Safeway Skippers
August 4, 2010 by kimskips
Filed under California (Northern)
“I work at a Safeway In Northern California. At work when a customer asks where something is we are required to ask them if they would like to be shown where the item is. Sometimes when they say yes, I start walking a few feet then I will turn to them and ask “Would you like to hold hands and skip? ” ( I must admit I only ask women) Sometimes they say “Yes!” So… off we go, and usually they start laughing and I’ve got a pretty big smile on my face too!! I think it’s fun !! Just thought you might like to know this story. Skip On!”
A Perfect Day in Mesquite, Texas
I have an unusual, but simple story. Doesn’t happen every day.
Last year, I’d started a new job and had to take the bus for a couple of hours to get there. I noticed I was feeling down before I got off the bus and said to myself…”This can be a bad day, or a really great one. It’s my choice!” So I started singing quietly to myself the theme from Legally Blonde, “It’s a Perfect Day,” and skipped across the street as I got off the bus. 
I’m 39, so this must have been amusing to the people in the 3 lanes of traffic it took to get to the median. I had to stop there to wait for the other 3 lanes of traffic to get the rest of the way across. I looked to my left and saw a piece of paper on the grass. I assumed I’d dropped a receipt and then looked again and noticed it was money….I thought I’d dropped a dollar as I’m always digging in my purse and bent down to look.
I’m never completely awake until 10 or so, so I thought my eyes were just kinda fuzzy. I unfolded the paper and saw a $10, but continued to unfold it and it was a $100 bill. I really needed the money, as I had just started working and hadn’t got my first paycheck yet. I saved it ’til the end of the day, just in case some one were to come into the office and claim it. No one did, so I ended up with the new shoes and a dress I needed to look presentable for my new job. Talk about Divine intervention! Whoo!
It might seem a little shallow to some, but that is my skipping story. I also encourage friends to skip with me. They all think I’m crazy, which is not far from the truth, but I find that every time I skip, something really great happens! It’s true! -Dawn in Mesquite, Texas
Jamaican Skipping Magic
April 19, 2010 by kimskips
Filed under Video Library
“Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous.” -Albert Einstein
Synchronicity and seeming coincidences have been at the heart of my skipping adventure from the very start. So much so that I’m no longer shocked and surprised when it happens, since I’ve come to expect skipping and magic to go hand in hand over the years. But this one that happened the other night definitely deserves repeating.
I was playing pool at happy hour at a local bar/restaurant. A fun song with a great beat was playing on the juke box, and a young man who was also waiting for his name to come up on the chalk board was standing next to me. I started bouncing along to the music and he and I started talking about dancing. I asked him if he was a dancer and he replied that he only knows dances from his home country of Jamaica. So I asked him to show me how they would dance the song we were listening to there.
He started leaping slowly side to side and I did my best to mimic his movements. I had to smile when he started coaching me, “Skip, skip, skip,” he encouraged. Once the song was over I told him about iskip.com and my passion for skipping, and that’s when I recognized synchronicity’s magical hand at work.
He told me that the hottest dance in Jamaica right now is called the “Skip to Ma Luu” and it suddenly all came together in my mind. Just two days before a member of The Skipping Movement’s Facebook page had posted this video on its wall:
It was the very same dance that the random Jamaican man I met by chance was teaching me just two days later. What are the odds!?
Jamaica’s Skip to Ma Luu dance was created by a 12-year old musical artist named QQ and it is sweeping the nation. I love how the song calls out to Sydney Australia, Japan, Johannesburg, London, Berlin, Israel, Paris, Toronto, Montreal, etc. to skip with them! What a glorious manifestation of the skipping movement in action.
Skip on Jamaica! Skip on! Here’s hoping the rest of the world accepts your invitation and gets their skip on too.
Don’t Be Fooled
March 25, 2010 by kimskips
Filed under Skip Tips, the latest
This week’s LA WEEKLY includes this article about a supposed April Fool’s Sunset Strip Skip Down on April 1st….and while we love a good hoax as much as anyone, wanted to be sure you know that is what is going on here. 
Of course, it is fun to imagine what it would be like if the SKIP DOES GO ON! If you find yourself at the meeting time and place, be sure to let us know what happens
Just Did It
March 16, 2010 by kimskips
Filed under blog, the latest
I did it. I went for my first skip of the season and I’m actually blogging about it. Wow. Could my long skipping drought finally be over? Only time will tell.
Truth be told, despite the fact that I have been iskip’s Chief Skipping Officer for over a decade now, I haven’t been doing all that much skipping lately. Sure, I skip every now and then….while out on a hike with friends, up the hallway at work or through a parking lot when I’m feeling particularly happy, and in the Zumba and Nia classes I’ve come to love. But my days of skipping for miles at a time have been a distant memory for quite a while.
In fact, the fitness benefits have honestly never been the aspect of skipping I am most passionate about. Its the feeling of freedom I get while skipping. It is the momentary escape out of my mind and into my joy that skipping provides that I love the most.
