Tomorrow in the United Kingdom, a former Pediatrician named Dimple Devadas will be giving a speech at her Toastmasters Club that asks, "Why Do Children Skip?"

Dimple contacted me through iskip.com well over a year ago now to interview me for an article she was writing that was later published that posed the same question.

You can reach the article that Dr. Devadas write by clicking here.

Thanks for spreading the skipping message on the other side of the pond, Dimple! Skip on!

It appears the poet Hafiz was a skipper! Wanted to share this lovely poem that my Twitter friend Barb sent me over the weekend.

And For No Reason by Hafiz

And
For no reason
I start skipping like a child.

And
For no reason
I turn into a leaf
That is carried so high
I kiss the Sun's mouth
And dissolve.

And
For no reason
A thousand birds
Choose my head for a conference table,
Start passing their
Cups of wine
And their wild songbooks all around.

And
For every reason in existence
I begin to eternally,
To eternally laugh and love!

When I turn into a leaf
And start dancing,
I run to kiss our beautiful Friend
And I dissolve in the Truth
That I Am.

For the past several months I have been working on the publicity campaign for a book called Why Walk When You Can Fly: Soar Beyond Your Fears and Love Yourself and Others Unconditionally by a delightful author named Isha.

The book's publication represents her North American debut. Isha is a widely recognized spiritual teacher from Latin America who has received unprecedented support from the international media for her extensive social outreach programs that are changing lives in high security prisons, hospitals, children’s homes, and with ex-guerilla soldiers. Inspired by her vision for a world united in the experience of love-consciousness, her revolutionary system offers a practical solution for inner change.

Because embracing life with childlike innocence and an open heart is a central part of Isha's teachings, her work resonated with my inner skipper right from the start. Here's a short excerpt from her book that reminds me a lot of how skipping makes me feel...

"A conscious person is just an innocent child who lives in each moment 100 percent, giving love to herself and everyone else, whom she also knows is self."

For the past several weeks, Isha has been touring the United States and Canada promoting her book...and today her travels brought her to our offices at New World Library. It was great fun to finally meet her in person and to skip together hand in hand.

For more information about Why Walk When You Can Fly and the Isha System, check out her website at isha.com.

My TV interview with Cody Stark on GOOD DAY SACRAMENTO last weekend was a smash success! Just posted it on You Tube and wanted to share it here.

As you'll see, Cody asked me to skip over to their local Walmart to recruit people to join the skipping movement...and it went quite well.



Thanks to all the skippers who joined in the fun! Skip on! Skip on! Skip on!

Just received this email and felt inspired to share...

After viewing your blog, I went outside to skip. There is something so freeing about the particular leg/arm/full body movements of skipping. Thank you for such a wonderful, easy and freeing invitation to be fully who we are. Skipping brought me directly back into my body and enlivened my senses!

This coming Sunday I am going to be doing a live TV interview on Sacramento's KOVR about skipping as a path to happiness in the 8 am hour! Be sure to tune in if you're in the area!

I'll also be working at New World Library's booth at the Green Festival on Saturday from 3-8 pm. If you're there, skip on by and say hello!

I've been having so much fun on twitter...and now Facebook...that updating my blog has fallen to the backburner a bit.

Things have definitely been skipping right along...I'm nearing completion of the first draft of my manuscript...and remain commited to my goal of feeling great in my body when I go to India in January to celebrate turning 40. I'm down 10.4 pounds...So so far so good.

I've also been digging through the skipping archives and came across this super fun video from the 2001/2002 time frame. The more evangelical skipping days depicted here almost feel like they were a dream at this point...So it's fun to have the videos as documenting evidence...



I'll be doing my best to do updates here more often... and in the meantime please skip on by and say hello if you're on twitter @iskip, gaia, myspace, or facebook!

My weight loss efforts continue and it's going relatively well...Although after yesterday's meeting, my results are beginning to feel a bit like the stock market. Down SIX pounds last week...and back up a pound and a half this week...despite following the program to the T both weeks.

I need to remind myself that this is a process that takes time... and that it will ebb and flow so I don't get discouraged! I'm down a total of eight pounds so far and my clothes are fitting much better...and that's what I'm going to focus on.

In other news.... A cool website called Take5Moment.com that features experts that deliver messages on motivation, inspiration, health, meditation, nutrition, exercises, etc. just used one of my skipping videos as their featured video of the week. Their mission is to provide people a landing spot in their day to "Take Time to Take Care, Take 5" to recharge, refocus and relax.

I had to giggle when I saw that they called me the CEO of iskip.com. :-) CSO: Chief Skipping Officer is actually more like it! :-) Skip on!

This email from the editor of the God Bless Humanity website that recently published an article about skipping I wrote made me smile, so I wanted to share it here...

OMG Kim I LOVE THIS! I want to go skipping now!

