Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin announced their separation Tuesday and introduced us to the concept of "conscious uncoupling."
That was the title of the post the actress/musician couple published to announce their split on Paltrow's lifestyle-focused website, Goop.com. Shortly after the post went up, the site crashed, but not before media outlets had shared the full text of the message widely.
"We have been working hard for well over a year, some of it together, some of it separated, to see what might have been possible between us, and we have come to the conclusion that while we love each other very much we will remain separate," Paltrow and Martin wrote.
"We have always conducted our relationship privately, and we hope that as we consciously uncouple and coparent, we will be able to continue in the same manner," the message concluded.
The Internet, of course, jumped on this unique way of describing marital separation.
But there may be some unintended beneficiaries of Paltrow's choice of words: these counselors who offer courses in relationshipconscious uncoupling.
According to the counsellors who run these sessions to heal ex-partners after a breakup, conscious uncoupling can help you use the experience as a catalyst for transformation, and get rid of resentment that remains after the relationship ends. While this might be a kinder phrasing for ending a marriage, it certainly falls in line with the philosophy Paltrow has demonstrated as of late.
As she told Entertainment Tonight in January, "I think that the more that you are willing to reveal to yourself what your damage is, what your pain is, what your truth is, the more you're able to really flourish as a human being."
