🍂gina🍃

Never thought I’d do this but, I’m out ✌🏻

I’ve been wanting to share this story for a long time. I meant to put it on my blog, but I don’t have internet tonight. So here it is in the raw notes as screenshots form. The most incredible part of writing this was going back to my journal from 2 years ago and remembering the feeling I had when I first stopped drinking. Everything in my life is different now. I’ve made a lot of really really hard decisions. I’ve lost almost everything I ever worked for. And yet, I have never been more clear-headed. Life is hard. Alcohol made it harder. Simple as that. Happy to be your sober friend 🧡 hope this inspires you to also question your relationship with poison in your life. #sober #sobriety #2yearssober #dryjanuary

⭐️500 days sober⭐️ I never imagined I’d be reaching a milestone like this. I originally stopped drinking in January 2022 for Dry January. I think I made a joke like “detox to retox 🤪!” I had no plans to quit drinking. But after about 3 weeks, I felt something within me I had never felt before. It was deep in my gut, but also vibrating at my third eye. There was a voice sighing me. And it was MY voice. But a me I had never heard before. From that day, I knew I would not be drinking again. In not drinking, I reclaimed every evening of my life for myself. My cooking skills have leveled up tenfold. My hobbies are thriving. My skin looks amazing. I sleep great. My anxiety is manageable and mild. In the last 500 days, I’ve made so many huge life changes. I received all 3 levels of reiki. I went back to my yoga practice. I reconnected with ashtanga yoga. I’ve made incredible friendships that are not based on alcohol. I’m more in tune than ever about what I want from this life. My life changed completely the day I quit drinking. It’s the most incredible journey I’ve ever gone on and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Here’s to 500 more and the rest of forever 💫 #500dayssober #sobriety #dryjanuary #alcoholfree

I haven’t posted in almost a year, but I wanted to come on here and post a part-life-update, part-PSA, part narrative contrast of two disparate healthcare systems. 2 weeks ago, I noticed a strange spot on my ear. It had a weird texture and a slightly darker tone than the rest of my skin. I can’t explain why, but I felt that there was something inherently bad about it, like it had bad energy, and I texted my doctor here, who is a dermatologist and plastic surgeon, about it. I was able to get an appointment same day. In the office, she looked at it and was like, “Gina, this is nothing. Don’t worry about it.” I still had this awful feeling about it, so I asked her if she could at least cut it off and send it for biopsy so I don’t have to think about it anymore. She did the procedure right there in her office, and I left with a couple small stitches on my upper ear. 5 days later, I got a nervous phone call from my doctor, apologizing for the “long delay” and informing me that the biopsy came back positive for melanoma, so she had sent it to another lab to get a second opinion. I did, in fact, have melanoma on my ear. That light spot that seemed like nothing turned out to be skin cancer. Without any delay, my doctor set me up with an appointment to see a surgical oncologist, who I saw that afternoon. He read the biopsy report, did an examination, and referred me to get a PETCT scan to determine if any of the cancer had spread to my lymph nodes or other organs. I went and got the PETCT scan the next day — for those keeping track, this is just one week after I noticed the strange spot on my ear. (Continued in comments)

Backbending: the most incredible journey I’ve ever taken 🧡❤️‍🔥🧡❤️‍🔥🧡 Forever grateful for my gentle and patient teacher 🙏🏻

Idk just wanted to preserve this on the grid 🤸🏼‍♀️

Living my orange dream on two wheels 🧡✨ Blessed, puja’d, and ready to ride into this next chapter of life in India. #FascinoMagic #OrangeEverything #NewWheels @yamahamotorindia @charvimotors

I’ve practiced yoga 6 days a week for 3 years now. Here are the 3 biggest lessons I’ve learned along the way: ✨ Everything is temporary. Suffering, anxiety, happiness, pain, stress, achievement, failure—it all comes and goes. Once I truly understood that nothing lasts forever, I stopped resisting and started embracing each moment as it came… even the hard ones. ✨ Healing takes time. When I committed to my daily practice, I was deep in recovery—from alcoholism, familial abuse, toxic relationships, depression, bad choices, and nervous system burnout. People say yoga is the cure, but the truth? It’s not instant. It took therapy, sobriety, consistency, sleep, nutrition, and deep self-work. But now? My nervous system finally feels safe—and that’s everything. ✨ We have more control than we think. Life doesn’t just happen to us—we create it. Our reactions, our environments, our patterns… they’re shaped by us. Like attracts like. But when we’re dysregulated, it feels impossible to steer our own ship. The key? Regulation. Slow down, breathe, find your center, and commit to your evolution. The world around you will shift, too. 🎥 @nicolasfpauly What has yoga taught you? Drop a comment below—I’d love to hear. ⬇️🧘🏼‍♀️✨ #YogaEveryDamnDay #YogaLife #HealingJourney #SelfGrowth #Mindfulness #DailyPractice #YogaPhilosophy #InnerWork #BreathMagic #Pranayama #Transformation #yoga #ashtanga

I have had hip pain my entire life. I remember not being able to sit cross legged in elementary school. I used to curse at the ashtanga series and call it stupid because it was “obsessed” with lotus. I butt heads with teachers who said I needed to be able to do this posture to move further in my practice. And even though I didn’t believe I would see any improvement, I kept doing it. Sometimes I’m not even sure why. I practiced and practiced and practiced. I did hip exercises. I saw Physio therapists. I kept trying and most days, I’d lament that I wasn’t seeing any improvement. And then one day a year ago, I woke up without pain. A few months later, things started to open up. And now? Padmasana is a daily comfortable seated position for me. I can enter it comfortably and without warming up. And I can remain in it for some time before my legs don’t like it anymore. Is it a miracle? I think so. But also? The miracle is just practice. The daily practice. Doing hard things over and over. Believing in your future self even when you might not believe in your current self. I loved going through old videos and seeing the improvement. Wow wow wow. I love this practice so much. #ashtanga #ashtangi #padmasana #lotus #hips #lotusjourney #openhips #mysore

Reach out, touch, what was once in your imagination ✨ Not my smoothest backbending moment but wow if you had told me I’d be doing this when I first started, I never would have believed you. Yet here we are now 💫 Keep practicing. Keep exploring. Even if it takes a little trepidation Do drop backs scare you? #backbending #ashtanga #mysore 🎥 @nicolasfpauly

Traveling together weaves friendships tighter, turning shared moments into lifelong memories. #womensday #womensday2025 #friends #friendship #friendsforlife❤️

Chasing horizons—one road at a time, on and off the beaten path. @insta360indiaofficial @insta360 @suzuki2wheelers #insta360 #insta360x4 #suzuki #suzukivstrom #bikersofindia #travel #wanderlust