How Can You Overcome Heartbreak by Focusing on Yourself?
30 April, 2021
When you feel heartbroken, it seems like the world will never be the same. If you’re in that stage of complete heartache – we feel your pain. We all go through things in life that cause us to feel immense distress. Whether it’s the loss of a loved one, a breakdown of a relationship or a career failure. Heartbreak can be caused by a variety of things, and there is no one way to fix it.
However, in our experience, we have found that investing time in yourself and doing things that make you happy – like exercise – can be a great way to overcome difficulty in life. In this article we’re looking at how you can overcome heartbreak and build yourself back up with some exercise and self love.
Exercise Boosts Endorphins to Help You Feel Normal Again
This is probably the most compelling reason to give exercise a go when you’re feeling that sense of heartbreak. Heartbreak makes us feel low, especially in the case of a relationship breakdown where love is, quite literally, the drug. In the case of romantic heartbreak our brains ‘feel good’ chemicals are all over the place as they try to work out where that sense of love and connection has gone.
Oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine may be in short supply during these times, so we need to increase the activities that make us feel good and are good for us. This means more exercise. As Dr Mike Dow says, we should “spend the month after a major break-up finding alternative ways to supply our brains with the chemicals they crave”.
By Investing in Yourself, You’ll Gain Confidence
Something that often happens when we go through heartbreak is that we lose all confidence in ourselves. Sometimes it can feel like you’re a shell of your former self, and even going outside can be hard.
However, it’s important that during these low times, we do reach out for help and we do keep believing in ourselves. When we invest in ourselves and commit to doing things that make us feel good, our confidence grows. Exercise is an amazing way to see progressive gains that make you feel successful. There is no greater feeling than realising you’re able to lift heavier, run faster, or train for longer than you did the week before. These kinds of small wins will bring back the confidence that can be lost in heartbreak.
You’ll Be Able to Release Stress and Aggression
When we’re heartbroken, we can feel a sense of pent up tension that can cause aggression, stress and anger. Whether you feel a sense of injustice or are grieving the loss of someone in your life, thrashing out that tension in the gym can be an amazing way to relieve yourself and move forward positively.
Leave that bad energy in the past by throwing yourself into a new workout.
Sleep Better
When we’re heartbroken, it’s much harder to sleep. Getting to sleep and staying asleep are the two common issues, and it goes back to the brain being much more stimulated. With thoughts running through your head at every hour, how can you possibly get a good night’s sleep?
Although exercise can’t work miracles, it can definitely help you sleep better. Numerous studies have found that long-term exercise enables individuals to fall asleep faster, sleep longer, and enjoy better sleep quality. Sleep is crucial to our overall happiness and clarity of mind, so the knock on effects of doing more exercise can be huge.
Want to try something new? Give EMS training a go as a way to ease back into exercise again.
Reminder: Please Take Care of Yourself
If you’ve been going through a rough time lately, it is always recommended to talk to your GP about any mental health issues you’re experiencing. Or, if you feel you need immediate assistance, you can use the helplines below to get help.
Australian Government: Head to Health
Lifeline
Phone: 13 11 14 or Text: 0477 13 11 14 6pm – midnight AEST
MI Networks
Phone: 1800 985 944
www.minetworks.org.au/
Relationships Australia
Phone: 1300 364 277
http://www.relationships.org.au/
SANE Australia
Phone: 1800 187 263
