Ep. 283 #iobevoacasa - LOCKDOWN SERIES | Gill Gordon Smith and Rebecca Hopkins

I find all the really bad Italian memes online, and I send them to him. I don't know what half of them mean, but he laughs. So that that's a good thing. Welcome to the Italian wine podcast lockdown series. Every Monday will be connecting with Italian wine people. Join us to find out what they're doing and drinking today. Hi, Jill. How are you? Can you see my ears? Because I'm gonna I'm gonna start now. So I'm Jill Gordon Smith, and I'm here for lockdown with Italian wine people. And I happen to be in Australia, being an Australian. I'm an Italian wine expert with the initiative Academy, and I've got one of my good friends who's now in lockdown here with us. So, hey, Rebecca. Hi, Jill. It's nice to be both. It's good to speak here. Rebecca Hopkins. You've got a few hats. You're a big Italian wine person, but you'll also, have a really fantastic, group and website called a balanced glass, and it's all about wellness. So we're gonna have a bit of a chat. But, I also thought we might talk to you about that and some of the techniques or some of the, tools we can use to get through this this lockdown. So I'm locked down at Maslin's Beach, which is probably about ten kilometers from you. Yep. It is. Tell tell me where you are at the moment. Yeah. So literally, like you said, we're both in kind of the broader McCarran of our wine region. You're at, I guess, the northern end of it. I just got Muslims. And then I'm at the very southern end at Celix. The main difference is you can go to the beach because you're not in, self isolation like I am. So I can see the beach. I can see the ocean actually from where I'm saying, but, I can't get to it yet. So Yeah. Well, actually none of us can at the moment, Rebecca. Right. Because, yeah, if we're locked down, there's fines now for going out. A beautiful sight of the hip, and, we're all locked away from the beach, but I wanna talk to you. So when did you actually get back? When did you come back to Australia? And why did you come back? Yeah. I arrived home Monday, week ago. So this is, day ten for me in self isolation, and I've been receiving amazing, gifts from people like yourself who've given me, you know, deliveries is obviously we can't, I can't leave. And so I've received toilet paper some beautiful wine, of Australian snack foods and twisties and and chocolates. So I think I've got all my food groups covered. I'm actually just missing, Italian wine. So Oh, that's me tomorrow, Rebecca, call me tomorrow. So what so tell me, why did you come back? Why did you come back to Australia? Because you were in San Francisco, and I know you've been in lockdown for about twenty days there. Yeah. Look, And I've been I've been living in San Francisco for thirteen years, and, I love where I live, and I love the city that I live in, and I love my, my place in the city. But, you know, at the end of the day, my family's in Australia. And knowing what I know with the information that I had, I really couldn't deal with not being able to get to them and not being near them. And I think for my own mental health, more than anything, coming home quickly and as early as I could to not only set myself up, obviously, with a fourteen day mandatory isolation. You can't do anything. But get set, get settled, and then be able to help the community, you know, while I'm here to kittling my family who who actually work in health care services. So, you know, they they are in a high risk industry. And, yeah, but that's that's really the reason why. So family is one of the the big reasons that when you're in isolation, it can be really tough being apart from your family. And, but also, you know, you've been here for nearly. It should be out soon. So it's gonna be a pretty big, reunion, but of two people, of course, because in Australia, you don't have two two people at any one time together. So you and I you and I both love it. We, we're this is the time of year that we're normally there. So we are missing all of our Italian friends. So I've been drinking a bit of Italian wine, also playing some games to sort of, keep me active. So I'm doing a drinking, h, z of drinking Italian grape varieties, and also sort of Yeah. So I've started off and you could try this just with a post it note. I'm just popping down, say, for example, Alianneco, Ardenise, and then drinking those grapes. And then I go on to the b's. So, yeah, that's a bit of an exercise, but what are you doing to stay sane? Oof. A lot a lot a lot of meditation, and trying to move my body as much as possible. I, I'm really lucky working portfolio by wine partners, you know, we have a lot of Italian wineries that we work with. And so I make it a point every day to contact one of them just to check-in, as much for my connection to them as I'll be see them to to us. And I tried to schedule time just to see their faces. And, this morning, I was chatting with Felipo Vani from Rick Hazley who's