And whats so funny, just the idea of skipping woke me up. (I worked a ton
this week on Young & Restless/Price is Right/Bold & Beautiful - I'm a Scenic Artist) I was yawning and trying to stay awake until 8:30pm and now I 'm ready to go out and skip. I think I should find some kids to skip with hehe hehe

Woo-hoo! Skip on, Gayle.... and keeping having faith in humanity and sharing the positive stories of the world with us all.

It's been a good day. I went with a few coworkers a gala awards ceremony put on by the North Bay Business Journal to accept a "Best Places to Work in the North Bay award" on behalf of New World Library. We skipped out a little early, but all in all it was a positive, fun night.

I also just learned that a great website published an article I wrote about skippping. The site is called God Bless Humanity and it's a gathering place for people to share hopes, dreams, visions, prayers, intentions and good news with others around the world.

Last week, I attended a weight watchers meeting for the first time in 23 years. The last time I went to one, I was a sophomore in high school and went somewhat against my will per my Father's well-intentioned suggestion. So just getting myself there on my own volition felt like a signficant achievement.

I'm turning 40 in four months and it feels good to once again be taking positive steps toward healthier eating habits. I pray that I'm at a place where my focus and determination will stay the course....I'm ready to feel good in my body again!

At tonight's meeting, I learned that I lost 3 pounds in my first week which certainly encourages me to to keep at it. The theme for tonight was "Dance it Off"... The leader suggested that we turn on music in our house to dance to at some point before the next meeting... So I decided to pipe up and share my love of skipping with the group....since it's also a great thing to do around the house (especially if you're too self conscious to do it in public.)

I shared how skipping burns twice as many calories as walking...and passed around some SKIP ON postcards I had with me. A couple of people came up to me after to say they were going to give it a try. That felt good! I hope they really do! I know that it's something I am intending on doing a lot more of because I know firsthand how doing so can speed up weight loss efforts. Think good thoughts for me! Skip on!

I am very excited to announce that I am the proud mama of a new kitty cat! I adopted him from the Marin Humane Society on Sunday. He's 8 1/2 years old and his name is Ozzy.

I've been stopping by the humane society for well over a year now.... Waiting for that special cat that made my heart go pitter pat....and at long last, my search is over! Ozzy is a big snuggly love bug who loves to purr and cuddle....and I'm beyond excited to welcome him into my life!

It's been nearly two years since my beloved Kidder Cat skipped onto kitty heaven.... And it feels wonderful to once again be opening my heart to a new furry feline friend. Yay!

This past week I had a lot of fun guest teaching my friend Rachel's weekly Dance Your Bliss class in San Francisco. Of course, we skipped our bliss as well!Her website describes the class like this, "Imagine a space where you can really feel how powerful, alive and amaxing you are. You move with freedom, playfulness and creative expression. Suddenly, you are shaking away stress and entering a world of self-appreciation, spontaneity, and playfulness."

I sent out an email to the iskip mailing list announcing the class...and was thrilled to hear from the head skipper in Milwaukee, WI who found iskip way back in 2K. She's definitely among the most memorable of the bunch. She called herself the Cheesehead skipper and regularly updated me about her son who she called Little Cheese's skipping pursuits.

Well, imagine my surprise to receive the photo above of Little Cheese! He's not so little anymore.. Nearly 12-years old... Obviously, his old skipping name no longer suits him So, for now, I'll just refer to him as LC Skipper. Anyway, as it turns out, he is now an actor and a model! Here's the update his Mom sent...

LC is now 11. He will be 12 on Halloween. He has been cast in A Christmas Carol at the Milwaukee Reparatory theatre for the 2nd year in a row. The play has been running for more than 30 years straight. He will be skipping his little heart out since his part involves lots of singing, dancing and skipping.

Woo-hoo! You go LC Skipper! It's quite exciting to see the person who was once iskip.com youngest head skipper doing so many wonderful things with his life! Yay you! Skip on!

I survived my 11th Burning Man!

This photo was taken on Thursday afternoon after an unrelenting white out dust storm with 40 mile an hour winds that raged on for six or seven hours! I'm inside my Coleman shade structure which was completely demolished in the process. No doubt about it, camping at Burning Man is beyond extreme and not for the weak of heart.

One of my highlights this year was going out with a friend with a video camera and inviting colorfully clad burners to skip with me for a complitation video I plan on editing and posting on You Tube soon! Skipping happens spontaneously and naturally on at Burning Man....and I'm excited to do a video about it! Woo-hoo! Skip on!

At long last, I finished a new page on iskip about the rad sport of Extreme Skipping. It started in 2005, when a New Yorker named Extreme Gene introduced Extreme SKipping to the world with the following video:



In the years since, hundreds of Extreme Skippers have followed suit...and iSkip is proud to be profiling a particularly passionate group of them called Silly Boys Extreme Skipping. Skip on over to the new extreme skipping page to meet them for yourself.

Sorry to not be posting much lately....I'm in major planning mode for the Burning Man festival in Nevada next week. I'm going with several coworkers and a bunch of other fun people! 8 out of the 11 people in our camp are first timers. We're calling ourselves Camp Bee Here Now...We all have bee suits and will be swarming the desert en masse! Fun!

