The Zen Studies Podcast 323 – Zazen As Defiant Self-Care
Jan 30, 2026
A thoughtful look at zazen framed as regenerative, defiant self-care in difficult times. Traces the history of self-care from hygiene to activism and commercialization. Explores how sitting can offer unconditional rest, resist the urge to earn peace, and serve as political and personal renewal. Encourages accepting imperfect practice as true restoration.
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Zazen As Regenerative Self-Care
- Zazen functions as regenerative self-care by giving body and mind a complete break from doing and judging.
- In troubled times this break becomes a form of defiance that helps sustain activism and resilience.
History Of The Self-Care Concept
- Domyo Burk traces 'self-care' from hygiene for the sick to 1960s Black activists using meditation and yoga for survival.
- He notes later commercialization turned self-care into consumerized pleasures and beauty products.
Self-Care Often Assumes Comfort
- The popular notion of self-care often assumes a baseline of comfort and can create entitlement and rigid expectations.
- Attachment to an ideal self-care routine can produce stress when circumstances prevent maintaining it.
