Heal your heart in the Steel City: 7 post-breakup activities in Pittsburgh
Seven activities in Pittsburgh that are perfect for healing a broken heart after a bad breakup.
Breaking up is never fun, whether you’re the instigator or the recipient of the dumping. During the rollercoaster of emotions you may be feeling after a breakup, make sure you prioritize taking care of yourself.
We’ve put together a list of post-breakup activities you can do by yourself—or with friends!—in Pittsburgh in order to have fun and feel good about yourself.
1. Relax on a spa day
Care for your broken heart with the ultimate self-care ritual—a spa day! Grab your friends or go solo to a Greater Pittsburgh spa and pamper yourself silly with treatments to revitalize your skin and calm your racing mind.
If you don’t mind spending a very pretty penny for your spa day (we’re talking hundreds of dollars), you can head to the luxury resort Nemacolin in Farmington for a premier wellness experience. But if your breakup didn’t come with alimony, perhaps try a more affordable but still relaxing local spa, such as Evolve Wellness Spa in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside, where you can schedule rejuvenating facials and massages in the middle of the city.
2. Smash up a “rage room”
Maybe you’re not sad after your breakup. Maybe you’re mad. Or maybe you’re a combination of the two! Confront the smadness at the Pittsburgh area’s “rage room” at Full Throttle Adrenaline Park in Monroeville.
At Full Throttle’s rage rooms, you pay for the opportunity to unleash your feelings at a bunch of breakable stuff without having to worry about the cleanup or any uncomfortable explanations. Full Throttle even provides safety equipment like protective eye and headgear. The cheapest package ($25) allows you to take a hammer to glass and clay pigeons, while paying a little more ($59 and up) lets you rage at a television ripe for destruction.
3. Eat your heart out at a buffet
When you’re feeling down, you deserve a treat, like eating really good food. And there’s nothing wrong with indulging once in a while. Take a step toward healing your heart by eating your heart out at a Pittsburgh buffet.
Many Pittsburgh Indian restaurants have wonderful lunch buffets where you can fill up on biryani and tikka masala, including Peoples Indian Buffet and Taj Mahal Indian Cuisine. You could also go fancy and make reservations for the Sunday buffet brunch at Grand Concourse. At $45 per person, it’s not necessarily cheap, but you have a wide variety of options, from carved meat stations to brunch classics like waffles and eggs. Or, try a cornucopia of pan-Asian foods at the large Hokkaido Seafood Buffet. Don’t forget to make use of the chocolate fountain for dessert!
4. Get a breakup haircut
A breakup is a chance for new beginnings—for reinvention. What better way to quickly embrace a change than by getting a new haircut? The “breakup haircut,” after all, is a recognized phenomenon. “Sometimes a change to our appearance during a difficult or transitional time in our lives can give us a much needed boost in mood, energy, and confidence,” clinical psychologist Jaime Zuckerman told Harper’s BAZAAR Australia/New Zealand.
Perhaps you can also use this transitional period to find your new favorite Pittsburgh hairdresser. You might try Halcyon Salon in Pittsburgh’s Garfield, which has a mission for clients to leave the salon to “not only looking good but also feeling good, accepted, and cared for.”
5. Laugh at a comedy show
When all you want to do is cry, take some steps that might lead to laughter. You’re guaranteed to giggle and chuckle at one of Pittsburgh’s incredible comedy shows.
We recommend Arcade Comedy Theater in downtown Pittsburgh, which hosts live comedy shows every weekend. You might see stand-up comedians make crowds roar with their jokes, improv troupes wow the audience with quick wit, or sketch comedy groups entertain with a team effort. And if you want to be the one making folks laugh, you could even sign up to take a beginner improv class with Arcade!
6. Star in your own photoshoot
After your new haircut and facial from your spa day, you might take some time to get your picture taken! Perhaps you need new headshots anyway, but taking part in a photo shoot can give you a real confidence boost. Look to Pittsburgh-based photographers who are available to take headshots—or maybe you’d prefer a post-breakup photoshoot with your dog. No matter the photos you want to take, Instagram is a great way to find photographers with shooting styles that you like.
We recommend Hot Metal Studio and Jess Vogelsang. And if you don’t really need serious photos or new headshots for work, you could go the free route and sign up a friend to snap photos of you looking your best.
7. Try something new
You can reinvent yourself after a breakup beyond cutting your hair. You might choose to get a new hobby or try something you never thought you would. Best case scenario, you’ve found a new interest for life—and if not, you’ve at least distracted yourself from your breakup.
Pittsburgh has a variety of classes and opportunities for you to dive into a new activity, whether it’s woodworking, stand-up comedy, or making art. Grab a friend and you can both learn something new. Check out the classes at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the Community Education Programs at the Community College of Allegheny County, or other learning spaces around town.
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