Aunt Skipper

I thought you would like to know that back in the 1960′s your Aunt was a “proto-skipper” of sorts. When we walked from Wiley Hall where I lived over to the Women’s residence hall we would skip across the the athletic field that separated the two dormitories. We referred to this as “polka-ing across the IM field” — however, given our complete lack of any knowledge of the polka, you may be assured we were in fact skipping.

To this day, skipping remains my favorite means of locomotion from parking lots into shopping malls. I have had to back off on this somewhat when my youngest daughter is present. At age 17 she is definitely mortified to have her white-haired dad exhibiting such unrestrained joy. I am fully confident that with time she will become more tolerant.

It seems to me that the path to happiness is to explore with an open mind and then embrace those things that you find which bring you delight. You have clearly done well at this! Skippingly yours, Bill

Skip down memory lane

Hi Kim, I found your website through the Jonathan Cainer astrology site today and you have brought me many happy memories which I’d completely forgotten about! (…and I’m only 40! Lol!)

When my friend and I were at our girls High School in Kent, England, UK, we had a long walk from the train station which we used to use to memorize our Latin words for tests when we were 13. We soon found that skipping in time as we chanted helped us get home quicker by speeding our journey and also helped to memorize the phrases far better!

We used to fly past shoppers in the town centre and especially in the winter, wrapped up in our duffle coats, woolen hats and scarves we used to get so warm that there would soon be coats unbuttoned, scarves trailing behind and rosy cheeks by the time we got to school. People used to smile as we whizzed by and we were far happier than we would have otherwise been.

My best friend who I used to skip to school with every day died 12 years ago this year and I treasure my memories of her – I hadn’t remembered that we used to skip to school and home again – thank you so very much for helping me rediscover this and smile

With love and thanks,

Karen Elkins

http://www.katetiler.co.uk

Skipping out of Depression

After losing nearly everything I once owned because life didn’t seem worth striving for, I decided I wasn’t going to do myself in the way my brother had and I was too physically healthy to think I might be lucky enough to die soon, so I chose life. I began skipping to force myself up out of the depression I was in, even if it made me look ridiculous to observers. Well, I had nothing really left to lose at the time so it really didn’t matter what observers thought or even said.

I want to share that I have done a pretty darn good job of rebuilding my life, and now that I even own a farm I still skip and there are no observers to laugh. I own a construction company and everyone in the local area knows that I work daylight to dark, but what they don’t know is that at 5:30 a.m. I am outside skipping, jogging and singing to help to give me the stamina to make it through the frustrations of the day. Well, thanks for your webpage, it means something.

Skip Every Mountain

Hi Kim! I kinda discovered skipping by accident. I am 48, and an avid hiker. I try to hike local peaks here in San Luis Obispo County, California several times a week. When I hike I am listening to my iPod with all kinds of great tunes. After reaching the top and taking in views, I start down the trail. All that is normal, but one day, a really great song came on and I started to sort of dance down the trail and fell naturally into a skip.

The feeling was elation; when the trail is steep or rocky, I take short sideways tiny skips…kinda like skiing. And when the trail is flatter, (and maybe it snakes through shrubbery) I skip really big and fast. And the amazing thing is, it really cracks me up! I laugh out loud because it is so much fun! And I love to hold my arms out and flap them like a bird…. and I love to catch “air” ……and I love to bounce off the sides of the trail if it is slanted on one side…..and I love to leap off of rocks.

I simply smile if I pass people who stare… or maybe they see me laugh…I don’t care…I ‘ll bet some folks wonder what drug I’ve taken! But it has made my hiking experience immensely richer and delightful; I crave the experience and look forward to it. And it is fantastic exercise. When I get to the bottom of the trail, I am drenched in sweat and riding high on endorphins from exercise plus laughter. Had to tell you. -Gail

Deep Skipping Thoughts

“Skipping really challenges the ‘boundary conditions’ of consciousness…that is to say, it shakes up your box, and the box of those who see you doing it….in that way, it shifts the internal state both for the skipper and the skipper-watcher….and opens the field of potential and possibility….the odd thing is that it is so completely easy to do….and it leaves you with this question…why in the world did I ever STOP skipping? Of course, I am reminded there of a comment made to me by an lovely elderly woman a few days ago, where (upon my discoursing upon enthusiasm and going for it at 100%) she remarked, ‘yes, but what about dignity?’ Which of course, brings to mind the question, ‘what have we sacrificed upon the altar of our dignity?’ WHY would someone think it undignified to express enthusiasm?

Skipping is a fun, easy, simple, and free way to shift your state, to raise your energy, and to bring the walls of your box tumbling down….if you ever feel stuck, try this as an experiment and see what happens….you may never know what will fly in the face of your dignity….perhaps the inspiration of a lifetime? perhaps the answer to your stuckness? perhaps a moment to feel good and take care of yourself? perhaps the answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything?”

Two new skippers speak…

I am 12 years old. I live in Knoxville, TN. All of my friends at school make fun of me, because apperantly I was left off of the mailing list that sent out the memo that you are supposed to stop skipping in first grade. I don’t know. But for me, skipping is a little like flying. Now, ever since I saw Peter Pan I have wanted to fly. And skipping seems like an OK comprimise for the time being. I don’t really mind that I was left off of the mailing list, or the phone chain, or the chain letter or whatever. Because I like to skip. And I probabally would have lost the memo anyway.

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I thought I was the only skipper out there! I’m so glad to find others. I started skipping after suffering from thoracic outlet syndrome, which running was exacerbating. I realized that I did not suffer any upper body tension when I skipped. At first I was so embarrassed, but after realizing how much better I was feeling, I came ‘out of the closet’ and now skip in public regularly (hey, after 40, who cares what people think?). I also find it just makes me happy! Thank you for the website and good company!

Skippers Over 50

I’m working up to going skipping down our road regularly, but I think I need a t-shirt first. I was thinking of asking my son to make me one for my upcoming 55 year birthday that said, “Skippers over 50″ to give me some “legitimacy” but your website tells the story so well, I want it to say iskip.com. Would you mind? My best skipping story:

In the 80′s, I was in Yosemite camping and had just climbed to the top of Glacier Point disappointed after the long trail of switchbacks, that a tour bus had arrived at the same time, and that storm clouds were gathering. Not wanting to get wet, I found that skipping was the fastest way down, and got into a rhythm, had a fun time, and beat the rain. A little while later at the bottom, a man remarked, “There’s the wood nymph that was skipping down the trail.” He was smiling and so was I.

Can’t Help But Smile

“Before I read about iskip.com, I would only skip when I went out really early in the morning and I used to pretty much stop if I saw anyone coming.

But now I have the courage to skip whenever I feel like it. I like to skip because I can’t help but smile when I’m skipping (either I”m too uncoordinated to frown and skip at the same time or else it’s a physical impossibility!) I know people would feel better if they took the time to skip when they need to perk up.” -Nancy Gorman, Thousand Oaks, CA

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