If you haven't heard of Burning Man... Basically it's a place where 50K people gather in the Black Rock Desert (extreme weather...hot during the day, cold at night, and if you don't drink water u die!) and create a temporary city called Black Rock City. There is no commercial vending on site...The city operates on a gift economy. It's a fully operational town... Beauty parlors, massage places, dance clubs, small, intimate blues clubs, open mikes, live music, bars, adult sized playgrounds, etc. etc..... and the best part is the art. Huge installations that quite often are burned at the end of the event to signify the temporary nature of all things...and the joy of creating for the sake of creating. You can find all kinds of cool pictures on their website.

It's a pretty amazing experience...This will be my 11th year...I'm really looking forward to it!

Oh, my other exciting news is that I just got started on Twitter! You can find me there twitter.com/iskip.

I have a few things to share today... First, a quote that I found in one of the books I am publicizing right now by Kamal Sarma called Mental Resilience: How to Develop the Focus of a Warrior & the Peace of a Monk...

"I used to think that anyone doing anything weird was weird. I suddenly realized that anyone weird wasn't weird at all and that it was the people saying they were weird that were weird." --Paul McCartney

Reminds me of something I often say which is that I think it is crazier for someone else to judge someone for skipping/expressing their joy in today's world than it is to want to skip down the street! Lord knows we need all the positive energy we can get! So skip loud and skip proud!

Also, here are two recent media references to the joys of skipping. Many thanks to author Melanie Bowden for sending them in.
* * *
In the August 2008 issue of Prevention magazine there is a workout on page 99 and one of the exercises is skipping. Here's what is says:

Lower Body Move: Skipping
Just like when you were a kid. Do it for 15 to 30 seconds. If you are indoors or have limited space, skip or jump in place.
* * *
And this was in the July 2008 issue of Parenting in an article of tips on mental-health boosters for moms:

Skip with your child. The steady rhythm naturally calms you and gives you a sense of being in sync with your body and the other person, Scott Sheperd, a psychologist in St. Louis says. "It's like two violin strings getting in tune with each other. Plus you'll feel like a kid again--and that rejuvenates you."
* * *
Two violin strings getting in tune with each other! I love that! Skip on! :-)

I had such a fun night last night. At 7:30 pm, my friend Dale called to see if I wanted to come out to hear some great blues music. My initial reaction was to say no...I've been so focused on my manuscript lately that the polite decline tends to be my habitual response to most social invitations that don't involve writing.

But then I realized he was very close by at the Marin Center and that Buddy Guy and George Thorogood & the Destroyers were on the bill! So I seized the moment and told him I was on my way.

Forty-five minutes later, there I was, in the 8th row listening to the smooth, cool sounds of Buddy Guy...and, later, singing along with George Thorogood to "Bad to the Bone" and "You Talk Too Much." It was fabulous!

As it turns out, Dale has been friends with George's bass player Billy Blough for years and that was how he scored the great tickets. We also had backstage passes. At first, I imagined a wild backstage party scene, but alas, it was as simple as getting the opportunity to meet Bill and talking to him about the show before they hit the road for their next gig in Reno.

Imagine my delight when Dale introduced us and Bill said he had heard about my skipping efforts 9 years ago when I was a guest on the NPR show, "Wait, wait, don't tell me!" Pretty cool that he remembered after all that time!

Skip on Billy Blough & George Thorogood...and rock on too!

All in all, I am very happy that I did the apple fast. I was amazed by how great I felt when I was finished.... and it seems I lost 6 pounds in the process....Pretty cool!

It's been a while since I've posted the interview I did about skipping on the Donny & Marie Show back in 2000, so I thought I'd share it again now...



Skipping with Donny Osmond was DEFINITELY a childhood dream come true! Skip on!

Well, it's day three of my apple fast and it looks like I made it! I actually feel really great today...almost like an altered state of consciousness or something. Pretty cool.

I went to work this morning, but ended up taking 1/2 a personal day this afternoon because it started getting hard for me to concentrate, etc. I scheduled a massage for myself which was a wonderful way to spend my last night on the fast.

All in all, I'm really happy that I did this... I feel like it will positively impact my relationship with food as I go back to regular eating over the next couple of days. I don't know if I've lost any weight since I haven't been to the gym where the scale is...(They recommend minimal exercise during the fast)...But that's not ultimately why I did it anyway (even though I most certainly would love to lose a few pounds.)

I've been focusing on letting go of some old ways of thinking throughout the fast...and feel lighter as a result. I feel like ever since I got in financial trouble because of quitting my job to focus on the skipping movement, that I've had a hard time trusting myself and my intuition as fully as I once did. My head and my heart haven't been in alignment... My heart wants to dream big again and my head has been coming up with a million reasons why it is too risky to do so... And that inner battle has been taking up way too much of my precious energy. So that is what I have been focusing on letting go of throughout my cleanse. Inner peace, baby. That's where it's at.