in Florence, locked down, And we were both lamenting not having, wine in the house, and and he was heading out to get a delivery from, Francesca Rosaly was gonna stock him up. So so keeping in contact with suppliers is a big thing. Taking time in the morning. One of the challenges of being in Australia and you know this when we're working with Europe or working with the States is our time zones are completely immersed. So you wake up, because no matter what time six AM, five AM, and it's already half a day in the US, and it's, you know, into the evening for Italy. So making that mind shift of being okay with not being on top of every single thing you're doing, and trying to get into that group has taken me a good week to to feel not anxious about waking up to, you know, a full inbox every morning. Real change, isn't it? So what have you been doing for fun, though? How are you entertaining yourself? Cause I know you've got a pretty good sense of humor, so I can only just imagine what's going on in that house? You know, Laura, our CEO is, from Ymonte. So I find all the really bad Italian means online and I send them to him. And, I don't know what half of the mean, but he laughs. So that that's a good thing. I cook. I actually have been cooking breakfast lunch and dinner every day, which has been good. It because it's kind of like, you know, pick a box. You get once a week. I get a delivery of of groceries and vegetables and and, random vegetables. Yeah. And I just kind of create things out of that. It's one thing that really keeps me grounded is eating well. And, you know, you get to the end of the box, like everyone, and you're like, what do I do with a bit of bok choy and a little bit of pharaoh and, you know, some dead mushrooms? It's amazing what you can create, and I haven't killed myself from food poisoning. So that's a that's a good thing. Well, that that's an absolute plus Rebecca. So, look, it'd be really great. I'm stuck in a chair all day because, you know, what it's like when you're working at a home office, you tend to not get as much. You're gonna give us a bit of a tip. You're gonna show us how to maybe stretch out a little bit, plus I also wanna see your active wear. Oh, I'm actively sure. You know, there's one thing people know about me is I don't I'm really bad at working in a chair at a at a table. And so, I normally sit on the floor on a bolster or a star or a big, like a bouffan, I guess. And I sit on the floor with my legs crossed. So coming here, I had to learn again how to work in a chair, but I brought a chair with me. So I just I'm just gonna grab that. This is what I normally sit on. Uh-huh. God, I couldn't do that. But ninety percent of people sit. In a chair. On a chair. Yeah. This is a beautiful dining chair that I found. And so I think the first thing is the one thing that all of us do when we're in, like, stooping, right, is we're sitting like this. Okay. So we get hunched We we generally don't have ergonomically set, desks, not many of us do. So I would say, you know, the most important thing to do when you've just, four hours of this is I'm actually gonna turn this way. Not four hours of this. No. I haven't done much of that. But bring your butt to the edge of your chair and make sure your feet are the square on the ground. I hope everyone's doing this. You've got a real, make sure you're as much as possible at a ninety degree angle. Okay? And that means your knees are over your ankles, your hips are straight, and then your spine is over your hips. So sometimes that means you tuck your tuck your little tailbone in. Sit up straight. Drop your shoulders. The one thing that we all do, right, is this. So bring your shoulders back and bring them down. Both. Hang around the space side. Oh, yeah. I'll be hanging by my side. And what I wanted to do is just start to move your neck to the right really gently and then to the left. And just start to feel that and then drop your head down, and then your head back. And this is just getting my ability back into your neck muscles. Very cool. Alright. So then the next thing, just grab your shoulders. Make good shape and really exaggerate it. Really bring them all the way up and all the way back. And then all the way up and all the way back. You could do this with two two bottles of wine in your hand too, Rebecca. I often do that during the night. Okay. And then the third thing I would suggest is, you know, you get pretty stagnant in this movement, so let's just take a twist. So take your right hand to your left knee, grab the back of your office chair like this and just gently sit up straight and just twist your spine and follow your gaze just over your shoulder. Nothing too jerking because if you haven't been moving, you're gonna be pretty stiff. But again, you're just trying to get some some oscillation through your spine. Keep your head up, with your back straight. I'm oscillating. Can you feel that? I can feel that. Now I want you to just do the other