centred around broadcasting the self, this podcast turns instead toward listening.

Each episode gathers fragments of memory and personal stories, weaving them into a shared narrative — one designed to be felt as much as heard. It is an invitation to step briefly into the lives of others, and to discover how their experiences quietly echo within our own.

Anchored in a specific month and a specific sense, each story becomes part of a larger unfolding tapestry — a collective exploration of memory, perception, emotion, and time.

The Minds Behind Memories Through Time:

AMNIENS is a sensory wellness brand creating mood-boosting perfume oils designed to support emotional wellbeing through everyday rituals. Rooted in the knowledge that scent can shape how we feel, AMNIENS explores fragrance as a way to reconnect with the body, the moment, and oneself. Each creation is an invitation to pause and reset, using scent to subtly shift mood — bringing moments of calm, clarity, joy, or energy as they unfold.

Of course, you already know who I am but a brief introduction if you are new to my Substack; I am the founder of Uma Gaia and am a compassionate conduit; a holistic health practitioner; carrying over 15 years in the healing arts (Reiki Master, Meditation Leader, Quartz Crystal Sound Healer, Therapeutic Grade Crystal Healer and has training in additional traditional/ancient healing modalities). The pillars of my work are grounded in compassion, unconditional-love, gratitude and humility – Just a few of the ways Uma Gaia brings consciousness to the world by way of 1:1 sessions, Corporate Wellness, International Retreats, Workshops…

With immense gratitude to Sophie Dherbecourt for the accompanying artworks, to Merciel (Yamin Alma) for the original compositions and soundscapes, and to all of our guest contributors whose stories and voices will help shape this project.

Listen here to our first episode and allow yourself to be carried into a sensory exploration of The Sound of May.

Start with Episode 1

Can you withstand the call to go backwards, to go forwards, or can you lean into the gravity of the present moment?

A mighty force, with delicacy : Be Here Now. A philosophy we Say, but can we Be?

All the moments from the past colliding into your present, all the unknown fantasies or fears of the future, pressuring the present. Where in that fleeting present moment can you be still enough, quiet enough and clear enough to feel the present like an ephemeral kiss.

A kiss that we want to receive over and over.

Can you balance the joys and sorrows that created you, and the ceaseless uncertainty of the future with a deep sense of knowing?

Be Here Now

Try it, like the latest longevity hack.
Balance in the moment. Balance.
Keep your scales from before and your scales of the forthcoming; in check.

“The next message you need is always right where you are.” Ram Dass

Soft insight that could bring you closer to the present;

Give yourself permission to reflect, see, feel, and heal the past. There is no need to consume yourself with what was, heal, and let that past be in the past, do not dwell.

The future is coming, let’s stop worrying about it, indeed considering the future is important but constantly fretting over it will with certainty squeeze the opportunity out of the present.

Your Body is one of four parts of you. You have your Mind; ability of choice and discernment, your Spirit; the divine resonance of you, and your Emotions; the colors and shades of life…Giving affection and care to all of these areas and especially the tender spots is essential.

Be proud of you, wherever you are at. In the arms of compassion, look back at all you have overcome, transformed, created, cultivated in your life… How these lessons/experiences are your power of unconditional love. From this place we can gently begin to shift attention to the present. Note: you can be proud of yourself, wherever you are at, even even if there are places still needing healing, transformation or desire change.

Cultivate yourself with a supportive rhythm, one that can ebb and flow but remains steady, one that can honor and uplift what you need. A daily, weekly, cycle, seasonal, lunar flow will ground you more in the present, keeping you centered, balanced.

Self-Portrait Photographed in New Hampshire Analogue Film 1997

NYC, see you soon!
April 2-14 Residency at WTHN Noho

Book Your NYC Session (April)

Paris, I will be back for May!

