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!