Virtually Gina

Exploring Brooklyn

July 5, 2017 by Gina Marie

Not all who wander are lost. I’ve lived in Brooklyn a full two months, and I’ve finally started to explore the city. My first month in this area consisted of mainly unpacking, figuring out all the minute details of life in this new region (selling my car, getting familiar with the subway, finding my way around, job-hunting), and also recovering from a summer cold that hit me hard. I found a few yoga studios that I like, although I haven’t started teaching since I’ve been here. It may be […]

Categories: America, Art, Brooklyn, Mural, New York, New York City, Nikon, Photo Journal, Photography, Urban • Tags: Brooklyn, Bushwick, Green Point, Murals, New York, New York City, Photography, Urban

Falling Towards New York

April 7, 2017 by Gina Marie

“Gravity is an interaction. The Earth pulls on you, you pull on the Earth. You fall to the Earth, the Earth falls to you.” (Found at: http://srjcstaff.santarosa.edu/~lwillia2/p10/p10ch4.pdf) For 16 years, since my darling BFF Katy and I first visited New York together in August 2001 as a post-college-graduation-treat, I have fallen towards New York. According to the above logic, she must have been falling towards me, too. From time to time, while living in Boston in my early 20’s, I […]

Categories: America, Art, Earth, Friendship, Mural, New York, New York City, Photo Essay, Photo Journal, Photography, Travel, Urban • Tags: Architecture, Art, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Murals, New York, New York City, Travel

Spooky Photography

March 14, 2017 by Gina Marie

It’s official. Jeff and I will soon be New York transplants, as he recently took a job in Brooklyn. We began the apartment search last Sunday. On our drive to the first apartment viewing, we passed this curious-looking dwelling. I snapped a photo and upon returning home, noticed I captured but not one but two orbs in the photo, one at each window. Coincidence, flare effect, or evidence of spiritual activity? You decide.

Categories: Architecture, Ghosts, New York, New York City, NYC, Photography, Spooky, Superstition • Tags: Brooklyn, Ghosts, New York, Orbs, Photography, Spooky

My Umpteenth New York Visit

February 7, 2017 by Gina Marie

Before we delve into the New York pics, let’s start with this: “Always maintain only a joyful mind.” This is one of the 59 Lojong slogans taught to students on a path of meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. These slogans are traditionally used to help meditation students tame the mind. Even in the face of distractions and suffering, the idea here is to maintain a sense of joy that you are on a path of awakening. That being said, […]

Categories: America, Meditation, New Jersey, New York, New York City, Nikon, NYC, Photo Essay, Photo Journal, Photography, Recovery, Spooky, Travel, Winter • Tags: Lojong Slogans, New York, New York City, Recovery, Travel, Urban

Hello, Brooklyn . . . Hello, B.I.G.

January 15, 2017 by Gina Marie

On a wintry afternoon, Ilona and I took New Jersey transit on a slow (under the snowy conditions) train trek into New York. It was so cold that I wore my pajamas underneath my clothes, plus several hoodies and my black puffer jacket with the goofy faux fur hood. The city was magical under a blanket of fallen snow. “Biggie Smalls is from here,” I observed as we trudged through the snowy sidewalks of Brooklyn. “I saw him in concert the year before […]

Categories: America, Biggie Smalls, New York, New York City, Notorious B.I.G., NYC, Photo Journal, Travel, Urban, Winter • Tags: Biggie Smalls, Brooklyn, iPhoneography, Manhattan, New York, New York City, Notorious B.I.G., Travel, Urban

In the Om: Teenage Warrior Yogis Develop New Tools For Recovery

December 5, 2016 by Gina Marie

Four teenagers unroll yoga mats in the common area of the East Coast drug rehabilitation center they currently call home. They’re ready for their Sunday afternoon vinyasa flow. Today, they seem tired. One of the teens, Vicki (name changed to preserve confidentiality), requests a gentle practice. She emphasizes: “No downward dogs!” I tell them I’ll happily oblige. Working with recovering addicts, you quickly learn to meet them where they’re at. They can be cooperative on some days and challenging, if not downright defiant, on others. Patience is tested. […]

Categories: Addiction, Compassion, Life, Meditation, Recovery, Spirituality, Yoga

The Fruits of My Labors

September 21, 2016 by Gina Marie

While undergoing an intensive yoga training in Minneapolis over the summer, I learned the Sanskrit term svadyaya, or “self-study.” Much to my surprise, I discovered that reading Tarot cards or other types of divination decks (something I’ve been doing since high school) falls under the svadyaya category. Rather than seeing this activity as “occult,” one can simply see it as a method of getting acquainted with oneself in a deep and meaningful manner. During the training, we would often be invited […]

Categories: Divination, Minneapolis, Photography, The Artistic Process, Yoga • Tags: Divination, Minneapolis, The Artistic Process, Yoga

Yoga for Recovery

August 29, 2016 by Gina Marie

The day after I flew back from my 200-hour Teacher Training & Intensive program at Devanadi School for Yoga and Wellness in Minneapolis, I began orientation with Root to Rise NJ, a non-profit organization whose mission is: “to break the stigma associated with addiction by pushing the limits of what is physically and mentally possible.” In the three weeks since, I have gone from metaphorically dipping my toes into the organization’s warm, oceanic waters to diving in waist-deep. Some of […]

Categories: Addiction, Healing, Health, Jersey Shore, Yoga • Tags: Addiction, Jersey Shore, Recovery, Yoga

Flying High

August 7, 2016 by Gina Marie

What a gift to have found an activity that makes you feel strong enough to fly, and to have a community that will be there for you in case you slip and fall. I am one grateful yogi who is, by the way, now certified to teach! And I have the feeling my journey has only just begun . . .

Categories: Healing, Health, Life, Minneapolis, Yoga • Tags: Healing, Health, Yoga

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