Book Your Paris Session (May)

An invisible thread ties you to me
links us to the trees and the flowers
we all sprout, we all live, we all transcend, 
we are bound to this cycle. 
I’ll honor you, so you can honor me, 
one wave, one frequency, one resonance. 
Lean into Love, I ask this of you for you. 
Remember, everything is a miracle.
-June 21, 2025 17h44 in South France

Your heartbeat is the connection to the Cosmic Universe
one rhythm
one total resonance
your tears are the sacred waters:
Waka Wilka
that flow from the clouds to you to the river
repeat.
Your life mirrors one of a flower,
the density of your bones is the wisdom of the stone
your eyes are the windows of the past, present and future.
Fear not my dear child, 
a brave soul to come here
love lays within you always.
Remember your ancestors:
the Stars in the Milky Way -
-May 9, 2025 20h03 in a garden in Toulouse

You Are Ether, The Cosmic Universe…432hz Guided Quartz Sound

Uma Gaia Recorded at Le Studio Stéréodrome France 2023

Where can you go,
when your body is wrapped in societal chains?
What can you do,
when your mind is dulled by media headlines?
Who can you be,
when your emotions are choked by others opinions?
There is only one way out.
Through the middle.
By the way of the mud.
Push your way out of the lost darkness.
That surrounds your soul.
Find your own path.
Be your own creation.
Search for the unwavering truth.
Let go of the obscure abyss.
We can only fight with light.
Or lose by the hand of death.
The devil is waiting.
The crocodile is hungry.
How will you be?
Light as a feather?
With kindness in your eyes?
Palms that face the stars.
Please come home dear one.
Back to the maternal womb of Isis.
Fear not, for you can be love.
An intention, a choice, an action, a new way -
-February 3, 2025 on the plane home from Cairo 

Photographed by Louise Skadhouge Circa ‘23 Argeles-sur-Mer

Uma Gaia Events & Sessions & Retreat Announcements:

Spring Equinox Celebration Paris: March 19, 2026 : 9h-11h

Spring Celebration Reserve Here

Gaia Holistic Panama, Be the Miracle Retreat: March 2027

Panama March 2027 Retreat

Uma Gaia Private Sessions: March Paris Openings

Uma Gaia Session March Paris

September 22, 2022, Rue Lepic Paris 10h55

A rituals delicacy,
Raw and unseen
A morning’s stillness
An exhale
Something intimate 
Persuading thoughts
A thin thread tucked within the textures of daily life
Patterned souvenirs 
Kissing our palette, offering a map
The compass of the real voyage, 
We will all charter. 

A North Star for “chartering your ship”: Forgive Yourself and Set Yourself Free.

Forgiveness is called for no matter the experience; forgive, forgive, forgive – it is the only path towards transformation.

Forgiveness does not represent weakness or future permission.

Forgiveness is either in totality or not at all – every bit, every person, every aspect.

Forgiveness is the tenderness of faith and the strength of the Light.

Forgiveness: see your part in it, see the lesson, see the meaning, see its divine role in your perfect unfolding.

Forgiveness the soft space between ego and spirit, where they come together to see the union of all acts here in this physical realm and existence.

Photographed by Adam Rogers Circa ‘17 London rooftop, shot with a vintage Nikon F photomic analogue camera 35mm

You are invited to forgive yourself here and now.

You are invited to forgive anything that is taking up space within you and blocking the light.

You are invited to be in the arms of forgiveness, feel its embrace.

Uplifting Forgiveness, 432hz Quartz Sound with Intentions

Uma Gaia Recorded at Le Studio Stéréodrome France 2023

Uma Gaia Updates:

Celebrate the Lunar New Year on February 17th with UMA GAIA (in Paris)

Lunar New Year Celebration

Reserve Your February 1:1 Sessions / In-Person Paris or Email Directly for Virtual

Uma Gaia Session

Read the latest Uma Gaia x Portrait Piece for AUME - All about Guardian Angels

Uma Gaia x AUME

With compassion & miracles in each breath,
Olivia Uma Gaia

Free the foe – 
Nightingale rest,
A breast of a beast
Last year’s folly
Falls wayside.

