Sadly, Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin have announced they are separating after over a decade of marriage. The official announcement was made on Gwyneth's lifestyle site, GOOP and the post was called " Conscious Uncoupling." In their joint statement, the couple asked for privacy as they "consciously uncouple." My first reaction to this whole "conscious uncoupling" business was to roll my eyes. Separation and divorce are of course all about you consciously recognizing you are not a part of a couple anymore. But after thinking about it some more, I realized Gwen may be on to something with this whole conscious uncoupling. I think this is a great way for couples to visualize a breakup and to make a breakup seem more manageable. Think of it like a math equation, where you are subtracting one from two. That doesn't seem so scary right? Every one can do simple math. And that's what couples going through divorces and breakups need, a simple way to think about the overwhelming task of losing their partner. In a breakup there is so much to think about: kids, selling the house, who gets what and how you're going to tell people. The logistics of breaking up can seem insurmountable. But if you think about it as a simple equation of going from two to one, it doesn't seem so scary. Your bills go from being split by two to being split by one. You buy groceries for one. You buy a house suited for one. You make decisions based on one opinion. You only need a bathroom big enough for one person. I usually don't consider celebrities a good example for us regular folks. But in this case, I think Gwyneth has found a practical way to deal with the emotional roller coaster of a separation. You must constantly remind yourself that you are going forward as a single person. And if you see yourself as one, instead of as a part of a pair, that will help you learn to let go and embrace your oneness. What do you think of consciously uncoupling?  Photo courtesy of Andrea Raffin/Wikimedia Commons