Tomorrow I can have orange juice in the morning and fruits/vegetables for lunch...and some grains for dinner. Then on Wednesday it's back to regular food....and exercise! I intend to get my skip on. That's for sure.

Day two on the apple fast and I'm going strong...Had about five apples again today...and lots of water.

I gave myself plenty of room to take it easy today! I read Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth and watched movies in bed. I've been surprised by how tired I have been. Last night I fell asleep at 9:30 with the lights on while watching a movie and didn't wake up until 10 this morning. And I've cat napping off and on all day. Honestly, it feels good to have an excuse not to do anything but lounge around and eat apples!

So far so good on my apple fast! It's actually been much easier than I originally thought, so far anyway. I've eaten five apples today...and hunger has come in waves, but it doesn't seem to linger very long. Every now and then I get a very strong impulse to make myself a big, yummy meal. But then I remind myself...nothing but apples for three days! :-)

The most challenging part of today has been the persistent headache I've had since this morning...probably from caffeine withdrawl since I ususally have a couple cups every morning when I first get up.

I spent a while this morning doing more reading about cleanses/fasts and found great inspiration there. One website I found said..

Be kind to yourself during the fast. Let any emotions that have been pent up be leeched out of you along with all the other toxins. Let it all go, let it all out...

I suggest keeping a journal during the fast to see what bubbles up and needs your attention. Remember that you are cleansing yourself of all unwanted toxins: emotional, mental and physical.

What great advice...It really helps to see this process as going beyond the physical. Here's to releasing old, worn out, toxic ways of thinking and being.

I'm doing something I've never done this weekend! I'm going to do an apple fast.

Basically, I will eat nothing but apples for the next three days. I also can drink water, herbal tea, and apple juice.

I've been feeling like I need to do something to become more conscious and disciplined about my eating habits....So after doing a lot of research online for a cleanse/fast that is relatively cheap, easy, and do-able.... The Apple Fast is what I came up with.

Here's what an article I found on Bella Online says the benefits of doing this are...

This is a purifying diet which cleanses your alimentary canal, kidneys and liver, as well as your entire system.

Fasting is a wonderful way to cleanse the inside of our bodies. The American diet is loaded with heavy duty fats, calories, sugar, and very little nutritional value. Fasting can teach you a lot about your relationship with food and meals. Many people eat because they are feeling anxious and bored, and not because they are truly hungry. After three days, your digestive tract is empty, and your body has adjusted to not processing the food in your digestive tract , and not relying on stored fats as part of the process. After the first three days of a fast you can expect to stop feeling hungry, and thus will be able to alleviate binge, anxiety or boredom induced snacking. An apple cleansing fast is ideal for beginning fasters. The apple is an energizing food and will keep up your energy while you are bringing down your food consumption.

So, how about them apples? Here goes nothing! I will be writing about my experience here.... So stay tuned!

I subscribe to a really cool service called Notes from the Universe that is the brainchild of a cool guy named Mike Dooley....You might recognize his name from The Secret!

You subscribe to the service and then receive periodic emails from The Universe with positive reminders about life.

Imagine my delight when I noticed that The Universe was singing the praises of skipping in today's note...

If you just whistle every now and then, Kim; skip every thousandth step or so; skim the odd stone across the odd pond; go dancing on the occasional blue moon, if only alone in the dark; dress up sometimes, even with nowhere to go... for simply stirring up some little bit of hope, no matter how silly or disconnected your actions seem to be with the rest of the world, magic flashes in the unseen, friends are summoned, connections are timed, stars are aligned, opportunities are crystallized and serendipities are calculated, creating possibilities for new realities that cannot now even be imagined from where you presently stand. Shazaam - The Universe

Here's to skipping AT LEAST every thousandth step! Skip on!

A few weeks back, I did an interview on Gold Radio in the UK as a result of the press release that went out on Wireless Flash...and have been having a fun email correspondence with a nice chap from there ever since.

Well, he wrote to me this morning and let me know about an article that ran in The London Times there that sings the fitness benefits of skipping, hopping, and jumping.

You can read the whole article here, but I thought I'd pull out the paragraph about skipping and share it here...

Skipping: The US National Institute of Health claims that skipping burns more calories (70-100 in ten minutes) than any other popular exercise except running. Done regularly, it also builds bone density in the hips and muscle power in the legs. Start with a 1:3 skipping-to-rest ratio - so if you skip for five minutes, rest for 15, then do five minutes of skipping again.

Woo-hoo! More calories than any other exercise! That's what I'm talking about. Skip on!

Yesterday, I did a fun interview with a reporter from Wireless Flash, which is a service that feeds story ideas to radio/tv producers across the country.

When she wrote to email me her story, which I am cutting and pasting below, she told me that she skipped to work today....and that she giggled the whole way! Yay! Skip on Alex!

DON'T SKIP OUT ON THE SKIPPING REVOLUTION

NOVATO, Calif. (Wireless Flash) -- Here's one new trend you
shouldn't skip out on: The skipping revolution!