To speak the words “I love you”
Forgoing fear;
One cannot rest alone
in a bed for two.
Whole within thy flesh - 
A dwell of handsome obscurity,
barren with heedlessness hands.
To be complete by the caress of love. 

photographed in Colorado December 2025 by The Fabulous Alexandra

To untie a knot,
Unravel your thoughts.
For a busy mind;
is useless in the day
and the night.
Insanity sleeps in
the belly of unconsciousness.
Cautious, not to feed the Ogre
For ravenous is his nature.

Where can you go
that can’t be found.
Along the riverbed, below the washing stones?
In the thick of the Cyprus?
Here or there, nothing is forgotten –
as a symmetry of cycles,
a synergy of light.
Everything is in sight,
beneath the Stars. 

Uma Gaia Updates:

I am back in Paris, and my January calendar is open for in-person and virtual sessions.

Uma Gaia January Sessions

If you didn’t see my December Nature Quartz Meditation for AMNIENS have a listen.

Uma Gaia x AMNIENS Quartz Meditation

Check out a very personal piece I wrote for the new platform AUME (who I am super happy to be a core contributing editor with)

Uma Gaia x AUME Personal Portrait Piece

With Compassion and Miracles,
Olivia, Uma Gaia

What is a memory, a sensation, that overwhelms your being, and you belong to that past, even if that means it disables parts of you in the now?

What is a memory, a collision of the past, and future, that you receive in the present?

What is a memory, a souvenir from before that can warm your heart or turn it cold?

Memories are us; they are what being alive is all about, yet even non-living objects hold memories, and furthermore even things we cannot see hold memories. As they are all part of the threads that weave our Milky Way Galaxy together. This is not me saying this, but rather a well-studied section of science that is dedicated to understanding the unknowable, the intangible, the light, and most simply put, the energy of our entire existence: Quantum physics.

A fascinating subject that states in loose digestible terms, everything is energy, everything is in constant movement, everything is uncertain, as in you cannot identify the position of something directly, as there is a possibility of potential positions. And lastly all energy (everything in our entire Cosmic Universe) is recycled, as in no new energy enters and no energy leaves. Why am I bringing Quantum physics up when we are talking about memories? Because memories are very much what makes energy. Memories are stored inside of us, around us, below us, and all around us.

Memories have immense power and can shape an entire person’s life, thoughts, actions, patterns. Memories can change an entire societies belief; memories can shift an entire civilisation. Einstein famously said, “”I like to think the moon is there even if I am not looking at it”. What this is to say, is that Quantum science tries to understand and reveal that our universe (multiple universes) is connected and interwoven to higher dimensions that our senses cannot comprehend and cannot firmly grasp in our hands.

Memories are what make us, they are what break us, they are what build us up, they are what tear us down, memories are everything, they are stories we share, the words spoken from our mouth, they are the actions we do, they are habits and patterns that shape our everyday behaviours.

I couldn’t put my finger on why I wasn’t able to finish this Substack weeks ago when I had planned to release it… then last weekend, I went to an exhibit about the life’s works of Roger Caillois and I realised he had an essential part that I would need to add to the Memory Theory Substack…The exhibit was a magnificent dive into the world of crystals/stones an area of my expertise from a Lithotherapy and metaphysics consciousness position. It was a showcasing of 200 pieces from his personal collection and excerpts from his books.

What was so curious, and mind-defying was that he had stones/crystals that were literal paintings of mankind’s history. They were landscapes of the sea, of the forests, of birds, of villages, of humans, and yet it was all naturally formed in our Earth over hundreds of thousands of millions of years. This gave way to the thought that our Earth, stores, and crystallises our memories of our existence in crystals/stones. This new finding backs-up the above, that everything is a memory recycled, as we are recycled and everything in our universe is recycled infinitely. Memories are sealed in time and stone itself. Stone to dust, life to death, death to life, everything decomposes and rises again in some way, the flame turns to ash, the flower falls, the spirit is releases and all over again, new seeds grow, the wave still rolls into the shore, and the light of life is ignited inside each of us as a star is born every time.

