Handling a break up can sometimes be a hard task.Photo/Breakup-trauma.com.Everyone who's gone through a painful breakup knows how much of a toll it can take on your body, mental health, and spirit. You also know how difficult it is to separate what you're going through from the rest of your life. The world, unfortunately, keeps spinning when all you want is everything to pause while you heal, which is why focusing on self-care becomes even more critical than ever after a breakup.

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Your instinct might be to reach for the ice cream (or the wine) and sulk until you feel better, but you're actually slowing down the healing process by doing so. Here are three essential must do, Get enough sleep: Acknowledge that your body is going through a lot, and make sure you don't neglect proper sleep. You won't feel any improvement the following day if you're sleep-deprived, cranky, and exhausted.

Eat healthy foods: Junk food may be comforting in the moment, and while it's totally fine to allow yourself to indulge, you need to make sure you're nourishing yourself. Just because your heart hurts doesn't mean you need to punish your body. Stay connected to loved ones: Having a support system is so critical to your healing process. Don't underestimate the power of a girl’s brunch or a call with a family member. Even when you just want to be alone, you'll feel better being able to share what you're feeling with somebody else.

You really have to focus on just the basics before you can really even start to reflect on the breakup and make sense of it, release all your thoughts and emotions into a journal. Even if journaling isn't quite your thing, you'd be surprised at how cathartic it can feel to pour everything out.

We don't realize the conversations that we're having with ourselves inside of our heads all day, and we become so used to that voice. You won't get over it overnight, but start off small and focus on yourself, and let time do its thing.