side. It's sticker on the other side. Yeah. And we've always had a dollar in hand, so it tends to be you'll probably be more flexible on your one hand, sir. And in my face, overall, when you're completely overwhelmed, Mhmm. Just take it here and then just drop your whole body down. I can do that one really well. I think I'll be really hang your head down to clean your legs. For how long? I would do thirty seconds a minute. You don't want too long, obviously, if you have blood pressure issues or if you have blood sugar challenges. So if it is something, it's just having the head below the heart helps bring all the blood flow back to your head. And I think if you do those, Julie, I think you'll feel flashed in about five minutes. Yeah. I think I do feel a bit better, but I'll practice those afterwards. They're really good tips Rebecca. I'm missing you so much. I can't wait to give you a big hug. It seems even worse because you hear and, thinking about Stevie and all the guys there in Verona. I'm missing you guys too. So this is locked down with Italian wine people. And what are you gonna be drinking later, but, remind you. Well, I might have cheated my little way and done a couple of little things from a chair because I don't like chairs. I've actually my family are amazing. So they prepared me with an Australian gym. Which is called green add gym, which apparently has green ads in it. It does. It does. Yeah. And, a fever tree tonic. So that's our a pair of TV. And what are you gonna be having after that? So while I don't have any Italian wine, I do have one of a dear friend's wines from McCarrenvale with Steve Panel, and he makes a nebbiolo from, up in, Kiefo. And I have you had this one before, do you I have. It's really good. It's not Barolo, but it's good. Well, I it's exactly not Barolo, and I was I did manage to manage to say hi to Baruna the other day. We're we're the importer for Bruna Jacosa. And, We were trying to work out how to get me a care package from Sarah Longer to me, but I'm not really sure that's gonna work. So this is my, my stop gap until I see you. And then when you and I see each other, we're rating your seller, We are definitely I've got a heap of charetto in my cellar. I've got some oh, I and in this talking about my little game, drinking by letters. Hopefully, I'll see you by the time I get to see because I've got this amazing, Chistana, Fiori single, contrada, Norella Mescalese for us to drink. Apart from a few other things. Yeah. A lot of good things. Yeah. Drink your G and T. Thanks a lot. That gives me a good segue. So now, Beck, we've been talking about some things to assist us in wellness and in maintaining some, you know, wellness and balance during this lockdown. Can you tell me a bit about a balanced glass which is your your your love. It is my love. So a balanced glass is something that I set up in two thousand and eighteen as an online platform and a way to connect wine professionals, to help them manage their, mental health, physical health with wellness. So, you know, we work in the wine business, but we are constantly around, eating, drinking, traveling, entertaining. And I think one thing that we really didn't have was a way to connect as a community and share resources and tools to help all of us. You know, stay well, stay physically well, stay mental well, And also, you know, we're a global community. All of us come from from all over the world in the community now. Two years later, we have just shy of two thousand people, all wine professionals, and we do all sorts of things. We, you know, I write story every week or two with my co writer, Kathy Boyer, and we write about isolation. I just wrote about what it's like to move continents. We write about jet lag, sleep, digestion, you know, travel hacks, and it's just a way to normalize, you know, a lot of a lot of the struggles that I think we all have as an industry. So, yeah. I mean, you're you're a great man. But what do you think of it? Oh, I love it. I mean, when you started talking to me about a balanced glass, it just resonated. It hits so many points because I think it is really important. So check out Rebecca's website. It's it is an it's a fantastic, tool. And it's also a lot of fun. It meets some really cool people there. So Yeah. And now, right? We're in lockdown. Isolation's a big deal. Mental health is a huge thing. So, you know, now more than ever, I'm trying to ramp up as much as I can to make sure that we stay connected and I have a thing. I wanna see your faces and hear your voices. And so I challenge every person in our community to do that. So it's important. Well, it is important. And I'm hearing I'm seeing your face and hearing your voice and, can't wait to see you again soon. Big hug. Virtual hubs, Julie. Look, thanks so much. I can't wait to see you again, and, this is locked down with Italian wine people. Cheers. See you next Monday for another virtual wine journey with Italian wine podcast lockdown series.