4 Beautiful Self Care Zines to Inspire Some Self Compassion
Self-care falls at the heart of all areas of health and wellbeing.
Big statement? I know. I became interested in self-care as an actual health practice and self-care zines to support it while doing my body image research at university.
Before that, I associated self-care to those the old clichés. Bubble baths and taking time for a facial. It didn’t run much deeper than that. The self-care I knew of from mass media campaigns had gotten off track and a bad name for itself. It made you feel complete FOMO (fear of missing out) if you weren’t with the program, using the cream, or whatever it was. It made you feel the opposite effect that self-care should give.
Who knew it was so different from this? Not me. I learned about self-care as an emotional, mental, and spiritual practice that focuses on listening inward to ourselves and finding ways to help us do that. It’s supposed to build you up, support you and help you feel more resilient. And an added bonus, it doesn’t cost the earth.
I began writing a list of all the ways I could learn to support myself better with small 5 minute acts of self-care physically, emotionally, and mentally and turned it into a mini-zine (of course).
Personally, I find physical self-care— caring for your physical body—easier because it's tangible. For example, cleaning your teeth or putting on sunscreen. It’s emotional and mental self-care stuff that, for me, can fall by the wayside. That’s where zines have been, a fantastic resource for ideas and realistic self-care inspiration.
Here are some beautiful self-care zines we feel privileged to have here at thankubody that are a constant source of inspiration.
Self-Guide Axioms for a Personal Journey
by Michelle Zellers
An axiom is an assumption of truth without a need to prove that it is so. In Self-Guide, Michelle shares 10 axioms that serve as guiding principles to their life that we welcome to borrow also. I love all of these, but one I was particularly drawn to was axiom 2, “Work on the assumption that I might already be capable.”
It made me reflect that so often in life that we work against these guiding truths, and a gentle reminder is what you need to regain the confidence and belief in yourself to continue on regardless.
When reading Self-Guide, you can feel the thought and self-reflection that’s gone into it. I now keep a copy at my desk and like to pop it open with little positive self-reminders throughout the day.
Self-Guide: Axioms of a Personal Journey is a ½ size, 24-page zine $3.95.
Gratitude & Self Love
by School of Life Design
Gratitude & Self Love is from a series of self-care workbooks created by the School of Life Design. They take a unique approach to their zines that I love. Many are intended as 7-day intensive courses that use design principles including harmony, balance, scale, focus, and contrast to build more intention and mindfulness practice in one's life.
In this particular zine, the authors have created a process to find more self-love with novel exercises that help you surrender in the present moment and find more acceptance in your life, which then can open the path to practicing gratitude. This zine's simplicity and beautiful layout really help you focus on each activity and what's important to you and I love the theoretical basis to this helpful zine.
Gratitude & Self-Love is a half-page, 20 page zine, $6.00
Shit's Fucked: A Positivity Guide
by Gina Sarti
I love this little zine by Gina. All of the self-care ideas are so simple, yet their simplicity makes them so helpful. Gina says that the ideas in the zine aim to 'reduce anxiety and invigorate the mundane.' Which is precisely what they do.
As a chronic overthinker and worrier, I really like the flow-chart' exercise as a way to work through and solve perceived problems that are taking a mental load.
Shit's Fucked: A Positivity Guide is a ¼ page size, 16-page zine - $3.00
70 Acts of Self Care
by Kim Rounsefell
How many self-care ideas can you squeeze into a mini-zine? We managed to fit 70 into this one while keeping the design useable and readable!! The zine aims to serve to offer lots of little self prompts that you can try out to support emotional, physical, and mental self-care.
What's great about this little zine is that you get to pick and choose what works for you. Most of the ideas you can do without any cost, and they aim to help you show yourself more kindness and compassion—something we all need to show ourselves from time to time.
70 Acts of Self Care is mini (3.3 x 4.25 inches) in a trifold design, $2.95
