gaia.com

I watched the first episode and I was bored out of my mind. It has come to my attention that a majority of the premium streaming platforms on the market today are riddled with vapid and superficial content. For example, the current number one show on Netflix is called Blind Love. Its premise is that two perfect strangers spend some period of time talking with a wall between them, but they are not allowed to see each other during that time. At the end of the season, they have to decide whether or not to be together. I watched the first episode and found it extremely boring. Sure, okay, the argument could be made that this is not, in fact, as superficial as I am making it out to be, seeing as, well, the ?lovers? in question are not basing their decision to be with one another on physical appearance at all. Okay, I hear that. But if you have never watched this show, jeez, you should hear the ?conversations? that they have. They aren't discussing anything if import. They are not delving into important matters of the mind, the heart, their core beliefs. For a show that seems to go out of its way to evade the stereotypical reality TV cliché of being vain and narcissistic, it is almost admirable how shallow it still manages to be.

I am not here to discuss the weirdly false cash grab that is Blind Love with you. I am merely using this show, Netflix's most popular, to illustrate a larger point ? there is not much in the way of conscious, philosophical, deep, or cosmic content to be found on most of the mainstream streaming services. Where are the shows that speak to our soul? Where are the movies about the interconnectedness of all things in the universe? Where can I stream something that sheds off the entrapments of the ego and delves into the inner light of all living beings?

If you are looking for a streaming service that will provide you with something more substantial than the typical narratives of digital entertainment, I believe Gaia is the perfect option. Gaia provides a deep understanding of societally challenged topics such as commercialism and materialism, and exploration into some of the most fascinating mysteries of human existence. This service is a game changer and I recommend it to anyone looking for something different in their streaming experience.

Gaia, of course, is the mother goddess of all earthly things. In Greek mythology, Gaia is the personification of the Earth, of nature. She is a streaming service that - through educational, exploratory, inquisitive, and thoughtful series and films (as well as instructional yoga and guided meditation lessons) - aims to enlighten its viewers and make them one with the world and the cosmic energy plane in which they coexist. Without further ado, allow me to introduce you to Gaia.

History

The media company, Gaia (formerly Gaiam) was founded by Jirka Rysavy in 1988 in Boulder, Colorado. His vision was to serve the conscious consumer, a demographic that has alternately been referred to by sociologist Paul Ray in 1966 as the ?cultural creatives.? Rysavy apparently saw a huge missed opportunity in this underserved niche and decided to speak directly to consumers who are educated and tend to make purchases based more on their values than any other motivation. The original name of the company, Gaiam, comes from the aforementioned mother goddess, Gaia being linguistically fused with the phrase ?I am,? as a nod to ?the interconnectivity of all things.? Gaiam merged with the California company, Real Goods Solar in 2001. In 2005, Gaia acquired two media companies: Good Times Entertainment and Jetlag Productions. The company continued its ascent by acquiring more media companies in 2007 - this time in the form of the sites Lime.com and Zaadz.com. This move into digital media further increased Gaia's reach and positioned it to take over the internet as the dominant medium for entertainment.

In 2007, Gaiam TV was launched as a streaming service that offered similar content to the current form of the platform. However, it wasn't until 2015 that Gaia would officially change its name and expand its offerings exponentially.

In 2012, Gaiam acquired a DVD distributor from the Universal Music Group and merged it with its home entertainment division, resulting in a merger known as Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment. In 2019, USA Today listed Gaia Inc. as one of the world's fastest-growing entertainment retailers.

Gaia began streaming events from a newly acquired events center on its Louisville, Kentucky campus in addition to its constantly growing library of prerecorded original content. These events are live-streamed to 187 different countries and also come equipped with live translation. They often feature big names in the pseudoscience and spiritualist world, such as Graham Hancock, Gregg Braden, Bruce Lipton, Caroline Myss.

Design

Gaia, from a design perspective, is popular on streaming platforms. It has a minimalist layout with a soft white background and easy navigation. There is a site menu bar at the top of the page for easy navigation. Videos are separated by genre and content type as you scroll down below the banner. In the site menu bar, you can quickly access whatever category or interest you like. You can choose from Yoga, Meditation, Series, Docs and Films, Topics, New Videos, Events, Recipes, or Articles. Below these options are your user menu and live channel Gaia Stream. Few streaming sites are so open in their design which makes for an effortless and streamlined user experience.

Content

This streaming site has a lot of content. It has over 8,000 videos. The good thing about this streaming site is that it has a lot of different types of content. You can access yoga lessons, guided meditations, series about aliens and ancient mysteries, films about the collective conscious and metaphysics, delicious and healthy recipes, astrology, psychology, articles, a thriving community blog, and a live TV channel all in one place. Some of the content on this streaming site is not my favorite but there is something here for everyone.

Desktop and Mobile Experience

This may be the first streaming service that has inspired me to recommend the app over the desktop site. Usually, I am not a huge fan of watching content on my phone or tablet, but the Gaia app is so good, that you can't make use of it if you subscribe. Other Gaia users seem to agree with me on this, seeing as it has an average rating of 4.8 stars on the Apple App Store (from over 49,000 reviews). I don't think I have ever seen an app rated that highly.

Pricing and Plans

The first model is the basic subscription, which provides users with unlimited access to all of Gaia's content. The second model is the premium subscription, which offers users with limited access to bonus content and exclusive events. The final model is the premium plus subscription, which provides users with even more bonus content and exclusive events. The monthly fee is $11.99, and the annual fee is $99. The live access fee is $24.92/month (or $299/year).

You will need to purchase the live access tier in order to view any of Gaia's live-streamed events. You also get access to live chat sessions with experts and replays of all archived events. Gaia is not by any means the cheapest streaming service, but it does offer a one-week free trial if you want to see if it is right for you.

Suggestions that I have for Gaia

I would love to see the cost of Gaia decrease as it becomes more popular. Additionally, there are a few design flaws, such as the fact that the scrub bar and title will not disappear when you play a video in full-screen mode, and the font of the descriptions on the Roku/smart TV app is too small to read from a reasonable distance. Other than that, though, Gaia has pretty much cracked the code of conscious streaming!