Benefits of gentle rocking and the concept of sitting in motion

I no longer have to imitate a lot of what my children do. I don't want to eat sand anymore, and I don't understand why my daughter has to blow bubbles every time she gets a straw and pasta simply tastes better with sauce.

But what we should never stop doing is rocking!

1. Rocking supports our sense of balance

Because when we swing, our balance organ, our vestibular system in the inner ear, is strengthened. This organ informs our brain about the position of our body in space.

We instinctively soothe babies by gently cradling them in our arms. Kids love to jump, climb, do somersaults and of course swing.

All this serves to train our sense of balance and has a direct influence on our well-being. Unfortunately, our everyday life no longer allows for many of these movements and it is human nature that things that we do not demand recede. So it's no wonder that dizziness increases with age.

2. Regular rocking relaxes and makes you happy

 As early as 1975, special education teacher Professor Andreas D. Fröhlich discovered that rocking provides relaxation and even relieves pain . With its "basal stimulation", in which patients are specifically swung and rocked, it still promotes the well-being of premature babies, people with dementia and people with serious injuries.

Another American study by Professor Nancy Watson reports that rocking in a rocking chair for 1-2 hours a day causes a significant improvement in general health. The participating patients at a nursing home were less likely to ask for pain-relieving medication, were more secure on their feet and “ also looked happier ”.

3. Slight rocking makes us fall asleep better

In a small study by Swiss researchers (Sophie Schwartz from the University of Geneva) it was found that gently rocking brings us better into the realm of dreams. The researchers twice asked twelve men aged 22 to 38 to take an afternoon nap and observed their brain activity. The subjects took the short naps of 20 minutes each in a conventional bed, which rocked gently on one occasion using a special construction and not on the other.

"Under the rocking condition, we observed a faster transition to sleep in all subjects," says Schwartz's colleague Michel Mühlethaler, "a result that supports the intuitive notion that this procedure facilitates falling asleep."

Especially in old age, many people complain of problems falling asleep. So the good old rocking chair makes perfect sense.

If that's too bulky or old-fashioned for you, try a hanging chair. So instead of just lying down on the deck chair in the garden, you could also spend the weekend in the garden. In a hanging chair or hammock, on a tree or on one of the many stands, alone or with friends or family.

Do you have a queasy feeling in your stomach just thinking about a little rocking? In the hanging chair you can slowly test yourself and feel how good a gentle movement feels.