Surviving Valentine’s Day after a breakup

Shiri Cohen’s tips for surviving Valentine’s Day after a breakup.

Allow space for feelings
“Sometimes what makes the reaction to a breakup harder is when you panic about what you’re going through.”

Turn to family and friends
“I don’t think I could’ve ever survived most of my breakups without obsessing endlessly with my good friends and my sisters.”

Self-care
“It really is true that exercise is truly an antidote. What your brain is doing in times of crisis is mimicking the pain, so there’s a drop in dopamine, which is why we feel physical pain in breakups. Doing things like exercising counterbalances that.”

Get out of the house!
“It’s mind over matter, a lot of times. But it’s important to will yourself to do it, even just making yourself go on a walk.”

Affirm yourself
“Breakups have this way of making you feel a loss of validation and affirmation because you’ve lost the person who was validating and affirming you. So it’s really important to have positive self-talk with yourself.”