Kim Corbin leads the skipping revolution, and encourages
people to skip wherever they go through her website,
iskip.com.

The Chipper Skipper, as she's often called, says,
"Skipping allows people to express their joy and be child-
like. I think it can change the world and make it a happier
place. A lot of people think that an adult skipping at the
grocery store is crazy, but it's not."

Corbin calls skipping an "extremely good form of
exercise" that burns more calories than walking, is easier on
the joints, and "fun to do on a treadmill at the gym."

Though she's received a few funny looks in the nine
years she's been skipping, Corbin hopes people will
eventually welcome skippers on the street.

She says, "We're contributing positive energy. People
should make room for us if we want to skip."

It's true.... In today's world, I DO believe that it is more crazy to judge someone else for expressing joy through skipping than it is for an adult to skip down the aisle at a grocery store! After all, our world needs all the positive energy it can get these days....and America IS supposed to be the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Where does the time go? How is it possible that an entire month has skipped by without me doing a blog entry? Amazing!

I've been a skipper on the go...Went camping over Memorial Day weekend and was in Los Angeles last weekend for the big BEA - Book Expo America trade show. It was really wonderful getting to meet so many of the people I work with throughout the year in person.

One person who came by the booth was the delightful Nancy Mills founder of the Spirited Woman website. Nancy is up to all kinds of exciting things connecting like minded women in the world! She recently started posting videos of spiritual women on You Tube....and did this quick interview with me at New World Library's booth at the BEA...



Woo-hoo! Skip on Nancy! And skip on Spirited Women (and Men) everywhere!

This past weekend was one the best skipping weekends of the year thus far! I skipped with an amazing San Francisco dance troupe called The Devilette's at a super cool event called the Maker's Faire. The Devilette's performed and taught forgotten go-go dance moves from the 1960's on one of the main stages there....and invited me to lead a skipping circle as part of their performance.

I told the kids in the audience how I believe they make the world a happier place when they skip...and told them I need their help in getting more grown-ups to start skipping again. A big group of kids and adults came up on stage with me and the Devilette's and we skipped in a huge circle to a rockin' version of "Skip to My Lou". It was so much fun!

I always wish I was able to better explain my passion for skipping in those situations... I wish I could have better communicated how much I feel our grown-up world...with its many challenges and issues....needs and benefits from the carefree, fun-loving, energy skipping represents! I wish I could have let each of those kids know what a positive difference they make in the world just by being their beautiful selves!

Thankfully, some things speak louder than words...and the joy and fun of the Devilette's performance and our skipping circle spoke for itself! It was fantastic to see the audience cutting loose and shaking their groove things. I feel honored to have been a part of it and loved every minute! Many thanks to the wonderful and talented Devilettes! Skip on, ladies!

Here are a few fun emails I have gotten from kindred skipping spirits recently...

I live in San Jose and have wanted to start skipping for fun/spirit uplift/exercise - but have been worried about looking nuts. Glad I found your site to see I'n not the only one who "gets it" - I'm going to put on my shoes and go out to have a skip now! :^) Thanks! M in San Jose, CA

I am a 63 year old woman who walks and bikes every day. I will now include skipping in my hour workout. I heard you on the radio in Minneapolis. I started kindegarten when I was four. I was the only child who could not skip. My teacher sat the children in a circle and I had to try to skip around the circle. The children laughed at me and I was so unhappy. The teacher thought that the children's ridicule would motivate me to learn. I have vivid memories of practicing skipping with my mom in the alley behind our home in South Dakota. Skipping was a bad thing for me......until I learned!! I then remember skipping everywhere. You are so right....it is hard to be angry when you are skipping. Thank you for a wonderful idea and a great thing to cause me to smile. -M in Minneapolis, MN

Just found your site today. I I liked the post by John-Paul of SF who referred to himself as a "weirdo free-spirit." I guess I fit that category too. I often ride my bicycle and play guitar at the same time. It's not as hard as it sounds. I also play fiddle and can fiddle and bike too, but it's trickier. Lately I've been skipping and fiddling (in my yard) and it's great. I can get going surprisingly fast. I look forward to hearing from and meeting fellow skippers. -Chris in Chicago

Last weekend, I met my family from Indiana in Folly Beach, SC for Spring Break!

This was the second annual bunny hop on the beach for my 7-year-old niece and I.... Last year our vacation fell right on Easter... But we didn't let the fact that Easter had come and gone stop us from spreading joy as we skipped down the beach again this year.

Many of the people we encountered would say, "Why are you doing this?" And we'd answer, "Because it is fun and to spread the joy!" It was a truly special and memorable adventure that we shared....One of my all time favorite skipping moments for sure.

There's been some exciting skipping stuff happening lately...

Last week, I gave a presentation at a super cool design firm in San Francisco called Ideo. They put on an event called a Quickie and the theme was Creative Play. I told my skipping story, explained how/why I believe skipping can change our lives and the world, and invited the audience to skip. It was great fun! The energy in the room during the live skipping demo was electric and magical!

