6 skills you can learn online during lockdown

It’s weeks into lockdown and, let’s face it, we’re running out of ways to keep busy.

We’ve all completed the household chores – with surprising (and rare) enthusiasm, we’ve tidied the under-stairs cupboard we’ve been threatening to clear out for months and we’ve even read the book we’d not finished from fifth grade in school.

So what next?

What about putting the time to even better use by embracing our creativity – and learning a new skill in lockdown?

From practising the art of the perfect pout to cooking up a storm in the kitchen, here’s just a few you can try…

Cooking 

Gabriellas_Kitchen

Mamma mia, you can brush up on your Italian cooking skills with Gabrielle Margiotta, chef of the family-owned Cucina di Vincenzo restaurant in Woolton Road.

Gabriella is especially famed for her delicious desserts including tiramisu and chocolate torta, so she’s definitely the one to guide you through creating a few tasty treats while you’re self-isolating and working from home.

She can help you bake some belting biscuits, create a no-cream carbonara sauce and come up with a tasty, and healthy, quinoa salad for lunch – all of which you can treat your mates to when you get together again after lockdown is over.

Visit the Instagram page here.

Model make-up

Laura Hitchen

St Helens beauty guru is passing on some of her make up tips and tricks – so when you do get to go out you can look absolutely fabulous.

Laura, who has her own studios offering make-up, hair, beauty and skincare treatments, teeth whitening and more, has devoted her live tutorials to a range of looks from smokey eyes to an easy everyday face.

Well we all want to look our best when it’s time to get back out there!

Follow Laura on Instagram here.

Dancing

Oti Mabuse

Ooh when only the best will do! Strictly star Oti Mabuse is waiting to put you through your dancing paces with lessons from her living room, morning and evening.

Oti is joined by husband Marius Lepure, and together they aim to give step by step instructions, with a collection of moves leading to a finished routine, in anything from 10 or 15 minutes.

There are weekly themes with choreography to match, and ideas so far have included teaching viewers how to do a salsa number with a little latin music, and a routine for all the family to join in to Spice Girls’ wannabe.

Len might not be giving anyone a ‘seven’ any time soon – but who cares if you’re having fun.

www.mabuse.live

Create your own cocktails

Ryan Chetiyawardana

You can’t get out to your favourite bar but you can bring your favourite cocktails to you!

Bartending supremo Ryan Chetiyawardana is letting us in on a few secrets with master classes on his Instagram page, including how to make a magic Martini! Time to stir yourself…

Here’s the Instagram page you need.

Make a little music with…

Myleene Klass

The classic FM presenter, singer and pianist has started teaching online music lessons from home, with the help of daughters Ava and Hero – who both started playing instruments when they were four.

She is teaching music without instruments, because she says she doesn’t want to mess with techniques already being taught by other teachers, and so she can appeal to those – most – who don’t have their own instruments sitting at home.

Her first lesson was on rhythms, so she got everyone to start by tapping out their names… and – two, three, four…

Follow Mylene on Instagram here.

Yoga

Unwind and de-stress with Yoga

Yoga for the People in Huyton is holding daily live yoga classes.

Monday starts with Vinyasa Flow with Eddie Sikora at 11am and there’s a Hatha Yoga class with Helen Downey at 6pm; and that’s followed by a full timetable of sessions throughout the week.

Hatha yoga is the branch of yoga that typically comes to mind when you think of yoga in general terms. The practice involves breath, body, and mind, and classes are usually 45 minutes to 90 minutes of breathing, yoga poses, and meditation; while Vinyasa yoga strings postures together and is often known as flow yoga.

There’s at least one class every day – “We’re coming together by staying apart” – and you can get more information on Yoga for the People’s website, Facebook or Instagram account.

Here’s the Instagram page you need.