5 Days Of Learning New Skills | Try Living With Lucie | Refinery29 - video Dailymotion

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This week on Try Living With Lucie, our host, Lucie Fink tries 5 days of learning a new skill each day. She educates herself every day on a new subject to better herself and her life. Press play on this episode of Try Living With Lucie for inspiration to try something new!   ABOUT SERIES Try Living With Lucie follows our favorite R29 millennial, Lucie Fink, as she dives headfirst into social experiments — five days at a time. From a week without sugar to full-blown street performing; there is nothing she won't try!   ABOUT REFINERY29  Refinery29 is a modern woman's destination for how to live a stylish, well-rounded life. http://refinery29.com/  RELATED CONTENT 5 Days Of No Mirror https://youtube.com/watch?v=xUkwRV_8gc4 5 Days Of A Capsule Wardrobe https://youtube.com/watch?v=Di9Bjf_OPj4 5 Days Of Meal Prep https://youtube.com/watch?v=DWaU47V3rMU  SEE MORE REFINERY29 VIDEOS http://refinery29.com/video  SUBSCRIBE TO REFINERY29 Subscribe to the Refinery29 channel: http://bit.ly/subscribe-to-r29 For the latest trends and videos, visit: http://refinery29.com Like Refinery29 on Facebook: https://facebook.com/refinery29 Follow Refinery29 on Twitter: https://twitter.com/refinery29 Heart Refinery29 on Instagram: https://instagram.com/refinery29/  TALENT Follow Lucie Fink on Instagram: https://instagram.com/luciebfink/ Follow Unbothered on Instagram: https://instagram.com/r29unbothered/ Follow OnHerTurf on Instagram: https://instagram.com/onherturf/ Follow Refinery29 on Instagram: https://instagram.com/refinery29/

Transcript

00:00I'm Lucy Fink and this is five days of learning new skills. Hey fam! Welcome back

00:04to Refinery29's YouTube channel. If you're new here be sure to click on the

00:08little subscribe box in the corner and if you're interested in following my

00:11personal YouTube channel check me out at youtube.com forward slash Lucy B Fink. I

00:17was listening to a podcast recently where I learned that focusing your

00:20attention on learning a new skill or trying a new activity, something that

00:24maybe doesn't come all that naturally to you or is a little bit challenging,

00:27actually trains your body to be able to deal with stress over time. So this

00:31week I chose five skills that I could each dedicate just one day to and I

00:35intentionally chose skills that I could learn very easily at home because I

00:39wanted you all to be able to learn alongside me. So let's get into Monday.

00:45I wanted to start the week off with something that has been frequently

00:48requested by my audience and something that I've always wanted to try. My

00:51friends over at Fender challenged me to try learning how to play the ukulele and

00:55they even sent me this beautiful ukulele in the mail. And they even gave me

01:00access to Fender Play which is their digital learning platform where you can

01:04learn chords, basic finger placements, and even take courses online.

01:09Nice! I once learned from a YouTube video that when you're tuning a ukulele and you

01:13play the strings from top to bottom it should sound like this.

01:16My dog has fleas!

01:21So I made sure each string was tuned up with the online tuner and then I just practiced some chords.

01:32Great! Did that successfully.

01:35A standard guitar has six strings whereas the ukulele only has four. And compared to the

01:39standard guitar, a ukulele also has a much smaller fretboard which is a lot easier for

01:44people that have small hands like I do. Because this video is for Refinery29 we just didn't have

01:49the copyrights to play real songs in the video. So you better believe I would have been jamming out

01:53to Jason Mraz and Ingrid Michaelson and I would have liked to play some real songs for you. But I

01:58wasn't allowed to play any of those songs on camera so instead I practiced singing a song

02:02written by one of my favorite YouTubers.

02:04We are the moon, the stars, the water, and the sun.

02:09And then I tried writing my own songs. I wrote a song about playing music.

02:13I'm sitting at home, having some fun, just making some music, talking to no one.

02:24A song about tofu.

02:27Do you like tofu? Cause I don't really.

02:33One about pizza.

02:34As long as there's sauce and there's bread and there's cheese, it's a pizza to me, all right.

02:41Pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza.

02:46After just a couple of hours, my comfort level with the ukulele improved immensely.

02:53My fingers hurt when I strum like this.

02:56So maybe I will strum like that anymore.

03:00Right now I'm almost bleeding on this finger.

03:04It hurts.

03:05And the best part about this skill is that it's now been about a week since Monday

03:09and I've continued to practice on my own.

03:11I even shared a little clip on my Instagram story of me singing Ingrid Michaelson's song,

03:15You and I, and Ingrid Michaelson reposted it on her Instagram story.

03:20And if you want to follow my growth and progression with the ukulele,

03:23be sure to follow me on Instagram at lucybthink and check out my stories.

03:33If you are bored with no coffee left to brew,

03:39try learning something new, cause it's the right thing to do.

03:51More so than ever, in this past year, I've been hugely invested in my physical health.

03:55Especially after having my gallbladder taken out last year, maintaining a healthy gut microbiome

04:00has become a major priority of mine.