I also did an interview this week for a show out of Minneapolis called the GET REAL GIRLS! I am the "Get Real Girl of the Week"....The show will this Saturday April 6th at 8:20 am on 107.1 FM.

After the interview, I got a sweet follow-up email from Joan, who is one of the hosts...Here's what she said, "I was struck, after you hung up, with the courage it takes for you to live your passion...and how silly it seems, for us to teach our kids how to skip, and then teach them to stop!"

And here's what I wrote back to her, "Thank you so much for taking the time to send this note...It meant a lot to me! Yes, courage is definitely a key component of living a dream/following our heart.... willingness too! When my skipping inspiration first struck, I didn't really understand what people meant when they would comment on how much courage it must take for me to live my skipping dream...since it was such a fun and wonderful ride with the national media singing my praises and all! But now that I have skipped through the valley too, I know EXACTLY what it means!!!"

Here's to having the courage and the willingness to do the things our hearts are calling us to do! Skip on!

I'm really excited to share this amazing video of a pilot for a TV show called JOIN THE CLUB.... The production company that put it together came out to San Francisco to film the SF skippers a couple years back....and this is the first time it has been released for public consumption. I just LOVE the closet skipper part...



Woo-hooo! Skip on!

Wow! The amazing You Tube skipping videos keep coming. Check this one out.... It's all about skipping to class....

Brilliant! Love it! Skip on! Skip on! Skip on!

Redbook Magazine recently ran an interview with Kim Raver, the actress from Lipstick Jungle, called, "What Every New Mom Must Know." Here's what she had to say about skipping in #7 on her list....

"This morning, Luke and I were running out the door to his school, and he was in his corduroy jeans and his little boots and his corduroy jacket with his cool little hat, and he started skipping. And so I started skipping down the street with him singing, 'Skip, skip, skip to my Lou' and I was like, Oh, my God, and I had this flash of the streets of New York and the taxis and the smell of winter and snow, and it reminded me of my childhood, which was great."

Yeah! Skip on Luke and Kim.... It's such a gift when parents skip with their kids...and show them that adult life can be fun, happy, and free!

Many thanks to Melanie Bowden author of Why Didn't Anyone Tell Me? for letting me know about the article!

Happy Leap Day!!

If there ever was a day that is perfect for skipping, this is it! I just couldn't let the day go by without doing a post. So I thought I'd share this fun email I got from a delightful woman who lives in Hawaii...

We are kindred spirits! When my daughters were growing up, they used to be so embarrassed when I would break out skipping in public. Then, they finally took it all to heart and thought I would think that skipping class would be equally fun, so we didn’t skip for awhile. Now, everyone has grown up … except our skipping together. I am serious. -Katie Davis, author of Awake Joy

Yay! Skip on Katie!

Every now and then I go to You Tube and do a search for skipping to see what comes up. While most of the videos that are on there are about rope skipping.

Well, today I found the very best skipping video I've ever seen ! I absolutely love it! You gotta see this to believe it.



Oh yeah, baby. You gotta love skipping Dutch Men! Skip on, Holland! :-)

Last weekend I went to Vegas, baby!

I met my Mom, Sister, and Aunt who live in Indiana there. My Aunt recently celebrated her 60th birthday and never had been, which is why we planned the trip!

We went to see Cirque De Soleli's LOVE show which features Beatles music. It was super cool...and there was a lot of skipping in the show which was fun to see.

I also did a bit of skipping with some colorful characters myself and thought I'd share the pictures here! Skip on!

Happy Valentine's Day! I just went to google to try to find a heart image to include on this post and was delighted to see the image at the right...It's their logo with an older couple skipping off into the sunset! Thought it was pretty cool and wanted to share it here.

Here's a fun email exchange with a born again skipper who couldn't remember how to skip when he first tried it as an adult...He writes...

I'm glad I found your website. I loved skipping as a child. It was the easiest and most "fun" thing to do, getting from one place to another.

I guess I took it for granted that once you know how to skip, you always can. Well, I cannot skip any longer. Maybe it's because I'm too old. Maybe because I have a back problem. Maybe because I've gained weight. I can run and walk and I cannot skip.

I asked some of my friends if they could skip and all said "yes" to the question. Yet, very few actually were able to skip. Those that couldn't, had that same bewildered look I did when I failed. So, my question to you if you can answer it, is how can one forget how to skip? Mind you, I can still ride a bicycle. I would appreciate your thoughts on this one.

I replied... "Somewhere in there is the part of you that remembers how to skip! And it makes since that it might take a few tries to rediscover it if you haven't skipped in decades...Can you gallop? As in skipping without changing sides with your legs?!?! That might be an easy way to start since you are having a hard time remembering! You might consider asking a young child to help you remember how to skip by showing you how until you get it right! It would make their day I am sure."

And a few weeks later, all was well...

