I was excited going into this. I was also nervous — a whole summer of content, a whole summer of trying to reconnect with myself and my well-being. Could I actually keep up with it?
I sat down in the hammock on the back porch — brand new, first time I’d used it — and immediately felt how hard “nothing” actually is. I could do anything for those 30 minutes. Instead, I felt antsy. My brain wanted to be somewhere else, doing something else, and my body hadn’t caught up to the idea that sitting still was actually the assignment. It felt like day one of a new workout routine — you know it’s good for you, you know it matters, and your body fights you on it anyway.
Turns out my body already knew what to do, even when my brain wouldn’t cooperate. I just had to keep showing up long enough to let it.
Gentle rocking activates your parasympathetic nervous system — your body’s built-in off switch for stress. As babies and kids, rocking is a go-to for soothing; that same subtle motion triggers endorphins and helps regulate heart rate, digestion, and emotional balance. A hammock gives you that same calming, immediately. It’s not just comfort. It’s biology.
If you’d like to go deeper, I wrote a Substack piece about the exact moment this whole journey began — the hike where I decided to spend the rest of my career helping people find joy instead of just escape.
