“Cuffing Season” has officially run its course as couples come out from their cozy winter hibernation and step out into the warmer weather and social scenes. With spring and summer come concerts, parties and festivals, and it’s likely that you’ll want to use this time to have fun and spread your independent wings with no baggage or strings attached.
Uncoupling will give you newfound freedom to put yourself first and focus on what’s best for you. Use this Uncuffing Season to embrace your strong and self-sufficient identity by prioritizing the health and well-being of your mind and body with self-care.
Give some TLC to your winter mind and body.
Being in a relationship and enjoying new endeavors with our significant others can encourage us to indulge in life’s greatest foods and activities while making little effort to compensate for those delights. Cuffing season is the time when we neglect the signals our bodies are giving us and put off addressing our health. Take the time that was once devoted to your partner and use it to address weaknesses in your body and get back into a healthy routine.
Perhaps you’ve been feeling frequent headaches but you haven’t found the time to focus on curing them. Or maybe you’ve been noticing recurring cold sores but you’ve tried to ignore them until they disappear, yet they come back once again. Take this separation from the responsibility of another person and use it to visit a doctor. Find ways to reduce stress and relieve headaches, or look into different ways to address the parts of you that need attention, like cold sore medication or acne treatments. Staying in tune with your health, along with a consistent workout routine, can have you feeling like your strongest, happiest self, which will allow you to throw yourself into Uncuffing Season with no hesitations.
Revamp your image.
The conclusion of your relationship and the blossoming of your new independence can make you feel like you need to try new things. There is a reason that people change their image after a breakup, whether that be in the form of a haircut or a change in wardrobe. Though it might sound a bit cliché, a new and revised look can symbolize the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. Cliché or not, however, you should be doing whatever it takes for you to be able to release any emotional baggage and take control of your own life.
Ask yourself what changes you’ve been wanting to make and go for it without anyone else’s input. Cut your long locks, change up the color, or try some new hairstyles. If altering your hair isn’t in the cards, display your transformation to the single life with a change in wardrobe. Treat yourself to some new clothes and replicate the style of some of your favorite icons. This could be just what you need in order to be bold enough to explore new things and new people with obligations to nobody but yourself.
Step out of your comfort zone.
The comfort and familiarity of a relationship can make it easy for us to fall into a monotonous routine. We do the same things, see the same people, and get absorbed into the same cycle every day. Being newly single, you now have the opportunity to make some serious changes to your life. Uncuffing Season is encouraging you to stray from your habits and have new experiences. Do the things you’ve always wanted to do but found excuses for﹣until now.
Meet new friends by going to summer parties and visiting places you’ve never been before. Be social and talk to people you normally wouldn’t have given a chance. Allow yourself to take opportunities for new adventures and memories that will stick around for a lifetime. Your positive experiences can have a huge effect on the state of your mental health which is one of the most important aspects of our well-being. Self-care and new experiences are just some strides you can make toward happy, healthy, unconstrained independence.