Yes, I caught on again! Not that I do it often and only when alone.
I found your site by using "google". I believe I googled "I forgot how to skip" and your site was one of 6 or so that came up. Glad I did find you anyway. It's a fun thing I did as a child and as you get older, you start to appreciate those lilttle things we took for granted when we were kids.

Here's a super fun new video I recently posted to You Tube! Do you remember the TO TELL THE TRUTH show? As in, "Will the real Kim Corbin please stand up?" Well, here's my appearance on the show back in 2001.



We ended up winning the maximum prize money... $5,000 split between the three of us...It was such a fun experience....Although it was hard for me to be less than chipper which is what the producers suggested. They didn't want my usual enthusiastic energy about skipping to give me away, so I had to intentionally put on the dimmer switch.

The woman who got all the votes was a wonderful spirit! She was going through a lot of intense stuff in her personal life at the time, and said that being on the show helped reconnect her with her own inner skipper....which obviously shines very brightly! Yay!

Happy Super Tuesday! I cast my vote today for Obama after going back and forth between him and Hilary for quite some time. In the end it was the ground swell of grassroots support from the young people of this country that won my heart! I love the idea of a President who will be able to tap into that energy and once again start asking, "What can YOU do for your country?"

Between the election and the big Eckhart Tolle/Oprah news I shared yesterday, I'm feeling really inspired by the possibility of major positive change in this wacky world in which we live. It feels great to be feeling this way again.

Here's what Eckhart Tolle had to say about the election in an article that ran in the Vancouver Sun today...

"Even though he's an introvert, Tolle says he feels life is asking him to "surrender" to the need to tour the world, give public lectures and sell books to save the planet. The 59-year-old author hopes his teachings will help elevate a person with higher consciousness into the White House this year.

"I'm personally not interested in politics as such. But, since everything is relative, if you look at [former U.S. president Bill] Clinton compared to what he have now [George W. Bush], Clinton was a Buddha," Tolle says with one of his ready laughs.

Disturbed that more than 140 million people were "murdered" through wars and other conflicts in the 20th century, Tolle's voice rises in passion as he talks about the need to elevate individuals' consciousness to stop such "madness" continuing into the 21st century through such things as the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

"You can only tackle such things on the individual level, because that's where change happens. Individuals who have gone through a change of consciousness can take responsibility for their actions, rather than act out an old form of conditioning," he said.

"If we believe we'll change the world by changing the outer structures, we'll make the same mistake as the Communists did [in the Soviet Union]. They believed you could change the world by changing the outer structures. But they hadn't changed inside. So they recreated the same evil they wanted to fight against -- yet even worse."

Here's to being the change we wish to see in the world! Skip on!

Did you see that Oprah picked A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle has as her latest book club pick? Oprah and Eckhart are also going to be teaching a free web class through Oprah.com for 10 weeks starting on March 3rd where they will be discussing the book chapter by chapter.

I'm really excited about this for a few reasons...

1. For quite some time now thanks in large part to my experience starting the skipping movement, I've recognized that our collective culture is in desperate need of a radical shift in consciousness....and the fact that Oprah is acknowleding that fact...and sharing Eckhart's work in this way is a huge step in that direction.

2. I've had a copy of A NEW EARTH on my bookshelf for a couple of years...and now I have the incentive and inspiration to start reading it. It's fun to imagine all of the other minds and hearts who are being similary affected by his words as I read them.

3. The company I work for, New World Library, is the publisher of several of Eckhart's other works including his New York Times Bestseller THE POWER OF NOW..which I wrote about a few months back when Paris Hilton took it with her into the pokey! Even though we didn't publish A NEW EARTH, the fact that Eckhart's work is going to a whole new level will undoubtedly be a great thing for our company!

Woo hoo! Skip on Oprah! Skip on Eckhart! Onward and Upward! Together we can and are changing the world!

I've received some especially great mail from skippers around the country lately and wanted to share...

For a number of years, I lost touch with skipping. This is a reflection of a losing touch with myself. In 2000, I visited my favorite spot in Florida and when I got out of the car, my joy exploded into a full out skip. I now skip when I am happy. And, after visiting your web site, I am setting the intention to skip more often. In fact, I have been telling myself to begin jogging once a week and I am going to make it a jog/skip combo. Love, light, joy and abundance. Sandra in Florida

I skip down my long driveway which runs between 13 condos and is hidden from the street and from my neighbors. I love to skip. --Timi in California

just a cute skipping story for you. my oldest son turned 5 and started kindergarten this past fall. i have 2 younger children - a 4 year old and a 2 year old. we live about 3/10th a mile from the school, so we walk there. i put the 2 younger kids in a double stroller and make the trip twice a day. well one day, my son asked if we could skip. ever since then, the baby will say "skip skip mama" ---- and if i stop to get a rest, cause i AM pushing a double stroller as i skip, he will say "skip skip again". my 5 year old asked why we skip to school instead of driving like all his friends do --- and i always tell him that skipping is good exercise, so it is good for your body, it is good for your mind and feelings and helps keep us feeling good and happy (releasing those endorphins), and it is good for the environment cause skipping to school doesn't require any gas. but now the 3 boys not only want old mommy to skip pushing the double stroller all the way to school, but they want me to sing a "skip skip skipping to school" song. this is particularly exciting to my 4 year old who has autism and loves to sing songs over and over again. so, i'm sure we are quite a sight to the cars and school buses driving by. :) -Johnetta, Lexington, KY

Yay! I can't tell you how much it makes my day every time I hear from a kindred skipping spirit! Skippers of the world unite. Skip on!

