You know that having good mental health makes it easier to cope with the stresses of the day.

I know you may have your own strategies to stay healthy, such as exercising and maintaining a good diet, however, maintaining good mental health is often neglected until things get way off balance.

That’s why emotional well-being, which is all about supporting good mental health, is one of the main cornstones that I talk about a lot.

Who remembers rocking and swinging on a hammock as a child? I’m sure many of you have a recollection of being in a hammock, if not as a child perhaps as a teen or adult. While swinging, I’m sure you never imagined you were receiving so many amazing benefits- but you were!

One of my favorite ways to wind down in the summer is to lie in a hammock. Hammocks help you relax. They actually lower feelings of stress and stress hormone levels. This is due to the hammocks’ rocking and swinging motion that calms the senses and provides a feeling of weightlessness. How wonderful is it that one of the best and simplest ways to relieve stress is to simply lie in a hammock?

This is all backed by research! According to Current Biology, rocking synchronizes your brain waves during a short nap. The swinging can modulate physiological parameters of human sleep and helps transition the brain from waking to sleep and also increases the time your brain spends in REM sleep.

That means you’re not just napping, you’re improving cognitive function!

The idea of getting a baby to fall asleep or calm down is to rock them gently after all.

That motion soothes and relaxes the baby’s mind with a comforting motion. What worked for us as babies, and what works for us as adults.

Are you getting a hammock this summer?