Of course, the fitness benefits of skipping ARE undeniable…and I know that if I can just muster the inspiration to get back into a regular skipping routine, that I’d be thrilled that I did. But, unfortunately, I’ve been dealing with quite a bit of internal resistance to getting out there and actually doing it for several years now. As a result, I pretty much stopped writing and blogging as well.
As we spring forward, I’m setting the intention of getting back into the habit of skipping on a more regular basis and for longer stretches of both time and distance. On today’s skip, I went for a walk in a nature preserve near my house and skipped several long stretches. I also spent some time skipping in figure eights and circles around some trees and thought about how much more fun skipping is when there isn’t a specific goal/destination in mind. Then I walked the rest of the way home while inserting a skip or step here and there. It was just strenuous enough to make me feel like I got my heart rate up. I came home feeling energized instead of exhausted.
Tonight’s skip has me feeling hopeful that there will be a spring in my step more often in the coming weeks, but only time will tell if I’m truly ready to follow through, or if I’ll decide to just skip it for a while longer instead.
To be continued…
Skipping in Norway!
December 1, 2009 by kimskips
Filed under blog, the latest
There’s an Oslo Skipping Klubb on Facebook! Here’s a translation of its description, which was originally written in Norweigan…
This is a group for those of you who are sick of walking, taking the bus, taxi, tram or bike, when getting from a to b. Skipping is not only a great way to get in shape, it is easy and fun too. You can skip alone or together with others. UK Comedian Michael Mcintyre says it well: even if skipping (until now) has been socially unacceptable for all people older than 6 years, it is actually a strangely easy way to get places. Everyone has thought about it, It hardly takes any effort to skip. Running/jogging is hard as hell, while skipping is fantastic!
We recommend everyone to share photographs, films, tip, and any advice when it comes to skipping. It does not cost anything to join as a member today! But if the response is great, we will print up T-shirts, headbands etc.
A little tip: If you plan on skipping far, you should think about what shoes you choose to wear. What are you waiting for…skip loud and skip proud!
We caught up with Kristian Lorentzen, the President of the Norwegian Skipping Movement to see what inspired him to start the Oslo Skipping Klubb and here’s what he had to say…
What inspired you to create your fan page for the Oslo Skipping club on Facebook? Well, it all started with this guy. He is a funny man and it looked funny (everybody has tried it as a child) but now I felt it was the right time to skip as an adult.
When was the first time you skipped as an adult? Can you describe the experience? Hmmmm, I think it was the same night as I found the above video on YouTube. Me and my Swedish friend Douglas Wilson was drinking John Lee (Whisky) and Coke and when we left my apartment we just started skipping. We often take a bus down to the city of Oslo but this night we felt electric so we skipped from bar to bar and made many people smile on our way. I think we inspired many people to come put of the skipping-closet that night. And when you make a girl smile at first sight…well, that`s a pretty good start.
What do you love about skipping? I love that it`s impossible not to smile, I love it because it`s so easy and you can get from a-b much faster then if you walk and you always arrive in a good mood.
What do you make of the “Skipping Movement” that is bubbling up all over the world?I`m just glad to be a skipping person! I think it tells much about a person.
What advice do you have for someone that would like to skip but is feeling too inhibited to give it a try? Hmmm well, I guess I`m not the best person to give this advice since I had to drink whisky before skipping for the first time. But c`mon….the life is to short to be shy and inhibited.
Would you date an American girl and how can they get in contact with you? Well, thanks for asking! Yes, I would love to date an American girl! They can contact me via email and make sure that they check out my Skipping band!
Boogie Oogie Oogie
November 30, 2009 by kimskips
Filed under New Hampshire
The other day I was walking and running around the lake enjoying the beautiful morning, so into my music and then “Boogie Oogie Oogie” by A Taste of Honey played. Before long I realized I was skipping and dancing down the road. I got laughing at myself, especially when a passing car honked at me and cheered. It had been awhile since I heard this song but when I do I automatically start to skip so I thought of you and decided I must shared this song with you. You can’t help but skip to the music. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.
Happy Skipping,
Donna Cunningham
Keene, NH
New York, New York
I’ve been running for the past three weeks and today I remembered why I stopped running in the first place… because I HATE IT!
So, I decided to SKIP instead! What a refreshing and wonderful exercise! I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner! It immediately made me smile and lifted my spirits!!
Mel in New York City
Skipping the Dog
October 14, 2009 by kimskips
Filed under who's skipping?
I decided to skip when I walked the dog. I learned how uncoordinated I am and I need to practice a lot more now, but it was really fun and I think I will get in the groove. Thanks for the reminder of a possibility long forgotten. -Vivian Komori, host of The Broad Persepctive Radio Show.
Madonna’s Trainer Promotes Treadmill Skipping
August 5, 2009 by kimskips
Filed under Video Library, blog
Madonna & Gwenyth Paltrow’s personal trainer Tracy Anderson was recently on The Early Show singing the praises of skipping on the treadmill. Here’s the video:
She’s right! It’s a lot of fun! Best speed when you are first starting out is 4.0 - 4.4! Skip on!