“…They only perpetuate their own memory… I speak about stones older than—and which outlast—life itself, standing on the cold planets on which they came to being. I speak about stones that do not even have to wait for death and that have nothing to do besides letting sand slide on their surfaces, along with rain shower, backwash, storm, and time…Men envy their longevity, their severity, their intransigence and their radiance, their smoothness and impenetrability, and their capacity of being full even as they are shattered. They are fire and water combined in the same immortal transparency, in which emerges sometimes an iris or a mist. To men—in whose hands they stand—they bring a sense of purity, a coldness and distance known to celestial bodies, and all kinds of serenities…” – Roger Caillois

Early one morning, while thinking about this intriguing Memory Theory, it came to me to propose the question: “what is a memory to you or share a memory you have” so I asked a few confidants, that are also threads in my own web of memories to share. You can explore some of the inspiring excerpts below…

“I come from a family of what is commonly called “unreliable narrators”, but i’ve realized there is no such thing as a “reliable” narrator because there is no such thing as one true narrative. we are each constantly experiencing all things through the lens of our own perspectives, positions, experience, etc, and sometimes that can shape memory more significantly than what is commonly called “objective” fact. our memories are more than a moment in the past, they are a remnant of who we were in that moment, and what that moment meant to us then, and how that moment continues to live in our consciousness and affects the way we experience — and remember— every experience thereafter. we are made of our memories and our memories are made of us. imperfect, full of feeling, and if we’re lucky, full of lessons.” – Daria

“A memory is like a precious gem you have stored in your mind. some are emerald, some are ruby, some are lumps of coal that need to be turned to diamonds and some arrive as diamonds that are so vivid they are forever imprinted in technicolor. good memories are priceless and should be cherished more than any material object.”
– Gillian

“Memories, to me, are the closest thing we have on Earth to experience time travel. When I conjure up a memory - positive or negative - I am transported from my physical body. I smell the same smells, I see the same colors, people and details, I sense the same air on my skin, and the emotions stored within the memory flood over my present day self. A memory is a sensorial experience, left alone to return to with gratitude and joy, or dissected and analyzed to uncover strength and resilience.”
– Elizabeth

“Memories to me are like a flower garden. Some are bright and outstanding, some are more subtle and gentle. Some have strong lasting fragrances when others are hardly noticeable. Some have soft and silky, while you know some flowers have pikes. Many will taste delicious when others are highly toxic. But after all, don’t they all have their role in this beautiful place? Like memories, all are here to build a flourishing mind, spirit, soul and body that tell the story of your life, the flowers you encountered along the way.” – Luccia

“Memories are my treasures. I can find them everywhere. In a sound, in a smell, in a place, a ticket, a book, a letter, a taste, a dream, a picture, a small object hidden in my drawer or in a song. Some memories I keep on purpose because I don’t want to loose them. Others come to me just by chance. They can hit strong or touch me gently, they can bring back laughter or tears. They can make me feel like a child again, or a teenager, they can bring me back to any moment of my life. I wonder when I’ll be 80 if I will still feel like 28 with that one song? Memories are my biggest treasures!” – Lotte

