Lana Condor, star of the Netflix series "Pretty Lethal," prioritizes downtime as a core part of her wellness routine. Her self-care approach centers on guilt-free activities that genuinely recharge her: gaming and eating.
Condor's method reflects a broader shift in how wellness professionals now think about rest. Rather than prescriptive spa days or meditation apps, authentic self-care looks different for everyone. For Condor, it means Nintendo gaming sessions paired with food she enjoys, without the restrictive thinking that often accompanies wellness conversations.
This aligns with what behavioral psychologists call "restorative activities." These are not the activities we think we should do for wellness, but rather the ones that actually lower our stress response and create genuine mental breaks. Dr. Laurie Santos, a Yale psychologist who studies happiness, has found that leisure activities we choose freely produce more psychological benefit than those we feel obligated to do.
Condor's gaming-focused reset day also taps into what researchers call "flow state." When we engage in activities like video games, our brains enter a focused state where worries fade and time disappears. This neurological reset has measurable effects on stress hormones like cortisol.
The entertainment component matters too. Condor mentions watching "Love Island," another form of engaging distraction that allows the mind to disengage from work pressures. Entertainment consumption paired with physical nourishment (eating) creates a full sensory reset rather than a single-modality approach.
What Condor models is permission-based self-care. Rather than following a prescribed wellness blueprint, she identifies what actually works for her nervous system and does that without apology. This approach often proves more sustainable than wellness routines that feel like obligations rather than genuine rest.
For people building their own reset days, Condor's example suggests a useful framework