Watch Lana Condor Read Her Journal Aloud to SELF

If you were to put on a blindfold and reach a hand into Lana Condor’s bag, you’d have a good chance of pulling out a self-care tchotchke—a soothing scent, a cooling mist, or even a page where she divulges her thoughts and feelings. In a new Wellness Essentials video for SELF, Condor shares these items, which keep her grounded from morning to night. 

The actor, who was also the cover star for SELF in February 2021, rose to fame with her role as Lara Jean in the Netflix hit To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Since the first film came out in 2018, Condor has held the spotlight—and chosen to pay extra mind to taking care of herself in a way that actually fits in with the rest of her chaotic schedule. 

“The morning time is a very sacred time for me,” Condor tells SELF. “I have very, very early call times, so I’ve had to find an effective—for me—morning ritual that can help me set my day with good intentions because I don’t have a lot of time. So my morning is actually pretty quick and easy.”

Among her favorite morning rituals is jotting down a few thoughts in her coffee-stained, well-weathered gratitude journal. She takes to writing throughout the day, too, in a small Moleskin notebook she received as a gift from her fiancé, Anthony De La Torre. (In the video, Condor reads aloud the emotional note De La Torre left in the first page of the notebook.)

Condor also totes a 1970s Pentax camera, perhaps the most unique item in her wellness collection. It all began when someone asked her what she does for fun outside of work—and she was shocked to realize she had no hobbies to speak of. “I had an existential crisis, and then I was like, you know what? I’m going to pick photography back up,” Condor explains. “[Photography] always brought me so much joy because there’s something tangible and there’s work that goes into it. It makes me feel good. It makes me feel like I’m doing something and creating something that has nothing to do with me memorizing lines and crying on camera.” 

At night, you’re sure to find Condor in bed with a book and a luxurious face mask slathered on. “There’s this stigma that if you pamper yourself, you’re lazy or that time could be spent being more productive,” she says. “To me, I’m like, no, I want to show my body that I love it and that it deserves to be pampered.” 

Watch Condor’s Wellness Essentials episode below, and keep scrolling to shop her favorite items.