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Gisele Theriault is the luminous soul behind the creation of our new HUM Mala Collection. Collaborating with her has been a gift. I first met Gisele several years ago, when she was creating beautiful contemplative jewellery with powerful gemstones and precious metals. We collaborated on the HUM Insight Mala in 2020, and I’ve followed her remarkable journey ever since, eagerly awaiting her Sunday emails, each brimming with insight and gentle wisdom gathered along the way.
I’ve learned that her life has been extraordinarily rich—filled with much joy, yet also with moments of profound challenge and transformation. Through raising three children as a self-employed artist, surviving near-death experiences, recovering from serious car accidents, healing from breast cancer, and navigating deep loss, Gisele has walked a path of both resilience and grace. She says she worked hard for whatever did arrive, going through “a whole lot of mud” with the belief that extraordinary things happen when we learn to transform our suffering. The better we understand suffering, the less we suffer. The difficult moments show us that we can endure far more than we think—and that we can transform them into something very precious.
Through it all, her spiritual quest and her discovery of mindfulness have shaped not only her way of being but also the essence of her creative work.
When we first met, Gisele was running her jewellery business, designing and making pieces infused with deep care and an intention of good wishes, each crafted to support mindfulness practice. Malas became central to her creative expression, one of her most beloved offerings, cherished by many. Last autumn, she lovingly closed that chapter of her life, shuttered her business to open herself to a new and evolving path—and first headed off to a three-month retreat at Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village in France.
But this winter, on her return, we found joy in collaborating once again to manifest a new collection of beautiful malas for HUM guided by the beauty and the power of the stones—each handmade by Gisele with love and intention.
As we introduce this collection to the world, Gisele kindly agreed to share some aspects of her inspiring journey—a journey of resilience, spiritual awakening and creativity. I’m honoured to share her story with you and invite you to discover her beautiful new path. Perhaps you will want to go on retreat with her or walk a pilgrimage with her. Or, like me, follow her weekly writings. Find links to connect with Gisele at the end of the interview.
Sarah: How did your journey as a jewellery designer begin?
Gisele: It began nearly 40 years ago when I started making jewellery with my 13 year old daughter as gifts for her friends at birthdays and holidays, creating so that she would feel connected to the spirit of giving rather than just giving them “a thing”. After that, I began making jewellery for my family. People noticed, they loved it, and soon they started asking if they could have a piece, or even buy one. That’s where the jewellery journey began. And over the years, it moved through many stages and generations, from art jewellery to deeply contemplative creations. It became increasingly important to me that every piece carry meaning and purpose. If not, I wasn't interested in making it. I’ve always felt that an adornment should root us in something truly significant.
THE ART OF MALA MAKING
S: What first drew you to create malas?
G: Some of the designs I’ve created over the years have come through dreams or as an intuitive download that came as a design map showing how it needed to be and what made sense. Getting to create those pieces and seeing the effect that the piece would have on the end user was deeply satisfying. Sometimes, though, the designs would come because I really wanted to have something—like malas.
The very first mala I had was from the time I worked as a volunteer when His Holiness the Dalai Lama came to Canada to teach the kalichakra, a 10 day teaching. He gave all of the volunteers a mala. It was a simple sandalwood mala that I wrapped around my wrist for years until it broke sending the beads off in all directions. I had seen many beautiful gemstone malas but there was always something that felt not quite aligned. And I wanted to create malas that felt more meaningful. I was already working with stones and really liked the attributes that gemstones offer and their deep connection with the earth. I wanted to be able to find and feel the stones and to make the malas with my own hands, with silver guru beads engraved with messages. Over time, mala-making morphed into its own unique patterning.
S: When you design a mala, where does the process begin—materials, intention, or feeling?
G: When I think about a mala I want to make, it very often begins with the stones—with what I hope they will imbue, the feeling, the intention, and the grounding capacity they bring. Every mala I’ve made carries a certain sense of richness—in the way I approach the process, in the quality of the stones I choose, and in the silver I use. That sense of richness placed them at the higher end of the cost spectrum for malas. I knew that, but there was nothing I was willing to forfeit in terms of quality. And still, I sold every one I ever made. Seeing them find their way into amazing homes—and knowing that people truly use them—filled me with deep satisfaction.
S: Do you see mala making as a meditative act in itself?
G: Yes, definitely—the whole process is a meditative act: aligning the quality of all the materials, arranging the layout of the stones, stringing them together with precision knotting, and finally creating and attaching the tassel. It takes over 220 knots to make each mala, and within every knot there’s a contemplative journey—an energy that builds and infuses the piece. And it’s always satisfying.
S: What do you hope someone feels or experiences when they wear one of your malas?
G:. I hope that when someone experiences one of my malas, they feel it’s something they can rely on—something that helps them ground whatever is most important to them, and supports them in whatever they need in their life at that moment. Do they need to feel rooted? To feel inspired? Connected to something deeper, more grounded, or closer to their own practice and sense of presence? My hope is always that the mala helps anchor them in their intentions.
