How do you heal a broken heart?
A bucket of ice cream seems to ‘work’ for most. But maybe thinking about a few things (with a carton of ice cream nested on your lap) might help put things into perspective.
Relationships sometimes end. They can end for various different reasons, but how we cope after a relationship is key on how to take care of our broken heart.
Every relationship is different and not all of them will end the same way or feel the same way. Healthier relationships will take less time to heal from than unhealthy relationships.
When you end an unhealthy relationship, you're healing from the break up and also the loss of self that may have occurred in the relationship. Bad relationships bring up a lot of emotional and personal struggles that sometimes aren't understood or noticed until after the relationship ends. So, healing means rebuilding yourself as well as mourning the end.
Be sad. It’s ok to be sad and hurt. Even if you were the one to have done the breaking. We’re humans, we have feelings. We are ending a connection. which means it’s normal to mourn a loss. You had good times, even with the bad. So, let yourself be sad for as long as you need. It’ll get easier. You just need to give permission for your heart to feel. Even if the feeling is uncomfortable.
Support. Call your friends. We’ve all been there. Our friends are there to help us feel connected. Whether you need them to vent or cry on their shoulder, that’s why we make connections we trust, to allow ourselves to be vulnerable even when it feels hard.
Do something for you. Pamper yourself or do something you’ve always wanted to do. Making time for you is important and taking care of your body and mind is part of the healing process. join a new yoga class or gym. Take up kickboxing or rock climbing. or just go for a nice relaxing spa treatment. it’s about doing things that make you happy. You can even go to a restaurant you’ve always wanted to try (with a friend or even alone) that your ex never liked. Finding a balance within yourself.
Pack it Up. Depending on how long you’ve been in the relationship, you may have accumulated some of their belongs or things that remind you of them. You could either hand it to them or have a friend deliver it to them. This is an important part of the healing as it’s quite therapeutic to pack and rid of things - part of the ending process.
Healing takes time, but don't forget who you are in the process. You're stronger than you think.