Gina Joseph on Creativity and Healing During Quarantine
Meet the Yogi, wellness influencer and entrepreneur who is shining her light across industries.
by Alyssa Ford
Gina inside her Brooklyn apartment. Photo by Aonya McCruiston.
GYPSY GINA
I met Gina almost two years ago at the New Women Space in Brooklyn, NY. Upon our very first interaction, I knew she was an extremely special soul. I literally felt my energy shift to a higher vibration after talking with her, that’s just how powerful her light is. What started as a chance meeting, ended up as a beautiful friendship.
During our first interview, Gina opened up to me about past trauma and her experience as a Black woman in America. She found her way to yoga while pondering the world’s questions and embarking on a journey towards holistic healing. She shared that while growing up in Baltimore, there weren’t really any wellness spaces around her or accessible to her community. There also weren’t a lot of women that looked like her represented in the mainstream wellness industry. This sparked her passion for making yoga and wellness accessible to all, especially to lower-income Black and Brown communities.
When Gina moved to NYC, she noticed that most of the wellness spaces were in gentrified neighborhoods and marketed in an elitist and privileged way. This then contributed to the view that wellness, fitness and healing is for the wealthy, a view that many lower-income communities adopt. Gina’s mission is to help people of all genders, races and body types get access to to being well. Aside from being a 200 hour certified yoga instructor, wellness advocate and influencer, Gina also founded her own journaling company called Manifest Melanin this year, and recently released a free digital journal prompt to assist with healing and grieving through racism and injustice.
Recently, SUSTAIN caught up with Gina and chatted about her healing process and how she’s staying motivated as a creative during quarantine.
HEALING IN ISOLATION
SUSTAIN: Can you give our readers a brief intro about yourself and how you got involved in the wellness industry?
GINA: Of course! My name is Gina and I am a yoga instructor and a wellness creative. I honestly got into wellness through finding my purpose. Growing up I always saw myself as different from all of the things and people I was around. I dove deep into esoteric scripts and holistic wellness when I was young in a search for answers to the world. It wasn’t until I moved to NYC at 18 and all of my sensitivities were heightened- everything was too overstimulated for me. I was on a quest to find my purpose. It came to the point where I wasn’t really pleased or happy with where I was in life, and I wanted to finally find love and fulfillment for myself. As soon as I walked into my first yoga class, everything changed.
S: How are you staying motivated as a digital creative during quarantine?
G: Honestly I’m really enjoying solitude. This was a blessing in disguise. Before this, we never had the time to fully dive deep into ourselves. And with isolation comes creation. I’m experimenting more because I have the time to, but I’m also remembering and acknowledging that I’m going at my own pace at my own time. So my advice is to try anything that you’ve never done before as a creative and go with it, creativity has no boundaries!
S: How has isolation impacted your routines and daily habits?
G: My sleeping routines have been amazing! I’ve been sleeping for a full eight hours every night. Of course with so much negativity that we see in our media, I take time to meditate one hour each morning to send blessings to everyone impacted negatively during this time. It’s a great start to my morning because not only am I giving love to others, but to myself as well. And I LOVE going to the park as much as I can. It is amazing to implement that into my daily routine; the sun is so healing.
S: Aside from a Yogi, advocate and creative, you also are an entrepreneur and have started your own business! Can you share some insight about your business and how you are building it during this time?
G: Yes! I own a journaling company called Manifest Melanin, which are journals that provide motivation and goal setting. I took as much time and love as I could with these journals. There has been a pause in the printing process until next month, but until then, I’m making the changes I need. I am very excited for this, it’s like my first baby to bring into the world and I can’t wait to share the journals with all of you!
S: What is your favorite self-care/self-love act? Any tips for our readers on how to incorporate self love into their daily routines?
G: It’s honestly the little things that count. Self care comes in so many ways. From the small things like drinking water to giving yourself a pedicure, these are simple ways to incorporate self-love into your space. Another way I’ve been really loving myself is tapping into my goddess energy. I like to wear amazing robes around my house and even wear my jewelry to feel royal where I am- making myself feel like a queen in my palace everyday. Please treat yourself like the royalty you are. You can spray perfume in your room, feed yourself some grapes, make yourself feel royal because you are royal in your true Divine self. And once you put yourself into the royal space that you already are in, things will manifest so greatly and abundantly for you.
Gina practicing yoga in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, NY.
Photographs by Arianna Sharfman.
S: You're very open about your mental health on social media which I love. In a world that can sometimes feel like an illusion, how do you stay authentic online? Why do you think this is important?
G: This is such an amazing question, honestly at first I felt down on myself when I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I felt very bad, because I thought, here I am promoting wellness when I wasn’t well myself. And honestly the universe checked me back in. What does it mean to be “well”? I put a stigma on what wellness was supposed to look like. I had to reel myself in and try to be as true to me that I could be. I also realized that I’m not going through it alone! So many people have connected with me and shared their stories, which shows me that we are all connected in some way shape or form.
We are all unique beings, even in a world we think may look very much the same right now, individuality is the forefront of change. It’s so essential to not lose the unique parts of you, no matter how much the world doesn’t want you to, because you realize that you are not alone. There are so many people that battle depression and mental illness on a daily basis. It’s all about how you use your setbacks to inspire change and love into this world, and finally take the time to put yourself first.
S: Also, I know earlier in quarantine you actually were diagnosed with COVID-19- could you share what your healing process through that looked like?
G: Yes, it was the most life changing process. I was not only healing on the outside, but I was healing within. I had to be on extreme quarantine for 14 days and I couldn’t leave my room. I had to really dig deep and embrace being alone. I had to mentally detox from everything including my phone to not scare me. Yes I had the chills and the aches like any other flu, but I had to take time and rest. I was also so grateful for my roommates who dropped food at my door and constantly checked up on me. It was a scary process for my family, but it made us closer. It also made me learn to appreciate life more. Life is so amazing and we have to make the most of it. I also started to love the value of rest.
Gina inside her Brooklyn apartment. Photo by Aonya McCruiston.
Since our first meeting, I’ve watched Gina’s light grow brighter and brighter. In this modern western world that focuses so much on separateness, Gina is here to remind the world that yoga and spirituality are about oneness and unity. These practices are for everyone, even when society may suggest otherwise. Inequalities and injustices are found across all industries in the U.S., with wellness being no exception. Rather than get lost in her setbacks however, Gina’s inner goddess has only grown stronger.
Through her journey, she has cultivated an amazing community of Black women in wellness, all working towards positive growth and accessibility for their communities. Many people see wellness in a superficial light, not paying attention to the real self rooted work you have to do in order to truly be well, for yourself and for others. Gina teaches that you do not need to have money to be well and that the source of power is already within you.