Breakups are stressful and very emotional, no matter the reason. It can cause a lot of turmoil and trigger a lot of painful and negative emotions. There can be a sense of abandonment, uncertainty and it takes time to come to terms with what has happened. However, knowing how to manage the stress and overcome breakup stress can help. You can respond better to adversity and feel good. While there’s no magic formula that can instantly help you, arming yourself with healthy coping mechanisms is essential. It gives you the strength to overcome breakup stress.
How to manage breakup stress
Talk or write it out. One of the best ways to deal with any grief or stress is to talk to someone or journal your feelings. This applies to overcoming breakup stress as well! By venting your feelings, sharing them and letting it out, you will be able to process your grief and feel lighter. There are so many emotions associated with a breakup, you may not even be aware of what you are feeling until you start letting it out! If you feel like crying, that’s okay too. It’s normal to cry and it’s actually a great way of releasing emotions. Doing this right after the breakup will help you cope and allow your mind and body to recover.
Forgive yourself. There’s a lot of guilt you may feel post a breakup. You feel like you didn’t do enough or did something wrong. Moreover, you may also feel like you’ve failed because the relationship ended. However, you should cut yourself some slack. Give yourself the benefit of the doubt and forgive yourself for your role and what has happened. Rather than blame yourself, accept your role and understand that you may also make mistakes. Give yourself permission to not be guilty and go easy on yourself. This will help you accept your role and ease any breakup stress you’re feeling.
Treat yourself. Show yourself some love and you will feel happier. Treat yourself to things you enjoy, do things that make you happy and you’ll feel free. Watch your favourite movie, do a bit of online shopping, have a super relaxing bath and cook your favourite meal. By making yourself a priority and spending quality time with yourself, you can rediscover yourself, feel good and overcome breakup stress. It will also allow you to overcome any emotional wounds in a lighter way. Time will help you move on and heal, but you can definitely speed up the process by taking control of your emotional well-being.
Take care of your body. It may feel like a good idea to indulge in unhealthy and highly delicious junk food as part of your recovery process, but it’s definitely not. Treat yourself, yes but don’t go overboard. At a time when you are already feeling low and stressed, taking care of your body is really important. Eat highly nutritious food and find a balance between healthy and junk food, as you normally follow. Remember, stress can manifest itself in your body, so taking care of it is important. Rather than eating pizza, pasta and tubs of ice cream, focus on food that can help reduce anxiety or ease stress. Nuts, green vegetables, a cup of chai and fresh fruits can help counter the psychological effects of break up stress.
Meditation. Meditation can help you relieve stress, reduce anxiety and relax among other benefits. When facing a break up, stress and anxiety is something you might be experiencing. Hence, this might be a perfect time to try your hand at meditation. It helps you connect with yourself, stay calm and will help you manage any breakup stress you have. Here’s what you need to know about meditation and how to get started!
Do stuff you enjoy. Post a breakup, it’s important to discover yourself and enjoy life again. You’ve become devoting so much time to another person, you may not have got time for yourself. Now is that the time for that! You will be grieving and feeling sad, but you can raise your mood by doing things you enjoy. Find a new hobby, read that book you’ve wanted to for so long, rediscover a passion you’d been forgetting about. By doing things you enjoy, you find positive ways of dealing with breakup stress. By focusing on yourself, you can feel better and channel your energy into something positive.
Affirmations. By speaking positively and practicing positive affirmations, you can reframe your thoughts and channel your stress in a more productive manner. Affirmations are a part of meditation and can help provide a moment or two away from whatever is stressing you out. Since stress and anxiety lead to reduced happy hormones in your body, focusing on positive things can be a mood changer. Take some time out to sit down with yourself, clear your head and say positive affirmations to yourself or out loud. This will give you a momentary break, allow you to feel good and reduce any breakup stress or anxiety you’re feeling. Positive affirmations include “I am good enough” or “I am a good person” or “I am feeling good” or “I am doing well”.
Breakup playlist. Music is a very powerful stress relief tool. It can influence your mood and there’s always songs that you can resonate with and enjoy. There are many breakup songs that are powerful and can help you overcome breakup stress such as “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” by Taylor Swift, “Shake It Off” by Florence + The Machine and “She Will Be Loved” by Maroon 5 which are a good mix of empowering and empathetic. Listening to songs can help you cope, feel good and with time heal completely and move on. The value in music as breakup stress relief is that it helps you get your feelings out instead of keeping them repressed within.
Breakups are hard and very stressful. With time and effort, you will feel and feel better. What matters is taking care of yourself, putting yourself first and doing everything you can to feel good in a healthy manner. Stress management techniques and breathing exercises can help also reduce breakup stress momentarily and give you a sense of balance when everything feels too much! If things get overwhelming, talk to a friend and do things that can ease your anxiety and stress instantly.
We’d like to leave you with one parting thought – “Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it happened.”
Evolve has a range of audios that help provide stress relief and help you respond to anxiety in a positive manner with joyful and refreshing guided exercises. The Evolve app is now live globally on Android & Apple, click here to try for free!