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Hammocking or ‘mocking is the activity of setting up, and chilling in a hammock. Having a fabric sling tied to your backpack for quick and easy use in between classes or at the end of the workday is a craze sweeping the country.
The concept of taking the ancient lightweight bed that excels in swinging, sleeping and relaxing with you wherever you go is pretty clever in itself.
The icon of leisure, relaxation, summertime, and simple, easy living lets you make the most of various moments throughout the day.
But there are more reasons why #hammocking is pretty chill.
1. Hammocking is a social affair
For the first time, hanging out is taken completely literally. Relaxing together, enjoying each other’s company while swinging is made possible because of the availability of lightweight (nylon) hammocks. The big-hitting trend is propelled by a penchant for community and spending time outdoors. Hambassadors of the Hammock Initiative are spreading the gospel of this newfound movement.
2. You can easily make the swinging delight a shared activity
Hammocks are great for some alone time but have an excellent communal purpose too. Cozying up to talk through the latest drama, gossip, business ideas, societal criticism, or favorite TV show works wonders in a hammock. Listening to nature or music is pretty sweet in a hammock too.
3. It adds a whole new dimension to going to the park
The trend started out in the Minneapolis area and steadily hammocks are taking over parts of parks all over the world. Parks are there to be enjoyed in all kinds of ways and hammocking seems to offer a pretty badass way to do so.
4. Hammocking is relaxing as f*^k
A hammock is your to-go ticket to relaxation. Whether it’s National Hammock Day (July 22) or any other day, swaying gently from a tree is an epic bliss.
5. Hammocking appeals to thrillseekers too
Granted, being a ‘slacker’ is not everyone’s cup of tea but if daredevil blood runs in your veins, hammocking has something for you too. During the International Highline Meeting festival, attendees spent most of their time strung up on tightropes stretched across the Italian Alps in Monte Piana. Photo credit: Sebastian Wahlhuetter.
6. Hammocks are instant nap facilitators
Napping is healthy. It improves alertness and performance without leaving you feeling groggy. If you nap less than 20 to 30 minutes you won’t mess up your nighttime sleep. Not everybody naps easily though.
You may not always be able to drift off into a blissful, restorative snooze. Have a hard time napping during the day? Because of the rocking motion, hammocks will let you take forty winks in no time.
7. Hammocking makes you smarter (seriously)
Even if you’re dozing off for a little bit while studying for your exams you’re benefiting. Research shows that hammock sleeping improves concentration, thus reading and learning. But there’s more, even if you don’t drift off, the side-to-side motion caused by hammocking synchronizes your brainwaves which increases concentration too.
In other words, hammocking helps you remember what you have read, making you a better student. Hammocks are not only comfortable when reading or studying, they make perfect study carrels.
8. Hammocking offers the perfect vessel for the Taoist way of ‘not doing’
Hammocking is not doing anything and a the same time you are doing something. This honors ‘wu wei’ which is a fundamental concept in Taoism that literally means non-action or non-doing. The Tao te Ching teaches that beings (or phenomena) that behave in a completely natural, uncontrived way are totally in harmony with the Tao.
The spontaneous, un-planned nature of hammocking — hammock trees will call you out, you will be aware of a great place to hangout and then just hang and relax, be one with that spot — fits perfectly in this concept. It’s a natural way of behaving, one that’s considered to be the highest form of virtue in Taoism.
9. Hammocks can save you tons of space at home
Their portability combined with outstanding soothing and caring properties make hammocks multi-purpose items that allow for a decreased need for living space. A hammock can be your bed, your chair, your tent, your portable park bench, and more.
10. Hammocking is perfect for festivals
Hammocking is the way to go on festivals, while traveling, hiking, camping, and all kinds of other outdoor activities. Hang your hammocks in a circle so you can all see each other and be genuinely connected in real life instead of experiencing the false intimacy of social media.
11. Hammocking is stackable
Some ‘mockers hang up to 30 feet in the air, stacking dozens or more hammocks in one single tree. Watch this YouTube video by Gareth Chapell to learn more about stacking six Eno hammocks.
12. Hammocks make epic beds
Not only is a hammock by far the coolest way to sleep in during searing hot summer nights, hammock sleeping has various other benefits as well. The rocking motion of hammocks affect the sleeping brain, studies show.
The same motion parents use to lull their kids to sleep, synchronizes brainwaves, leading to deeper sleep with a quicker onset. The research suggests that instead of popping sleeping pills you can try sleep in a hammock at night to cure your insomnia. Hit the link to read about 7 other benefits too.
13. Hammocking is pure romance
Besides cuddling up, being close to each other, the romantic properties of ‘mocking exceed the physical. The appeal of the hammock as a symbol of freedom and easy living itself. A warm summer night, a dark sky with twinkle lights, you and your crush cradled in a hammock.
With a hammock you can have a date in your backyard or on your porch. Also called ‘sex swings’ or aphrodisiacs, hammocks are useful for activities other than sleeping too.
14. Hammocking provides an uber-relaxed way of enjoying nature
What more relaxing way to enjoy a breathtaking place than swaying in your hammock? Trees, waterfalls, a babbling brook, a gentle breeze, gently being rocked back and forth. Birds chirping at dawn, a caramel-colored sunset, a crescent moon, falling stars, you’ll get the picture.
Wanna mock?
Are your ready to jump in and live the #HammockLife? You may wonder, “which hammock should I get?”
For hammocking in the park, at the beach, on the porch or wherever, make sure to get a lightweight (weighing just under a pound) nylon hammock.
Check out the popular ENO DoubleNest Hammock, this highly popular sling is one of the best hammocks you can get for hammocking. It’s spacious enough for two and palatial for just you. It’s scrunched up easily into its compression sack.
Other hammock features to consider include under slings for gear, rain tarps, bug nets to keep skeeters out.
Remember, “When in doubt, hammock it out.”
Images, Gary Knight, Cristian Bortes, Claire Woods, Z. Smith Renolds Library, GifBay, Reddit, Reddit, Wikimedia Commons, headlikeanorange Tumblr, Adam Theis, anoldent,
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