There is a storm front moving through, with high winds predicted. So tonight we have opted to hunker down in a safe little van park in Yarram, a small farming town in the southeast area of Gippsland Victoria (pop. 2,135).

Map location: Yarram Victoria 3971

Our agenda includes laundry, long hot showers and lounging around catching up on stuff whilst listening to the sweet sound of rain on Ripley’s roof.

Walking the main street of every small town we have visited this trip the local chatter we overhear is about COVID-19.

And with a little eavesdropping, it is apparent most of the gossip is ill-informed and fear-based. People are getting scared. Every supermarket is toilet paper scarce (I know, don’t get me started) and there is not a bottle of hand sanitizer to be found.

From today’s news:

Most importantly, there needs to be some clearer guidance on the conflicting signals we all get about how most of us will just have a mild form of the disease, or that it only hits old people, on the one hand, and the clear alarm of health authorities about its high rate of contagion, and possibly overwhelming demands on our hospital system, on the other.

Those signals have led to a strange mix of complacency and alarm which is hard to now untangle.

ABC NEWS.

So. How are you travelling?

Things are moving quickly right now. It’s a little (somewhat addictively) overwhelming right? All these unprecedented responses and grim possibilities (think Italy) leaves us with an odd dissociating from what we actually think should be going on in our lives.

It all seems a little unreal.

A good time to do some breathing exercises. Perhaps a few minutes of meditation. Perhaps even a few seconds of quiet attention to your breath might help. Even if you have never done this sort of thing before.

Seriously.

Check-in. Are you breathing only up in the top part of your lungs? This happens when we are tense.

Now take a slow deep breath. Let it naturally flow down into to the lungs bases. Your belly should stick out first….then the top of your chest should rise.

Pay careful attention to this for a couple of breaths. Simple. Now try it for a minute or two. If your mind drifts off (and it will), just bring attention back to the breath.

This exercise really does help settle any tension or anxiety. You can do it anywhere, anytime. It will defo help you sort the shit from the Shinola when it comes to seeing what is important right now. And I can tell you one thing for sure…….its NOT toilet paper.

The best advice I can give is to use the current situation to really explore the precious gift of wholeheartedly being in each moment: nowfulness.