I believe with all of my heart that skipping has the power to transform people's lives in profound and permanent ways. It most definitely has had that effect on me and I know I am not alone from the thousands of emails I have received from fellow skippers. For years now, I have been hoping that a researcher would become inspired to study these benefits and articulate them in a credible and cohesive way. This week I heard from a grad student with a vision for skipping research.....

Hi. My name is Madison and I am first of all a skipper! I am also a graduate student pursuing my PhD in Clinical Psychology and am quite interested in the psychological benefits of skipping. My theory is that it is impossible to remain in a negative space while skipping and my plan is to put the pharmaceutical companies out of business. To do this though, I must follow the "medical model" of research design and I am looking for any formal research that has been done that you are aware of that has studied this phenomenon. Any leads, or info would be greatly appreciated. Also in a year or so I will be conducting a formal research project and would certainly love to have some "skippers" as a part of my study. thanks for your help and of course for skipping.

Here's my response to her...

It's awesome to hear from you. You have definitely come to the right place. I would love to help you with your skipping research efforts however possible....and have a feeling this info will...

A professor named Allen Burton from the School of Kinesiology and Leisure Studies from the University of Minnesota emailed me back in June of 2000. He had done research into the affective aspects of skipping and published a paper called "Skipping and hopping of undergraduates: Recollections of when and why". Here's a brief excerpt from the paper he sent to me...

"Izard (1993), in her multisystem model of emotion activation, explained that particular movement behaviors may be manifestations of cognitive-mediated affect. This certainly appears to be the case for skipping: people feel happy or funny and so they skip. Izard also argued that emotion may be generated by particular movement behaviors, such as skipping, but this concept is beyond the scope of this study. A hypothesis that needs to be addressed in future research is that most persons who skip will immediately experience an increase in positive affect. Such work may have some interesting clinical applications."

Sounds right up your alley, don't you think!? I definitely have a theory or two about the psychological and spiritual benefits of skipping....I've been studying and trying to skip through life for over seven years now. Unfortunately, I do think it is possible for people to remain angry and skip....Although it isn't likely they'd actually do it.....I do, however, believe that skipping DOES raise the spirit of even the most angry person just a little bit despite even the most willful determination to stay angry...and anyone who would do it on a consistent basis for an extended period of time would experience undeniable psychological results. I'd bet the barn on it. (As we used to say in Indiana.)

And her reply...

My approach is multidimensional. I believe that skipping works on physical, psychological, social and spiritual levels. I think that skipping could lead to world peace. As you can see I have big dreams but until someone tells me differently I will continue on this path. I am also interested in looking at the cultural inclusion of skipping - ie, native americans include a lot of skipping in their ceremonies as do many native tribes in Africa. So I will also be looking systematically culture by culture to see who does it and when and why....there is so little research done to date on skipping - I am quite surprised at how something so obvious and I think somewhat universal could have been overlooked by all the sciences....including movement therapy. So whatever little tidbits you have I'll definitely take them and I'll keep you updated. When do people learn to skip? How do they learn it and mostimportantly when and why do they stop? these are some of the questions I am thinking about right now.

I am also wondering how the grassroots work is being done. You have been involved in making skipping known for years now and I am wondering how you frame things, how you attract "followers" and have spread the word. I am seriously thinking that this can be used for a new social movement. Again thank you. Madison

If you are reading this and know of any existing research or studies that have been done on skipping, please email me and let me know! I'll gladly pass your information on to Madison to help her in her research efforts. Thanks and skip on!