This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Asa Conroy. Find them on Instagram at @asakayconroy. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.

Self-care doesn’t look the same for everyone. For some it’s red wine, bubble baths, face masks, and a new diet. And don’t get me wrong, that’s great if it works for you. However, if it doesn’t you may need to turn to the advice of Mandi Em. In Feral Self-Care: A 100 Ways to Liberate and Celebrate Your Messy, Wild, and Untamed Self, Em introduces you to new ways to nourish your soul and feel good. If you’re looking to embrace your wildest self, read this Feral Self-Care book review and consider the advice from the wellness witch!

How to Use Feral Self-Care

Feral Self-Care is more than just something you read, but something you experience. Much of the advice in the book steers sway from a lot of the consumerist mindset others have fallen into. The self-care industry is booming and for all understandable reasons, but it’s predatory. People need ways to access relaxation without being told they need to buy this product and follow this rigid routine. So, for the cost of one book, you get 100 activities you could do right in your home, your backyard, or anywhere randomly outdoors that you’re allowed to do things. And not ruin the scenery for other people. Self-care doesn’t come at the expense of others.

A type of self-care that rejects “picture-perfect ideals” and digs into your primal nature to become confident in your untamed life. Get wild with nature, tap into your senses, feel chaotically creative, muck around in your inner swamp (or a real one), connect with your community, and experience your spirituality. I love feeling better about myself without worrying what’s “right” or “acceptable” to other people.

What Does It Mean to Go Feral?

This phrase might worry people the most. You might think of a wild animal, like when a pig loses all domestication in weeks (true fact btw). But for this it is more connecting with your instincts. Rather than molding yourself to fit a societal or cultural image. Everyone needs a reminder that sometimes your instincts aren’t a bad thing. Usually, your body and mind are trying to tell you something.

Which means you can work those instincts to influence your wellness journey. What are the things that connect you to nature? What are the things that give you pain and pleasure? How can you embrace chaos and weave it into your well-being? How can you become creative with the world around you? When you find the answers to those questions you can explore within yourself. You can connect with your community around you in the same way. This first chapter is a solid set up for the rest of the book. It prepares the reader for what it takes to get a little “unhinged” and write their love letter to the creature within.

Cozying Up to Mother Nature

The second chapter begins with a reminder that we are all a part of nature. A lot of us have become rather disconnected with nature, simply letting the seasons change around us. Nature constantly changes, but it is (preferably) in a balanced cycle for a thriving ecosystem. How can you get that ecosystem for yourself? Em has a few suggestions:

• Watching nature cycles: learn and observe nature around you, especially as the seasons change. When the temperatures or colors of the leaves change. Think about your own rhythm. Is it in tune with nature?
• Find beauty in death: Maybe a dark one, but death is a part of life. It happens as often as flowers blooming and birds hatching. You don’t have to actively seek it out, but when you’re out walking smell the dead roses and admire the fallen trees.
• Play with the Seasons: Jump in leaf piles in autumn, watch flowers bloom for the first time in spring, run on the beach in the summer, and build a snowman in the winter.

Sensory Gremlin

The third chapter is all about felt experiences. Get in touch with your senses and discover the full senses of life. Some people tend to ignore their impulses and experiences. Let yourself feel everything – the loud, quiet, sweet, savory, salty, colorful and monotone parts of life. If you need to get out of your head, chase sensation, and mindfully experience your sensations, here are a few ideas:

• Primal Scream: Let’s face it, there are moments where you just want to scream. So do it. But find a place where you’ll be mindful of others. You could scream into a pillow, in your car, along to music, on a roller coaster, or underwater.
• Let your Inner Child Free: Jump in puddles, finger paint, make mud pies, and make snow angels. There are many activities people “put away” on account of being too old, but who cares. Let yourself feel paint or mud on your fingers and the snow falling down your jacket.
• Talk to Yourself: If you are feeling overwhelmed or annoyed or sad, talk it out with yourself. Only if you have no one around you. Sometimes there are things we have trouble expressing to others, but we need to get out. Verbalize it alone and alleviate the feelings.

