Marvelous Night for a Moon Skip

As I watched the gorgeous full moon rise on my drive home from work tonight I thought to myself, “It’s a marvelous night for a moon skip!”

Then as usual when I got home the familiar refrain of all of the reasons it would be a lot easier to skip the skipping started to chime in. “It’s too dark.” “It’s too cold.” “I’ll go for a skip tomorrow instead.” “I need to chill for a while after work first” Etc. etc. etc.

Thankfully, I decided not to heed those voices and put my workout clothes, sneakers, and ipod on within minutes of getting home and hit the street.  I’m so glad I did!  I was so inspired when I got back that I created this video log too!  Hooray for finally saying yes to the inner nudges I’ve been feeling to skip, write, and give video logging a try:

Here’s a list of the fun skipping techniques I experimented with tonight that reminded me why skipping is my absolute favorite way to exercise!

1. Walk with a Side of Skipping – The simplest way to incorporate skipping fun into your life when you first start is to simply go  for a walk around the block or down your street and  decide how many steps you are going to skip on your outing before you start….This can be as few or as many as you want. Ten steps is a great place to start, especially if you are feeling self-conscious about skipping in public!

2. Landmark Skipping – Since I’m out of skipping shape at the moment, I started my skip where the sidewalk by my house meets the road and I went as far as I could without becoming too winded. I made it to a lamp post 50 yards from where I started and mental note of how far I’d gone so next time I can try to make it to another landmark. Note that the best way to skip as an adult is to stay as low to the ground as possible when you first start. Otherwise you’ll use too much energy too fast!

3.Walk 4, Skip 4 -  This is a great way to keep skipping without getting overly tired. You simply walk four steps and then skip four steps. Walk four steps skip four steps. Or you can play with mixing it up however you’d like.  Walk 5 and skip 2.  Walk 10 and skip 10, etc. etc.   It’s much easier to go for long distances when you blend in some walking rather then trying to skip the whole way.

4 Skipping circles – Tonight I skipped to a small parking area near my house where no one was around.  While there, I skipped around in a circle, did some figure 8s, etc. while listening to one of my favorite songs on my ipod. There seems to be something especially fun about skipping when you have no place to go.  For this reason, I tend to prefer skipping in circles – whether in an empty group exercise room at the gym or in an open space like I did tonight – over simply skipping in a straight line down the street.

6. Wizard of Oz Skip -  I also had a lot of fun mixing galloping in with my skipping. Galloping is basically the same as skipping but you don’t alternate legs. While the Wizard of Oz skip is a little more fancy, you can get a similar result by galloping for two steps with the left leg in front and then switching to galloping with the right leg in front and repeating over and over. It’s fun and silly and makes me laugh every time I do it.

7. Skip around your living room -When I got home from my outdoor skip, a particularly fun song was on my ipod so I took off my shoes and skipped around my living room!  I also danced and bounced and generally had a great time being silly and letting the exhilaration of my outdoor skipping adventure continue in the privacy of my own home.

8. Long Distance Skipping – Of course, you also can skip for long distances…I’ve gone for 2 or 3 miles at a time when I was in prime skipping shape and some skippers go longer! Ashrita Furman even skipped an entire marathon!  I look forward to being back at a place where I get lost in a skipping zone and skip for a really long way…but for now I am not quite there yet.

As you can see there are a wide variety of ways to get your skip on! The most important part to remember is that it is supposed to be enjoyable!  Skipping is all about fun and frivolity and it just isn’t the same if you take those two ingredients out of the mix!  So why not go out and give it a try! You won’t be sorry!

 

Let’s Skip to it!

There are two things my inner wisdom knows bring me great joy:  writing and skipping. Yet, over the course of the last decade or so…since the manuscript(s) I’ve written were turned down by publishers because they weren’t quite ready for showtime and since my initial vision of where my skipping path was taking me ended up looking so much different than I thought, I have been doing a minimal amount of both. It feels like the time has come for that to change.

Of course, I still skip…. Zumba and Nia classes have been my preferred outlet of late…and when I’m hurrying to get through a cross walk, the bounce seems to naturally come into my step..Not to mention other spontaneous moments when my skipping self springs to life. But when it comes to going out with the sole intention of skipping for fun and fitness, I’ve pretty much been skipping it all together and, as a result, the updating of this skipping blog has fallen to the wayside too.

I am welcoming Rocky energy into my life!  I’m ready to reclaim my skipping mojo. I’m ready to write about and document that process here.  My goal for this coming week is to go for at least one skip and to reclaim my writing voice too by posting about my experience here.

