Anyone who was brought up watching Gilligan's Island is well familiar with the intense laziness that hammocks seem to induce. It seems to take more effort than it's worth to wriggle your way into one, achieve a level of balance and then finally relax, but once you're in, there's something incredibly mind-numbing about feeling like you're floating in mid-air. Try reading a book and you'll see how difficult it can be to stay awake in a hammock! When combined with a gentle, cool breeze, a generously shaded spot under a tree with rustling leaves, a mildly alcoholic beverage and the chance to sit for a while and do nothing, hammocks can be very seductive indeed. Maybe it's a hark back to the womb where all you had to do was be nourished and grow. Being cradled and swinging back and forth is a naturally calming sensation.

Hammock aficionados have their favorite materials. Some enjoy the rope-style macramé-like version while others prefer the seemingly stronger canvas kind that's hooked up between two trees with tough ropes. Unfortunately, apartment living tends to preclude hammock-lounging, unless you are lucky enough to have a decent sized balcony and you can buy one of those freestanding hammocks that comes with its own sturdy frame. Without a doubt, making very good use of two perfectly spaced apart trees in your own backyard is by far the best choice, and if you have one of those gorgeous, multicolored, stripey Mexican hammocks, siesta time beckons whenever you look out the window and see it swaying outdoors with no one in it. A cold Margarita and a sombrero to shade your face is all you need!

And there's no cause for concern that you may inadvertently fall asleep during one of your hammock lounging sessions. Because the sides of hammocks wrap around you like a cosy cocoon, you can rest easy knowing it's pretty much an impossibility to fall out!