Chaos and Creativity

Find liberation in expression and play. Expressing yourself through creative play and expression can unlock other parts of yourself. Finding joy in the little things or bottled-up emotions you can’t talk to yourself about. This chapter includes some ways to indulge in creative impulses. Let your act of messy self-care involve some messy crafts. Bring some chaos and find some confidence with these activities:

• Make an Emotional Mess: Intuitively paint with fingers to be even messier. Let your feelings decide the colors, the shapes, the strokes. Just let it be how you feel.
• Daydream: Let your daydreams run wild. Imagine your goals and desires. Feel safe in your own imagination and let it go wherever you want to take it.
• Create “unhinged” affirmations: Tell yourself your beautiful, strong, and unstoppable but throw in something else. “I am worthy and valuable like a dragon’s hoard” or “I am a lovable hurricane or mess and mayhem.” Or think of one yourself.

The Swamp of the Self

The title may throw you off, but it’s a solid chapter. You don’t have to be Shrek, but navigating your own swamp may be a good idea. The swamp is actually your inner depths. Humans have many layers and depths. We are complex and serve purposes that people may overlook because they’re not as pretty as our fields or fjords. Here’s some ways you can navigate your swamp:

• Take an “Ugly Day”: Let yourself be an “ugly slob” and wear a messy bun, stained clothes, eat comfort foods, and watch the worst movie you can think of. And when you’re feeling your feelings, release them with an ugly laugh, sob, or yell. No one will judge.
• Honor your Seasons: Like nature, you have your own seasons. There are times when you feel dead and need some hibernation. Other times you’ll feel revitalized and energized. Work with your energy flow. Don’t force yourself to do things when you’re not in season.
• Kiss Some of Those Cares Goodbye: Write some of your anxieties, concerns, and worries on scraps of paper. When you’re done, bunch them up, kiss them, and throw them away. Lipstick optional but recommended for symbolism.

The Village Around You

People need people. Everyone’s heard the before, right? Well, there is some truth to it. Humans need community and a lot of people unfortunately shut themselves out from the world. We are losing our villages. Building your community is a part of self-care. You can care for yourself while you take care of others. Here are some tips from Em:

• Ask for Help: The hardest thing in the world, but also the most important. Asking for help doesn’t have to be for something big, just for simple things. It helps bring people together when they know you want them around, they’ll want you around.
• Gather Over Food: Have meals with your friends (Something we’ve recommended in the past). It doesn’t have to be a dinner party, a birthday party, or some “formal” gathering with invitations. Just meet up. Everyone can bring their favorite dishes too! Good food and good people.
• Let People Go: Another thing that’s really hard to do, but super important. Our need for community and socialization often results in clinging onto people who won’t come back or aren’t good for you. Consider what relationships your holding onto that the other person isn’t. Let them go.

A Return to Spirit

The final chapter is about finding spirituality in nature around you. People often connect spirituality from religion, but it can go beyond that if you don’t want it that way. Spirituality can be about connection, mystery, and the love of the unknown. Human beings love the unknown. Probably why I’ve always been obsessed with mysteries. There are mysteries all around us. Acknowledge the spiritual dimension of human nature by trying some of these:

• Burn an Effigy: It doesn’t have to be extreme sacrifice. It could just be an alternate ending to your kiss list from the other chapter. Use a fire to symbolically burn away something you need to release. A habit, personality trait, or an attachment that’s bad for you. Release it.
• Commune with the Flames: Can be combined with the last one. People often find staring into flames to be a meditative practice. Just watch the fire burn and let it tell you what you need to know. You’ll figure it out. It’s even better to figure it out with friends
• Craft a Ritual: Something that can be repeated. Something that can give you structure and certainty. Yes there is chaos, but there should be something you can rely on that comforts you. Take your dog for a walk or watch tv the same time every night after you put on your pjs. Just anything.

Ready to go Feral?

Think of picking up a copy of Feral Self-Care for yourself. There are so many ways to get in touch with your wild side. You can learn tips on foraging, upcycling, and how to find skincare with ingredients in your home. Honey is great and right in your kitchen, unless you want to brave a beehive. I wouldn’t recommend that though. Play in the mud, run in the wild, and find your untamed self. This Feral Self-Care book review features a few great tips, but really you should experience this book for yourself. I love the advice I have already taken from the book, and I hope you can too. Go and get wild!

How did you like this Feral Self-Care book review? Think “going feral” might be the self-care for you? Let us know in the comment section below!

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