Cheryl Burke Says ‘Being Alone’ Is the ‘Best Thing’ for Her Amid Matthew Lawrence Split

usmagazine.com:

Staying solo. Cheryl Burke opened up about the benefits of being alone amid her split from estranged husband Matthew Lawrence.“I’ve realized that whenever I am at a point in my life where I have some big emotions to process, the best thing for me to do is to spend some time alone — other than being with [my dog] Ysa of course, but I truly feel like she is a part of me, so she doesn’t count,” the Dancing With the Stars pro, 37, wrote via Instagram on Sunday, March 6. “If I’m being honest, really feeling my feelings is new to me.”The ballroom dancer confessed that she’s spent her “entire life up to this point” feeling “numb” to her emotions, and she’s “learning that really going through them is A LOT harder” than she expected.“There’s the obvious reason it’s hard — that the emotions I’m experiencing right now are complicated and aren’t exactly happy,” she added. “But the less obvious reason is that I’m realizing I have a tendency to judge my own feelings and if I’m with other people, that magnifies.

I get so focused on other people’s perception of how I’m dealing with my emotions — which then in turn leads me to question if I am feeling things the ‘right way.'”While she recognized that she’s not “the only person” who tends to think that way, she also noted that it’s difficult to unlearn that behavior.

As she continues to work through her highs and lows, Burke wrote that “being alone for a few days has been the best thing” for her, concluding, “I encourage anyone else out there to try it and not feel guilty for needing that space.”The former Dance Moms star has been candid about her headspace since filing for divorce from Lawrence, 42, last month.