The good news is that there are a few things you can do to accelerate your recovery from heart break, although it is likely to take some time.

Here are 10 tips to help with getting over heartbreak:

1. Give yourself time to grief. You’ve experienced a loss and feeling down is normal.
2. Escape. Yes, escape. Escapism can happen in the form of watching a movie, reading a book or playing a video game. Allow yourself time away from your thoughts and let yourself be transported into somebody else’s story for a short while.
3. Be good to yourself. This might seem obvious but when we are down in the dumps, self-care often falls to the wayside. Do something that you really enjoy. This could involve food, exercise, reading a good book, or maybe just walking over a lawn without your shoes on. Plan to do at least one self-care activity each day.
4. Don’t judge yourself. It doesn’t matter if your relationship was happy or dysfunctional, you have a right to grief the loss of it. It’s human to struggle with separation and change. You are not being over-sensitive. Turns out the brain registers heartbreak just like physical pain.
5. Train yourself on some new habits. If you get sad when you visit the coffee shop where you used to hang out with your ex, maybe it’s time to find a new favorite spot that evokes no memories too difficult to handle.
6. Let other people know what you need. Sometimes people who mean well can be so annoying when they say or do the wrong thing. Make it easy for the people around you to make you feel better and tell them if you need space or would like company, for example.
7. Focus on something else. If you can find the energy, learn something new. Something you didn’t do while you were with your ex. Things that come to mind are learning to play a new instrument, taking up jogging, learning how to cook, getting a pet, gardening etc.
8. Be mindful. If you have a meditation or other mindfulness practice, this is a good time to bring out these coping skills to center yourself. If not, any activity you engage in can be mindful, for example, focus on the food you are eating as you are looking at it, chewing it, tasting it. Or feel how your foot roles from heal to toes when you walk.
9. Practice thought stopping. This can seem difficult at first but gets easier with practice. If you find your mind ruminating about your breakup, say “STOP” and think of something else. Sometimes, putting your hand out in front of you as if you were actually stopping an object can increase the effectiveness of this technique.
10. Set a time limit. It helps some people to allot a certain amount of time for self-pity. During that time, allow yourself to wallow in your sorrow, complain to anybody who will listen about your hardship, and feel no guilt about making everything about yourself. You can even tell your friends that you’ll be a mess for a week but then plan to move on.