When I first decided to try to start a national skipping movement, I had no idea how seriously the fitness community would take my idea. At the time, I simply thought of it as a fun, positive energy thing that free spirits could do together.

Before I knew it, though, magazines like Prevention, Fitness, Shape, and Sports Illustrated for women were singing the many health benefits of skipping! Here's a You Tube video of one of the most informative news segments about skipping that was ever done from the fitness benefit angle...



Watching the video again and noticing how much thinner I was then than I am now inspires me to get out there and start skipping for longer distances and in a more disciplined way! Skip on!

Helen Fink in Lima, Ohio was one of the most active head skippers back when there were 70+ cities where someone was helping to spread the skipping message. Her vanity plate even reads "I Skip!" One summer I got the opportunity to visit her in Ohio...We had sooo much fun spreading positive energy around Lima at their annual Lima Bean Festival.

I got this email from Helen today and wanted to share...I love imaginging her skipping up to the podium, don't you?

Today (1/22/08) at Noon, I had to give a presentation about myself and my interests. I skipped up to the podium while playing the song "Walking on Sunshine - Don't it Make you Feel Good! I said, "Hello, my name is Helen Fink, and I confess, I am a skipper. It says so on my car license plate, and there is no cure." Everyone laughed and I got a round of applause.

Skip on Helen! Am so happy to be back in touch.

This weekend I sent an "As the World Skips" newsletter out to the iskip mailing list for the first time in almost two years!

I've gotten some great emails in response from skippers around the country I haven't connected with in years...and some I am e-meeting for the first time. It's great fun. Here's one that I particularly enjoyed... It's from Michael in Salt Lake City...

Uncanny timing! I am not the biggest skipper by far, but every once in a while a full on skip comes over me, and it just has to be let out. Yesterday was one of those days, and I thought of you! I don’t belong to any skipping club, or have a bunch of friends that skip for fun, it’s just me. Well actually Colby my 7 year old golden retriever was with me, and I think he was kinda skipping too. Actually if skipping brings a sense of being happy and carefree then Colby has skipping mastered.

I just thought it was cool to wake up and have an e-mail from you, who I have never met before, or even e-mailed before that I can think of, the day after I had a skipping episode! Thanks for being part of my mindfulness about being fully alive.

That's synchronicity if I ever saw it....Reminds me of the flood of synchronicity/magic/grace that inspired the skipping movement to begin with. Good stuff!

Interestingly, most of the skipping I know about these days is just like Michael's.... free form, spontaneous, and in the moment....which is really what the nature of skipping is all about! My personal "skipping movement" vision has shifted in recent years... Before I was soooo excited about trying to change the world with its unique positive energy message that I somehow lost touch with the magic of skipping along the way. I learned the hard way just how futile an effort hoping to change the entire world can be....and have been focusing instead on building inner strength and living from the heart so I can contribute as much positive energy/love as possible in my immediate environment...which is really all any one of us can do, right? Skip on!

Happy New Year!!!

I returned to work today after a wonderful ten day break for the holidays! New World Library (the publisher I work for) closes between Christmas and New Year's...Something every employer should do in my opinion! I returned to work feeling rested and ready to create lots of magic for the books and authors I am promoting this season. 2008 is going to be great!!!

Another fabulous thing that New World Library does at the end of each year is provide a percentage of our profits to each employee to donate to a charity of their choice! Again, just think what a better place the world would be if all companies gave back in this way! I divided my money between two non-profits...a new healing center in San Francisco called the Artemis Center where one of my sheros Karen Junker is starting a new program called Sunday School for Grown-ups....and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation because one of my best friends in the whole world has CF and I want her to be around for as long as possible!

I spent Christmas in Indiana with my family and had a wonderful time. Santa was quite good to me....and getting to spend quality time with my family, especially my nieces and nephews, is truly priceless! I love them all so much.

Instead of making New Year's Resolutions, I choose to set New Year's intentions instead...and I thought I would share some of them here:

*I intend to complete my manuscript this year.

*I intend to appreciate life as the magical adventure it is with grace and a sense of adventure in my heart.

*I intend to joyfully embrace self-discpline through meditation and regular physical exercise...which means more skipping of course!

*I intend to devote my God given talents and personal power - mentally, spiritually, and physically - to the greater good.

And so it is! Here's hoping that 2008 brings us all a big step closer to the realization of our wildest dreams. Skip on!