04:02Kombucha is a fermented tea that's a great source of probiotics.

04:06It gives your gut that healthy bacteria that can aid in digestion, reduce inflammation,

04:11boost your energy, and so much more.

04:13So I thought a fun skill for Tuesday would be learning how to make this drink at home.

04:17But first, in order to make a fresh batch of kombucha, you need a SCOBY.

04:21So what's a SCOBY?

04:22It stands for Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast.

04:27SCOBY.

04:27It's essentially a living, slimy blob that kind of looks like a mushroom,

04:31and it's floating inside this liquid that's a starter liquid for making kombucha.

04:35These SCOBYs grow, and they multiply, and they make little baby SCOBYs,

04:39so if you have a friend that makes kombucha at home,

04:41you can just take a baby SCOBY and some starter liquid from them.

04:44I wanted to challenge myself to do this from scratch,

04:47which meant I needed to grow my own SCOBY and create my own starter liquid

04:51so that probably in two months down the line, I'll be able to make my own kombucha.

04:54First, I boiled water, and then I dissolved white sugar in it,

04:57and then I dropped some tea bags in it, and I basically made a giant batch of sweet tea.

05:02I used organic black tea.

05:03Once it's cooled, you pour that tea into a large jar, and you add kombucha.

05:07It's very important to use raw, organic, and unflavored kombucha for this,

05:11and what you'll notice is that those store-bought bottles

05:14typically already have some filmy floating stuff in them,

05:17so you want to make sure that when you pour the kombucha into the tea,

05:20that you're transferring over those floating guys.

05:22And then you cover it with a cloth, or as I use, some coffee filters.

05:26You tie it off with rubber bands, make sure it's really secure,

05:29and basically you just put it away from direct sunlight.

05:31I tucked it into the back of my cabinet, and in about 20 days or so,

05:35I should have my own SCOBY.

05:36One thing that's very important here is cleanliness,

05:38so you want to make sure you're not getting any bad bacteria in the jar.

05:42So I made sure to wash my hands really well,

05:43and I also boiled the jar in boiling water before I did any of this.

05:47Just trying out this skill for one day really opened my eyes to the giant world out there

05:51of kombucha, and fermentation, and SCOBYs.

05:54And in the meantime, be sure to follow my Instagram stories for some SCOBY updates

05:58alongside my ukulele videos.

06:06On Wednesday, I took on learning the basics of American Sign Language.

06:10I became especially interested in learning American Sign Language a couple of years ago

06:14when I saw the revival of Spring Awakening on Broadway.

06:17The revival had both hearing and deaf actors in it,

06:20but the entire show was signed as it was sung.

06:23It looked like a choreographed dance to the lyrics, and I wanted to learn it so badly.

06:27Going into this day, I knew that I would not be able to learn all of ASL in just one

06:31day,

06:32but I did set out to learn the entire alphabet as well as some basic signs.

06:36So for those who don't know, I'm going to teach you the entire alphabet in American Sign Language

06:40right now, and you can rewind this video as many times as you need so that you can learn it.

06:44Here we go!

06:44A. Close fist.

06:46B. Hand up straight with your thumb tucked in.

06:49C. Looks like a little c.

06:50D. Pointer finger goes up.

06:53E. Fingers folded over and thumb in.

06:55F. Pointer and thumb together and the rest of the fingers out.

06:58G. Making a sign like you're saying a little bit, but turning it to the side.

07:02H. Two fingers together.

07:04I. Pinky up.

07:06J. Swoop it down.

07:07K. Pointer face up, middle finger face forward.

07:10L. Just looks like an L.

07:12M. Three fingers over your thumb.

07:14N. Two fingers over the thumb.

07:17O. Just make an O.

07:19P. Same sign as the K, but lowered down.

07:21Q. Same sign as the G, but flipped down.

07:25R. Criss-cross your pointer and middle fingers.

07:28S. Full fist.

07:30T. Thumb comes through the first two fingers.

07:33U. Peace fingers.

07:35V. Make a V.

07:37W. Make a W.

07:39X. It's like a little pirate hook.

07:41Y. And Z is just a zigzag.

07:45T. Afterwards, I learned some frequently used phrases like,

07:48T. Hello.

07:49T. What's your name?

07:50T. Are you deaf?

07:52T. I learned that eyebrows play a part in ASL, so if I was going to say something like,

07:56T. My name is Lucy, L-U-C-I-E, and then I was going to ask you,

08:01T. What's your name?

08:02T. I would have to lower my eyebrows to imply that I'm asking you a question.

08:05T. I know I still have miles to go when it comes to learning the entire language,

08:09T. But by the end of the day, I was feeling pretty darn proud that I had picked up on

08:13the entire

08:13Alphabet and a few quick phrases in just a couple hours.

08:17T. It really shows how much of a new skill you can learn and how much you can pick up

08:20on

08:20T. Just by sitting down and setting your mind to something.

08:23T. Thursday's skill is something that I've been wanting to learn for a while now.

08:28T. Self-defense.