I understand why part of me has been scared to open herself up in this way again. Really I do….It’s been a long, strange skip that hasn’t always been easy!  But at the same time, another part of me feels ready to break new ground and to fully experience the many benefits of skipping again!     So this intention setting blog entry is my first step in skipping to it!

Want to join me?  What things that bring you joy would you like to do more of?

Skipping with Garrison Keillor

Garrison Keillor shared this lovely poem about skipping on NPR’s The Writer’s Almanac on Friday October 2oth.

This is our favorite part, “…the vivid hop from foot to foot, the hurrying toward and with delight.”

 

Enjoy and skip on!

Worldwide Skipping Day!

On Sunday July 31st 2011, the first annual SUDS (Skipping Up and Down the Street Day) , which was the inspiration of Toronto skipper Dawna Marie Wright, happened all over the world!

Over 6000 kindred skipping spirits from around the globe participated in this fun event by skipping at some point during the day on Sunday July 31st wherever they were (whether physically or simply w/ in their heart.)

Dawna has already created the Facebook page for the 2nd annual Skipping Up and Down the Street Day on 7/31/12..so please take a moment to RSVP on the event page to show your support and join the fun! We’d also love it if you could help us spread the word about the event by forwarding the invite to your like-minded FB friends so they can RSVP and join the skipping fun too!

We’re really looking forward to our next collective virtual skip on Sunday July 31st, 2012! Until then, skip loud, skip proud, and skip on!

The Soul Salon

iSkip’s Kim Corbin was skipping on sunshine after this amazing interview with Rena Reese host of The Soul Salon where they talked about prayer, saying yes to the things life calls us to do, rekindling childhood joy, skipping, and more!

World Skipping Record

The world’s fastest skipper Ashrita Furman recently broke his Guinness World Record for skipping the fastest 5K in just under 30 minutes!

He broke the record while visiting Bali and to celebrate, he skipped 50-yards with an orangutan’s on his back! Here’s a short excerpt from a post on Ashrita’s blog that is written from the orangutan’s perspective!

Okay, I’m as open minded as the next orangutan but, if you ask me, the human currently skipping around the Safari Park is a few bananas short of a bunch – if you know what I mean. Let’s face it, humans walk weird enough as it is – using only two legs instead of on going all fours. But on top of that, this maniac is doing some awkward movement that my trainer calls “skipping”. For God’s sake, it’s 85 degrees outside and the humidity is off the charts.

Uh oh, the skipping guy (I nicknamed him “Skippy”) seems to have finished and is looking in my direction. Rian is carrying me over to the nut and…wait! What’s going on?! Rian is putting me on Skippy’s back. This is embarrassing! It’s a good thing that the other orangs aren’t here to see this. As it is, Theresa, the elephant who is on the course, is going to have a field day with this with the other pachyderms. I’ll see if I can bribe her with some bananas to keep quiet.

All right, I guess it wasn’t as bad as I feared. Skippy only skipped with me for a few minutes and then Rian retrieved me. After the group photo, I heard Skippy telling a reporter that he skipped for 5 kilometers or 3.1 miles in just under 30 minutes, and that he was breaking some kind of Guinness record. He said he loves to skip because it’s such good exercise and so joyful. Well, good for him. I guess you can’t always judge a mango by its skin.

Canadian Skipper Extraordinaire

We’ve met many passionate skippers in the 11+ years we’ve been promoting at iSkip.com…but we’ve never encountered anyone with the vision, passion, and focus of Toronto’s Dawna Marie Wright.

Our skipping paths crossed when iSkip’s Kim Corbin read a post Dawna had left in the Urban Prankster discussion board in order to inspire flash mobbers and performance artists to participate in the first annual SKIPPING UP AND DOWN THE STREET DAY (SUDS) she’s organizing on Sunday July 31, 2011.

We asked Dawna about SUDS, her love for skipping, and more in this recent email interview…

When did you start skipping as an adult? About 4 yrs ago, I was walking with a friend who was feeling blue and I said, “Hey, let’s Skip!” and we did. We felt silly at first as people were looking at us and wondering, “what the??????” That helped us realized we liked feeling silly..and soon we were laughing and the blues began to melt away

What do you most enjoy about skipping? I like how it makes me feel..It puts me back in touch with my little girl self, full of joy and wonder.The added bonus is of course that as an adult it’s a fun way to get the heart rate up! especially if you don’t like to do aerobics or go to the gym.

What advice do you have for anyone who is hesitant to skip for fear of looking silly? Do it with a friend.. Make it a moment you can both laugh about and remember. And remember what it was like when you were a little kid.. Everyone still has a little bit of mischief in them somewhere;)

Where is your favorite place to skip? I really like being barefoot as much as possible and just came back from Costa Rica..so I’d have to say The Beach!

