BREAK UP WITH YOUR EX

After a breakup or divorce, you may take a time out from dating or starting a relationship with someone new in order to focus on yourself. But, when you're ready to get back into the dating scene, how do you know that your heart is ready too? How Do I Start Dating Again After A Long Break?

"My ex drove by me today and I almost threw up. I couldn't believe how that wave of nausea hit me. It has been a whole year and I thought I was over him. I can't believe it. Luckily, I was near a Starbucks so I ran in to the bathroom, sat on the throne and composed myself. Will I ever get over him?"

Eighty-five percent of readers in a recent YourTango survey said they struggle with breakups and could use a "breakover"—aka an internal and external makeover aimed at helping them move on. One of the best methods to a successful "breakover" is through exercise—in fact, survey respondents listed exercise as one of the top three methods for getting over a breakup.

We've all heard about how important it is to forgive. This might be a lesson that your parents or religious and spiritual leaders taught you when you were a young child. In most people's minds, "forgiveness" is something kind and beneficial. It is also expected. As great as forgiveness is, few people genuinely do it.

Dear Sara, I was recently in an 8-month relationship with a man whom I was starting to fall in love with, and things started getting more difficult because he recently had a baby with an ex girlfriend. I was well aware of this situation (which had happened before we even met) but thought why not give this a try because be was/is a great guy, I thought it would be worthwhile because we both felt the same for each other.

Neil Sedaka had it right. Breaking up IS hard to do. But WHY is it so hard? Because we are sentimental beings, desiring of connection. Because we’ve been told that ‘partnering’ is the path to happiness. Because it just feels good to have your best pal around and because there is no rule book or magic pill for getting rid of the longing. When going through a break up, we are in fact, experiencing a death. While it may just be emotional, it carries all of the hallmarks of a physical passing.

What happens when you're already broken up, but just can't break up with the past? It's bad enough to end things with a person, but to have to say adieu to memories and the invisible, yet somehow tangible, threads that connect you to a former relationship can be even harder. Here are a few (healthy) ways to break up with your ex.

After a painful breakup, there are plenty of ways to deal with the emotions you're feeling: you can cry them out, distract yourself from them or immediately try to replace them with happy thoughts. But, if it's months later and you still can't seem to shake those sad feelings or memories of your ex, what are you supposed to do? Can You Be Friends With An Ex?

They may be the among the most famous and beautiful women in the world, but, like anyone else, even A-list celebs go through the breakup blues. From Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon's retrospective revelations to Jennifer Love Hewitt's pragmatic advice, all of these women are proof that, while breakups may feel like the end of the world, they are really just the beginning to something new.

Everyone has a reason to break up with their ex. Sometimes, it's because he's gay and it's definitely time to move on. Othertimes, it's because no matter who you're currently with, your old love is still preventing you from moving on. From now until Feb. 12, we're holding a contest where we are asking you to tell us, in 10 words or less, why you need to break up with your ex. Here are 12 of our favorite entries we've recieved so far.

Can you visualize your post-divorce self as a blooming flower opening, thriving, growing, and maturing? The visual that you have of your “post-divorce self” may play a large role in how you recover from the stress after going through a divorce. Studies have found that there are individual differences between people who “blossom” after a divorce and those who experience depressive symptoms and psychological distress.

A woman wrote to me today asking for some guidance. She said she was having difficulty moving on after breaking up with her boyfriend, even though the relationship wasn't working.

According to a recent survey we conducted with over 1,300 of our readers, 84 percent agree that a breakup is the perfect opportunity for self-improvement, and 64 percent do so by changing something about their appearance. You may call that a makeover, but hunny, it's really a "breakover."

Many pop culture examples point to the external "breakovers" women engage in following a breakup. Is there really something to this? Can cutting our hair or buying a new outfit help us get to a place of being "over" an ex?

Breaking up is hard to do. Even when they guy you're breaking up with was never technically your boyfriend. This Valentine's Day, show love to yourself by making the decision to move on. Here are 7 days, and 7 ways, to get over your ex.

Reeling from a breakup? There's an app—or a website, or an online service—for that.