“First that comes to mind is going to MJs house. The courage that it took to go there. Getting in her car and almost getting in an accident immediately as she didn’t even notice. Us both knowing without saying anything the ridiculousness that would be the adventure. Taking what felt like the long staircase up into the portal that was your dad’s. All the feelings we could feel of his, and a mother’s love and grief of not moving anything up there the way he had it. Going through all his belongings with curiosity, trepidation, and unresolved broken heartedness. Snuggling on top of each other in a tiny bed because it felt scary up there too. I was glad I came, it felt empty and full up there at the same time and I could feel a mountain of your feelings that didn’t have words just deep heart pangs. We found an old monopoly ticket he had kept, pass go and collect 200 dollars, there was only one so we ripped it in half so we could both have one. He had cowboy boots my size and I weirdly wanted to wear them so you gave me both. Mj went through her clothes and gave you many. Each piece holding so many memories for her, kept in beautiful condition. I could feel her ache of loneliness and gratefulness we came. We both wanted to be there and leave at the same time. She brought us to the bus station the day we left. We thought the adventures were over only they were just beginning. We started noticing a lot of men were wearing the same outfit, jeans that weren’t really jeans, plain dark blue sweatshirt. We thought maybe it was some type of convention or group that had a conference. As our bus was loading we realized we were the only ones that one were women and two weren’t wearing the same outfit. It felt surreal and both went in slightly holding our breath as to what was about to happen. The driver was over weight and half in his body, he would be no help at all. And as we walked down the aisle, most blue jeans and sweatshirts glanced, the bus was completely packed, we had to sit close to the back. We got a seat together, thank God , but we knew we were on our own if something happened. The ratio , the clothes, the scent of a secret we weren’t privy. So much more of the bus ride, how angels guarded us the whole time, connecting with these men and seeing them as souls. Reading poetry, playing games, silently praying we would be safe. We were supernaturally taken care of that whole ride, angels opening the mouths and minds of the right men to talk to....” – Kelly

A long time - ago but like a memory still so close.

Speak soon on the topic of memories, this is only the beginning of the discussion. If you feel called leave ‘what a memory is to you’ in the comment section or message me privately. I would love to know and have your thoughts, join the collective (even though your memories already are ‘wink)

A Few Closing Thoughts:

1. NYC I am coming for you (December 2-7) If you want to book your Uma Gaia Private Session while I am in-town (I will be taking up a small residency at WTHN Noho), I still have a few openings left.

   NYC x UMA GAIA Sessions

2. Start your day with a soft Uma Gaia Morning Quartz Sound Bath Meditation & Piano by Merciel

   Morning Quartz Sound & Piano Meditation

With Miracles & Compassion,
Olivia Uma Gaia

In our Paris studio alone, I have over 20 journals (we could say from years 2019 until present) that are filled, these journals do range in size but does that really matter?

Some insight on method and essentials from my ‘pencil pouch’ :

• To Title or Not to Title / Normally No Title, there is something in me that loves to leave it to the reader or the ‘space’ that really represents all titles…(there are exceptions of course)

• Essentials: Date, Time, Location (date was nearly always an essential but time and location came to me in the recent years from my Grand Father in-law Jacques, Merci! This gifts the future you and any reader the ability to really transport back in-time)

• Style, Whatever I feel called to in the moment No Rules unless of course the style requires rules (consider combining words and meanings read slow to see)

• Length, again as preferred, could even be one single line the provokes an entire painting of emotions and thoughts

• Gently persuading my friends and family who are around me join in on the genesis (instantaneous co-creation a favorite, we are all poets on the inside, as we are all living and life is poetry)

• There have been several eras, one where it was indispensable to tape a fallen piece of Nature next to the writing to represent the land and season - another era, a drawing, symbol or writing on the paper in an unexpected manner, upside down, spiral you get the picture…

photo of: one of my poetry journals / photo credit: Louise Skadhauge

Mas Rafalot, South France 20 December 2021 11h52
Soft light streams into the kitchen
of ancient stone and many a kindling -
Hands baked with memories.
Love finds its way
through the window panes -
entering past the glass, of walking life.

Behind it, what do you see?
A little mouse who eats our crumbs
as his own feast, with the warmth of dawn.

A few closing thoughts:

1. Taurus Super Full Moon Quartz Sound Bath & Workshop in Paris at Hoy Hotel Sunday November 2 (14h30-16h)

Sign-Up Super Moon Sound Bath

2. Uma Gaia Private Sessions Openings for November: In-person Paris or Virtual

   Uma Gaia Private Sessions Bookings

3. ‘You Are a Flower’ Guided Quartz Sound Meditation a gift for you

   You Are a Flower Quartz Meditation

with miracles & compassion,
Olivia Uma Gaia

The Essential Ingredients :