S: How do you like to use your mala?
G: In any mala meditation practice you can put an intention on a bead. One of my favourite things to do is to bring to mind the face of someone—varying people that I love, acquaintances that I run into, or even total strangers that I never really met but whose faces I remember—and to hold their face on that bead. With the next breath, I say “May you be happy”. It’s a gentle practice of sending out this element of love. I don’t use it on a daily basis, but when I do it gets infused with that intention. And when I wear it, I always feel that quiet sense of goodwill and blessing.
G: One thing that has guided me my whole life—ever since being hit by a truck at the age of 10—is the sense that I’ve been given a spiritual quest. After the accident, a true near-death experience, I lost nearly all memories of my childhood. I’ve always had a feeling that I was sent back, that I wasn’t allowed to die or cross at that time, that I was sent back here on a mission. I had no sense of what that mission was at the time, but there was always a sense of urgency around it, a need to understand. And so I was always thirsty to understand life. If I was going to ask questions like “What is my path? What am I doing? Where am I going?”—I first had to ask the more fundamental question: “What is life itself?”
And so I had many many influences and many teachers. I came through a Christian upbringing, and I was also very interested in Buddhism, in the study of consciousness, in the wisdom of Shamanism and Sufism. I’ve explored various paths in a desire to find deeper understanding. I had friends who have gurus and I always admired the way they spoke of their devotion and their gratitude for the teacher who guided them. I never had that. I had many teachers that I felt respect and gratitude for. But I never really felt like “Ah, yes, THIS is my teacher”.
Until I discovered Thich Nhat Hanh.
I had heard of Thich Nhat Hahn (whom I refer to as Thay) because so many of the teachers I was studying were referencing him. His Holiness the Dalai Lama would mention him, and so would Pema Chödrön, Tara Brach, and others in mindful practice. They would speak of how profound and poetic and extraordinary his teachings were.
So I opened the book to the poem called “Call my by my true names”. And it literally brought me to my knees—physically, mentally and emotionally. I remember thinking, “My god! I have found my teacher.” And that was it. About a year and a half later, in 2010, over Christmas, I went to Plum Village, his monastic retreat centre in France, to sit at the feet of this incredible Zen master. That was the beginning of my journey into mindful practice
THE PILGRIM’S PATH
S: What inspired your first long pilgrimage?
G: Walking the Camino to Santiago di Compostela in Spain was my first pilgrimage. It was about the opportunity to trust my body, mind, and spirit as it met the path and all that it brought each day. And alongside that was the awareness that hundreds of thousands of other pilgrims had walked that path over more than 1,000 years. Is was a beautiful challenge that awakened so much in me.
S: What are you searching for on these long, often solo, journeys?
G: When I did the two-month pilgrimage in Shikoku, Japan, last year, I wrote about the idea that if you feel lost inside, if you lose your anchor, your sense of self, or your joy—go and become an absolute foreigner in a foreign land. It brings you back to neutral, to the child within. Everything you do, say, eat, and every way you behave is seen through beginner’s mind. It gives you the opportunity to get to know yourself again from fresh, unfamiliar ground. There is nothing you can take for granted.
S: Do you carry a mala while you walk on a pilgrimage?
G: Yes, I always wear a mala when I’m walking. It grounds me.
S: How has visiting sacred sites in India, Spain, Japan and other parts of the world influenced your design work?
G: Visiting sacred sites, especially in Asia, can bring an incredible auspicious presence. The extravagant colours of Mother India, along with her harsh extremes of poverty and wealth, can make your head spin, yet it is spirituality that you meet first in everyone.
During my years of jewellery design, visits to sacred sites always had a profound influence on my work. They shaped my need to create the quintessential malas, the meditation rings inspired by Tibetan prayer wheels, and the “Being Peace” calligraphic seals of Thich Nhat Hanh. My work was a way of holding those profoundly alive places—keeping them present for me and for others.
CONNECT WITH GISELE
Gisele continues to inspire me through her artistry, her mindful presence, and the depth of reflection she shares in her weekly writings. I warmly encourage you to subscribe to Gisele’s inspiring Substack email, find it here, MINDFUL NECESSITIES above all, be kind.
You can also learn more about her new offerings at the MINDFUL NECESSITIESwebsite including the opportunity to join her on much appreciated retreats (they fill up fast!) and local workshops. And you may even be able to walk a short pilgrimage with her in Japan, in 2027. And please follower her on Instagram @mindfulnecessities
DISCOVER THE HUM MALA COLLECTION
Four powerful stones and the sterling silver SO HUM mantra to anchor you in your intention and support you on your journey. Thoughtful details make each one extra powerful. Discover the story and the thoughtful details of each mala in OUR COLLECTION:
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