08:29T. It's an extremely important topic and there's so much to cover here,

08:33T. So Thursday was really just a brief intro to it.

08:35T. Luckily, my best friend's fiancee,

08:37T. Stan is a martial arts and fitness coach.

08:39T. So on Thursday, he came over and taught me the basics of self-defense.

08:43T. We started off with some boxing just as a warm-up so I could practice throwing some punches and

08:47kicks.

08:48T. Give me your fighting stance.

08:49T. Left straight jab.

08:51T. Yep, don't lift your elbow first.

08:53T. I want you to extend and twist at the last second.

08:56T. Yeah, exactly.

08:57T. You got it.

08:58T. But of course, as Stan quickly taught me,

09:00T. When it comes to self-defense, it's not about throwing punches and kicks and fighting.

09:04T. It's about quickly debilitating your attacker

09:06T. So that you can run away and get out of there.

09:09T. You should look for a couple of kind of weak points.

09:11T. Okay.

09:11T. And that's the nose,

09:13T. It's the throat,

09:14T. The groin.

09:15T. You're trying to create enough of a chance,

09:17T. Enough for an opportunity for you to get out of there.

09:19T. He taught me the best way to get out of an attacker's grip

09:22T. If they come at you from different angles.

09:23T. I'm so scared to hurt you.

09:25T. I appreciate that a great deal.

09:26T. Yeah.

09:27T. If they grab you from the front by the arm.

09:29T. Grabbing you by the arm.

09:30T. I'm getting close.

09:31T. See ya!

09:32T. From the side over the shoulder.

09:35T. You're grabbing.

09:35T. Yes, exactly.

09:36T. It's the force of your entire body that's

09:38T. Putting my arm in this position.

09:40T. Not just your arm pulling me there.

09:41T. Or if they come around you from the back.

09:43T. I'm grabbing you here.

09:45T. Elbow.

09:46T. I learned how to spin someone around

09:49T. And put pressure on their shoulder to take them down.

09:51T. Grabbing your opposite arm.

09:53T. Yup.

09:54T. And poof.

09:55T. And I also learned how to make some space

09:58T. Between myself and the attacker

10:00T. By pushing my arms together like this

10:02T. And actually making myself smaller.

10:03T. You're going to create that space.

10:05T. I forgot about the space.

10:06T. Good.

10:07T. And boom.

10:07T. Exactly.

10:08T. So that I have that room to kick them in the groin

10:10T. Or just slip free from their grasp.

10:12T. By the end of our session, I honestly had a moment where I thought to myself,

10:15T. How have I been walking around in the world for 26 years without knowing this information?

10:20T. So now that I know the basics, I'm definitely going to explore this topic more and take a bunch

10:24of classes.

10:25T. When I woke up on Friday, I was feeling a little bit sore from Thursday's twists and kicks.

10:31T. So I wanted to take on a more relaxing skill.

10:34T. Fun Fink fact!

10:35T. Did you know that I come from a long line of bread makers?

10:38T. The Fink Bakery was started by my great-great-grandfather in 1888.

10:43T. It was basically a giant commercial bakery in Long Island City that provided fresh bread and rolls

10:48T. To local restaurants, delis, schools, hospitals, sports stadiums, and more.

10:53T. And I realized on Friday that I myself have never actually made a loaf of bread.

10:58T. But it turned out to be pretty simple. I dissolved yeast in warm water.

11:01T. I added sugar, salt, oil, and flour.

11:04T. I mixed it all together.

11:05T. Then I cleaned off my countertop, put flour on the surface, and kneaded the dough.

11:09T. Once I was done, I put it in a bowl.

11:11T. I covered it, set it in a warm spot, and I just let it rise for an hour and

11:14a half.

11:14T. When it was done, I came back to it.

11:16T. I punched it down, cut it in half, and then put each half in a loaf pan.

11:20T. I covered that again and let each of those loaf pans rise for another 30 minutes.

11:24T. And then I baked them for about a half an hour at 375.

11:27T. The smell in my apartment immediately transported me back to childhood.

11:31T. And as soon as I took the pans out of the oven, I was shocked at how perfect they

11:35came out.

11:36T. Perfect.

11:38T. Yes.

11:39T. Truly can't believe I did this.

11:41T. Mmmmmmmmmmm.

11:43T. I immediately popped on my jacket that has Fink embroidered into it,

11:46T. And I FaceTimed my dad to show him what I had made.

11:49T. Hey, Dad.

11:50so I'm in my think shirt and I just made this whole loaf of bread look at that

11:57white bread this week of trying new skills reminded me just how much you can

12:03learn and absorb when you just give yourself the space and time to do so

12:06even if you just give yourself 30 minutes a day to learn something new

12:10you'll become a more well-rounded person with so much more to offer the world

12:14comment below to let me know if any of you have tried these five skills before

12:17and also let me know what you want to see me try next time for five days at a

12:21time bye hey youtube thanks for watching click here to watch another five day

12:26challenge video here to subscribe to refinery 29 on youtube and right here for

12:31my personal youtube channel bye

5 Days Of Learning New Skills | Try Living With Lucie | Refinery29

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