A Hippy Girl's Guide To Getting Over A Breakup

A terrible breakup can leave you heartbroken and prone to making bad decisions. It's natural and understandable.

Chances are, you want a way out of your current state of misery. Luckily, time is an excellent healer. But when time just isn't soothing your wounds, sometimes a natural reconnection to the earth can ground you.

If you're looking for advice on how to recover after your relationship has ended, some good hippy soul-searching may be the path to ease your spirits.

1. Get in touch with nature.

If you're hurting and you feel like life is completely meaningless, you need to reorient yourself. Sometimes, reconnecting to nature can remind you how full, rich and diverse life is, and how not alone you are in the world. This can mean a lot of things.

An easy way to bring nature home is to start growing a succulent. Or rather, start wearing a succulent. (It doesn't actually have to be a succulent; any plant will do.) Succulent jewelry has become a common fad because care instructions are often easy, and the jewelry is beautiful to look at. A small, new decoration-boasting plant you're caring for can be a great mood-booster.

Another great trick that involves growing life? Kombucha. This fermented tea, which people are increasingly learning how to make at home, provides a variety of benefits for your health, both physically and mentally. In particular, the tea can provide mood stability, critical after heartbreak.

2. Wash away the bad thoughts.

A good, relaxing bath with some DIY, all-natural bath bombs can provide immense relief and joy to a broken heart. Baths themselves are also known to provide emotional relief, particularly when you're feeling lonely.

The warmth and comfort of a bath can be soothing, and incorporating a few fun products like bath bombs just bring all the more enjoyment into your bath time. Consider one or two baths a week until you're in a better place emotionally.

In a similar vein, bath time is also the perfect opportunity to light some aromatherapy candles or various oil diffusers which can add to your relaxation. These work because smells trigger memory, and using natural scents, such as grass or flowers, reminds us of carefree childhoods playing in meadows. It's a world away from the pain you are suffering right now.

3. Get in touch with others.

Nothing is worse for heartbreak than isolating yourself. Rather than wallowing alone, go out into the world. Meet other people. Find other lives and stories to share.

One of my personal favorite experiences was when a friend dragged me out to a drum circle soon after a breakup. The music and life of the event made me feel a little more connected to everyone there, and the chance to make several new friends also reinvigorated me.

If a drum circle isn't your thing, consider going on a girls' night out with your female friends. It'll get you reconnected to your friends, your gender and yourself.

Spend time bathing in the moonlight when the clouds are clear, or sign along loudly to Joni Mitchell songs. Expending the energy will do you good.

4. Get all your bad emotions out.

Collect your ex's love letters, memos and notes. Gather up all the dolls he gave you, the sweater he loaned you and never got back and the photos you have, and place them in a fire in your backyard and burn them. Bonfires are rejuvenating and cathartic.

After you've lit all your ex's things on fire and watched them turn to ash, go for a run. Sweat out your toxic past, and burn all your anger as a form of energy.

If you're not a runner, yoga is an excellent physical exercise that can exert your muscles and help your mental clarity and emotions. In fact, yoga has long been respected as an effective tool and natural anti-depressant. It can help reduce depression and anxiety, and it soothes the effects of traumatic experiences, including a bad ending to a relationship.

Let your body release the stress and negativity of your former relationship. Rather than letting it weigh you down, get it out.

Soon, you won't remember your ex. A few natural, healthy remedies for healing heartbreak is all it takes to put you on your way to emotional recovery and back to knowing where you belong in the world.