Marvelous Night for a Moon Skip
November 11, 2011 by kimskips
Filed under blog, Video Library
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!
Skipping with Garrison Keillor
October 22, 2011 by kimskips
Filed under the latest
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!
October 22, 2011 by kimskips
Filed under the latest
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
October 4, 2011 by kimskips
Filed under Media Coverage, the latest
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
March 6, 2011 by kimskips
Filed under the latest
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.
Woman’s World Magazine
January 5, 2011 by kimskips
Filed under Media Coverage, the latest
The Jan ’11 issue of Woman’s World Magazine encourages skipping in an article called “Start 2011 Happier than Ever”. Check out number 2..
Side Step Stress by Skipping
It may sound silly, but spending just a few minutes engaged in activity that triggers happy childhood memories can rev the release of mood-lifting brain chemicals and lower levels of angst-inducing cortisol.
So true! So true! As anyone who skips will attest. Skip on!
Solstice Skip Report
January 4, 2011 by kimskips
Filed under the latest
Chicago, IL – Chris Marshall braved snow and freezing cold to skip (and fiddle) on the Solstice! Here’s his first hand account…
The first annual Solstice Skip was a success. There was only me and my fiddle in attendance, but that was enough. There was 3 inches of fresh snow on the ground and it was about 30 degrees. Luckily, I had just found some thin gloves that I could fiddle in. I started with some fiddle-skipping around the inside of the gazebo, then went around the outside of the gazebo a few times. From there I went through the fresh snow in a big field in the park. Skipping in the snow was slow going, but it was still skipping. The tracks made from skipping in the snow were different than tracks made by walking. From the field I skipped on the shoveled sidewalk back to the gazebo for another few times around the outside of it, and then finished with a few times around the inside of it. Followed that up with a few more tunes, playing inside the gazebo. Tunes for the day were Arkansas Traveler, Blackberry Blossom, and Jack of Diamonds. Skip On, -Chris
Chris is planning future skips for the equinoxes and summer and winter solstices. He’d love to have some company. Subscribe to our mailing list or check back here for details.
Here’s an interview we did with Chris a couple of summers ago in downtown Chicago where he demonstrates his mad fiddle skipping skills…
Skip on Spokane!
December 20, 2010 by kimskips
Filed under Video Library, Washington
We recently caught up with Spokane skipper Patty Sanders after she gave this excellent talk about skipping at Ignite Spokane…and we asked her about the inspiration behind it. Here’s what she had to say…
When did you start skipping as an adult? When my kids were little and we would skip together and I realized how happy it made all of us.
What do you love most about skipping? What I love about skipping is that you can not be anything but HAPPY when you are doing it. It is real live fairy dust. Skipping produces happy thoughts and gives you the thrill of flying.
Do you skip for fitness or for fun? Skip for fun!!! If you skip FOR fitness then you have expectations and then you set yourself up to being let down if the expectations aren’t met to your satisfaction and then you will quit skipping. You skip for FUN you will never stop skipping and you will become fit.
What inspired you to create the skipping talk you gave at Ignite? I wanted to do something FUN and different. Since it isn’t an every day occurrence that you see skippers I figured there wouldn’t be a lot of us competing for that subject matter…and skipping is the most fun you can have…Just thinking about it makes you happy.
My Passion is HAPPY…my motto in life has been “when the fun runs out run with it” but I might have to revise it to “when the fun skips town skip with it”. The reaction to it was wonderful. I was happy to hear how receptive everyone was to it. Many people said they are skippers already.
What would you say to someone who is hesitant/too embarrassed to skip in public? To the hesitant and embarrassed skipper I tell them GRAB a kid and skip with them. I also remind them how happy it makes them to see other people skip…you are doing that for people when you skip…it literally is the greatest public service you can do for your community. It just makes everyone happier!!!
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.
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…