1. BE YOU

2. BE KIND

3. BE BRAVE

The first ingredient, BE YOU is all about not competing and not comparing. But truly being you. Understanding that you are special as you are, and your voice is the one people want to feel and hear. Yes, calling-in inspiration from others is great, but then integrate it and make it your own. There was a pivotal moment when I learned this lesson back in and around 2011. I was working at TOBE in NYC and my boss Leslie called me into her office one day to tell me; “Olivia, stop trying to be like this person and that person on the team, I have you on the team because I believe in your voice, your ideas and ‘you as you’ not you trying to mirror someone else. So be you, find your voice and if you don’t, basically you’re fired.” From that point on, I stopped comparing myself to the other members on the team and solely focused on being me. (THANK YOU LESLIE...)

The second ingredient, BE KIND is all about being kind and compassionate with everyone, all walks of life included. Kindness goes so far, far beyond the act of kindness you do, but it creates a domino affect. Kindness spreads kindness and when you are kind to yourself and others, you are letting your light shine and the light of others shine. Think about it, if I smile at stranger maybe this will change their entire day, I beamed my light on them which ignites their light and then they go on about their day beaming new light on others. We never know what someone has gone through, so stop the judgement, stop the assumptions, soften and see the kindness in all.

The third ingredient, BE BRAVE it might be the toughest of all. Life will get messy, pain, sorrow, trauma, anger, heartache, all will come, this is part of everyones voyage. But will you let it consume you and ‘turn your heart’ cold? Or will you be brave and decide to take the path to heal and transform the pain. Darkness will come, but you must be brave and lean into your light within to get to other side. And let me tell you, if you do this, your light will be even brighter then it once was. (Note: We all made the brave voyage down from the stars to be here on Earth, so trust me you have the courage in you.)

Yes I can go on and on about these ingredients, but now is the time for you to receive, process and apply, go ahead start today, give it a shot and see for yourself how your inner light grows and you begin to glow.

Be you -

Be you -

Be you as you are -

Be you as you wish -

Be you and your dreams -

Be you and your light -

Be you and your shadows -

Be you and your divine essence -

Be you as you are perfect -

Be you so you can shine -

Be you so you can grow -

Be you as you are within -

Be you yesterday, today, tomorrow -

Be you -

Be you -

Final Thoughts for this share:

1. Listen here to my free guided Quartz sound meditation : YOU ARE A STAR

   You Are A Star Meditation

2. Paris community, if you would like to book your in-person October Uma Gaia Session you can now here: (don’t hesitate to ask for an additional time or date option)

   Paris Uma Gaia October Sessions

3. World community, if you would like to book your virtual session for October email me directly and we can arrange the best time for you.

Miracles in every breath,
Olivia Uma Gaia

This new Uma Gaia Substack will be place for the multi-faceted, multi-sensory thoughts, creations, teachings, life’s stories, rituals and happenings that have taken place in my mind, body, spirit and emotion all along the road...Authentically sharing all parts of myself and voyage here -

Let’s go - I will start by sharing a thought poem. Written on April 12, 2025 at 17h56 in France:

My husband Yamin, shared this with me and it provoked the below, “Olivia, if you lived on a far away planet, you would see our world as it was 400 years ago, as the light you see is the light that has already passed…”

What is time?A notion of space?A place we know, and do not know. A plane that exists between many worlds? Time: it can not be lost, stolen or replaced - Time: a perfection of a trillion cells coming together? A union - Everything has already unfolded. Your Present; a beautiful combustion of the past and future.

A few closing notes for the first share:

1. You can expect to receive the Uma Gaia Substack 2-4x a month, full of gifts, inspiration, teachings, and all the beauty and essence of life in all its shades -

2. For Paris Fashion Week you can find me at the Maison Neo Pop-Up leading an array of workshops and Quartz sound bath meditations

Maison Neo Pop-Up x UMA GAIA Events

3. My calendar for September & October are open for reserving your private Uma Gaia Session (in-person in Paris or virtually)

   Uma Gaia Private Sessions

with miracles and compassion,
Olivia Uma Gaia