Katy Perry's marriage to Russell Brand ended in divorce, but their time together wasn't a total loss.
In an interview with Marie Claire's January 2014 issue, the 29-year-old singer credits her ex-husband for introducing her to transcendental meditation, calling the spiritual practice "the best thing I got out of my previous relationship."
Their December 2011 split, however, was extremely difficult for her. "There were two weeks of my life after I found out the truth of my marriage where I was like, 'OK. All right. I can't feel this. This is too intense right now,'" she recalls. "I was, like, just eating Flamin' Hot Cheetos and drinking, and that's it."
Then Perry made a choice, explaining, "There are two ways you can go: You can either nurture yourself or go destructive. I have gone down the destructive path before, and that didn't work for me."
"You dig deep beyond those scars and find that soft tissue again, and you massage and nurture it and bring it to life, little by little, through serving yourself well," she explains. "I did it through hikes and vitamins and therapy and prayer and good friends."
But Perry, who has been in an on-off relationship with John Mayer since August 2012, needed a bit more self-actualization to get past the pain of her divorce. "I took a break from my boyfriend, not one that I wanted," she tells Marie Claire. "It was like a splash of cold water to search inward on what was going on with me. That is what let me to this new awakening, this realizing, If I don't do some self-love, I'm not going to be able to keep the love that I want. I still needed to deal with all of my ex-husband stuff. I hadn't. It's almost like if I kept talking about it, it would seem like I actually cared about it. I don't."
Fortunately, the "Dark Horse" singer and Mayer, 36, are now happily together in what she describes as "a rad, mature relationship."
"He's just a fantastic partner," she gushes. "I've been a fan of his for such a long time. He's got a brilliant, brilliant mind."
Can't argue with that one!