Is Your Self-Care Just Another Achievement?

How to know if you are using self-care as a measuring stick.

Hello folks! Welcome back to another Real Self-Care letter. And, a special Hello! to the hundreds of new folks who found us through my interview on We Can Do Hard Things (!!).

As a reminder, I’m Dr. Pooja Lakshmin — psychiatrist, author of the book Real Self-Care (Crystals, Cleanses, and Bubble-Baths Not Included), frequent contributor to The New York Times, and clinical assistant professor at George Washington University School of Medicine. You are reading my weekly(-ish) newsletter.

I’m currently writing to you from Italy. My partner Justin and I are here for ten days. It’s the first time we’ve been away from our toddler for a real vacation. As I shared on IG, the leaving part was more difficult than I expected.