For many, the start of a new year is a time of change. The time to contemplate current traditions and explore new possibilities. The time to try clean eating and increased health consciousness, early nights and pedometers.
This year many people are taking this to the bedroom, trading in their outmoded beds for a new swinging statement: the hammock. Experts have inWith creasingly recommended hammocks for a better and deeper sleep, due to the position of the body when elevated. According to Trek Light Gear, doctors say that the healthiest sleeping position is lying on one’s back, with the head slightly elevated at about 10-30 percent. They assert that this gives the brain optimal blood circulation and allows for unobstructed breathing.
Hammock converts have long being eulogising on the lack of back pain due to the zero pressure point ergonomics as well as the calming effects of the steady rocking motion, reminiscent of being in the womb. Wanting to explore this theory, neuroscientists at the University of Geneva manufactured a bed so that it would sway gently from side to side every four seconds. They monitored twelve adults with electrodes as they napped on the bed, and saw a huge difference in the speed and depth of sleep when the bed rocked. According to the study, rocking increased the length of N2, a form of REM sleep that is associated with tranquil sleep in noisy environments and makes up about half of a good night’s rest.
If trading in your four-poster in favour of a swinging slumber is a step too far, perhaps investment in a garden hammock for relaxation purposes is the answer. According to criticalcactus.com, researchers have suggested that reading in a hammock is more pleasant due to increased concentration, and it also helps improve memory. And it needn’t make your garden look like a Central American hostel; many high end furniture designers are creating beautiful hammocks that look more like art installations than rope swings. Trinity Hammocks (trinityhammocks.com) have designed a collection for both indoor and outdoor use, many of them with multiple hammocks on the same structure. They are emphasising hammocking as a shared and social experience rather than a solitary one, while ensuring that their designs remain classical and ergonomic. At The Sybarite, we’re offering a Trinity Hammock experience for our readership, giving people the chance to experience the joys of hammock life for themselves.
According to the criticalcactus.com, the first hammock mentioned in writing was around 450 BC, invented by the Greek Alcibiades, student of Socrates Athenian General. The Maya people referred to their hammocks as ‘The Gift of the Gods’ and soldiers were issued hammocks during the Vietnam war for respite from battle. With endorsements like that, who are we to argue with the hammock?