Tell us about SUDS! SUDS is the Acronymn for the “SKipPing Up & Down the Street Day” event I am organizing. I thought giving it an acronymn would make it a little more catchy than the long title. and even lead the way for those who were curious as to what SUDS meant/stood for:)

What inspired you to create a Skipping Up and Down the Street Day? Hmm.. It was a few years ago when I initially thought about this, “What if there was a recognized day that people could skip everywhere and anywhere without onlookers thinking they were ‘crazy’ so to speak?” Because of the advent of social media and Facebook and being able to get the word/idea out more easily I started to seriously put it into motion last summer when I was sitting around wondering what kind of good trouble I could cause. Why? I like to experiment and see what happens.) I want this to be an annual event that is as recognized as World Laughter Day (May 2nd). So far, so good.:)

How can people participate in SUDS? What do they need to do? July 31, 2011 is the inaugural date to celebrate those who already skip whenever they feel like it. It’s also the day or those who are closet skippers and/or shy to do it in public. Even it’s just a few skips on their way to work, school, or the grocery store….this is the day to give yourself permission to skip and to know that you aren’t alone. In fact, there are legions of SkiPpers from every continent!

There are plenty of ways skippers can participate.
*Visit the event’s website and become a member and/or RSVP on the event’s Facebook page.
*Make a skipping video to share your love of skipping with the world. Skipping at night? Skipping in the snow? The possibilities are endless.
*Helps us spread the word by inviting your friends and family to participate.
*Organize a fund raising skip in your home town on July 31, 2011 for the nonprofit of your choice.

We hope you will join us in supporting Dawna in the realization of her SUDS vision! RSVP on Facebook or become a member of the event’s website to show your support… also be sure to check out this fun skipping video she did to spread the word about the event:

Skip on Dawna! Skip on world!

Simon Skips!

We discovered Amsterdam based skipper Simon Groen thanks to the wildly popular YouTube skipping video he produced and starred in that has nearly 70K views and counting.

iSkip founder Kim Corbin recently had the opportunity to skip with Simon when he was visiting the San Francisco Bay area, and she asked him the following questions about his video and passion for skipping.

What inspired your video? One day I just started skipping spontaneously. A friend of mine laughed at me and as a result I tried some different kinds of skipping. Then I found comedy by skipping very energetically, while at the same moment keeping my facial expression very neutral/serious. It’s a comedian thing to search for the comic in every action.

Are you a regular skipper? Yes Definitely. I skip at least once a week.

Do you think that skipping makes the world a better place? If so, how?Skipping represents the light, happy and bright side of life. Life should be effortless in a way and skipping refers to that. Therefore I believe it makes the world a better place.

How has your video been received? Our skipping video is one of our best reviewed videos! Also some people say it reminds them of Monty Pythons ‘Ministry of Silly Walks’. I also think the success of this video can be explained by a deep human desire for skipping.

Here’s Simon’s amazing video. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Ice Skipping

On December 26th we were due for a major snowstorm here in the Northeast. I live on a lake. The lake was frozen. I went out before the snow began to fly and walked across the lake, the water was crystal clear. I wished I knew how to skate at that point because it was like a mirror, you could see right down to the bottom and the ice was like glass, not a bump or indentation. Perfect for skating. ALSO, perfect for skipping.

I don’t know what came over me and I quite frankly did NOT care what my neighbors thought. I started skipping back to the shore and across my yard. I was picking up branches that fell from the high winds the night before. I was truly enjoying the most wonderful time acting like the child, you know, the one that is in each of us and yet rarely comes out to play. Mine did that day and she had a great time. Albeit too short, but really fun. I thought to myself, I should do this more often. I am so thrilled to see your site. What a very cool thing to do – I shall think of you whenever I skip and I have indeed been skipping a lot lately.

My skipping reminded me of Phoebe on “Friends” in an episode where she was jogging – just running and swinging her arms. Such a free spirit. I was like that a whole lot more when I was younger – I think I’d like to revert back to that stage of not a care in the world. Living in the moment is great, but really enjoying it and BEING in the moment – PRICELESS!!!! -T.L. in New Jersey

Prison Skipping

After healing from an injury that caused me to leave my last job, I landed up working in a woman’s prison. I work in the Mental Health Dept. as a Rehabilitation Therapy Assistant. On Thursdays, we go to the gym. We often walk around the gym to warm up before other exercise. I had been skipping some of the distance which the women though was silly. But, eventually, one copied me and found it refreshing and then one more and one more. I wish I could send you a picture of this maximum security facility and the women with felony crimes skipping around the gym. It brings me joy just thinking of how they float along. -NC Skipper, PJ.

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