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Get outside and get in touch with nature. Look at insects, birds and bees in your back yard. Smell flowers and herbs. Take a walk or bike ride, if your body permits.

Being in nature is calming and relaxing, and focussing on the bigger world outside yourself takes the focus away from your pain and worries.

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Smile and be kind

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I found working with a trained psychologist and doing CBT has really helped me with my anxiety and depression in dealing with chronic pain. I highly recommend.

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Doing so puts more emphasis on the pain.

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Make a lovely  meal for your family, send a positive text to a friend, feed the birds & wildlife in your garden, volunteer or watch flowers & vegetables you’ve cared for grow & thrive- a great distraction from pain and anxiety &  welcome, feel good  positivity when things are tough ❤️ Take care 😁

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Focus on what you have, not what you’ve lost 

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Focus on what you have, not what you’ve lost 

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It's possible to live well, despite the pain.

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Instead of constantly thinking about your pain make the choice to stop this pain tape from constantly playing. Find something you enjoy and think about/do that instead of thinking about your pain.  Or fake it till you make it and repeat positive affirmations about yourself and your life as you sit quietly and breathe.  You can change the talk in your head this way which over time lessens anxiety and reduces the “volume” of the pain.

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let go of the person you were before pain.  Focus on the person you are going to become…

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Take up a creative hobby eg knitting, crochet, painting, Zentangle, origami etc. Something you can do as little or more to keep your mind occupied and as a distraction to your pain.

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Minfulness

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Download the free e-book, learn about pain and get resources/tools. https://www.chronicpainchampions.com/

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Chronic pain can make it easy to feel overwhelmed, reduce our activity levels, and become isolated. Goals help restore a sense of order, build self-efficacy and sense of control, improve mood, and provide direction by helping with planning daily activities.

One of the tools we learned at the Mayo Clinic Pain Rehabilitation Center was goal setting to help us plan our days and keep us on track. We set goals each day. They didn't have to be massive, but they had to be SMART - specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

Specific - What do you want to do? What action will you take?

Measurable - How will you track progress and know when you've reached the finish line.

Achievable - Is it something you can do? Do you have the necessary skills and resources?

Relevant - Why is it important to you?

Time-bound - When do you want to accomplish it?

Some SMART goal examples:

Increase my step count by end of week to 5,000 steps a day.

Do deep breathing for three minutes three times each day for next week.

Read three articles about cognitive behavioral therapy by end of the week.

Plan a social event to visit in-person with friends and family this week.

Lose 4 to 8 pounds of weight in the next 30 days.

Volunteer 10 hours a week at the community center for the next month.

Did you notice none of the goal examples included pain reduction?
Our focus should be on reducing stress, improving our quality of life and increasing functional ability and activity, not pain reduction. Focusing on pain reduction is an easy trap to fall into - leading to frustration and depression. Just as the headline of my website says - we can live well, despite the pain.

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Chronic pain can make it easy to feel overwhelmed, reduce our activity levels, and become isolated. Goals help restore a sense of order, build self-efficacy and sense of control, improve mood, and provide direction by helping with planning daily activities.

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There are tools to self-manage the pain with help from providers.

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Join Chronic Pain Champions Facebook support group

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Join Chronic Pain Champions Facebook support group

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The focus is on living well, despite pain, including understanding pain, accepting pain, adjusting to pain, and adapting to pain. https://www.facebook.com/groups/painchampions

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Chronic Pain Champions - No Whining Allowed (Support Group)

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This group offers a "positive" resource for people with non-cancer/end-of-life chronic pain, caretakers (family and friends), medical professionals, and industry experts to champion pain. The focus...

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Have a go to kit to help flares of pain
An iPad or something like this to watch movies, Netflix, Hulu ( I have old tv)
Pain patches( large) over the counter
Pain rubs
Candles
Music player if you don’t have an IPad
Treats to eat for the endorphins
Books
Coloring books

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Listen to your car purr, pet your dog/cat, stroke your child's hair - soothing contact.

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Listen to your car purr, pet your dog/cat, stroke your child's hair - soothing contact.

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The longer you hold onto the stress and worry associated with chronic pain, the heavier and more disabling the pain can become.

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Being overly fearful, resting, and not doing things in anticipation of the pain can make it worse.

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Sing - if you are feeling anxious, singing helps you inhale and exhale in a way that activates the ventral vagal system.

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Sing - if you are feeling anxious, singing helps you inhale and exhale in a way that activates the ventral vagal system.

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Change sensory input: Smell lavender or citrus, drink something flavorful, eat something with a distinct or "cannot be ignored" flavor (war heads, lemons, spicy), touch something soft, hold ice in your hands, etc. 

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Change sensory input: Smell lavender or citrus, drink something flavorful, eat something with a distinct or "cannot be ignored" flavor (war heads, lemons, spicy), touch something soft, hold ice in your hands, etc. 

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Do something pleasing - blowing bubbles is calming and helps regulate breathing.

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Do something pleasing - blowing bubbles is calming and helps regulate breathing.

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Gentle stretching, holding for 20 seconds or less.

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Gentle stretching, holding for 20 seconds or less.

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Listen to music

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Walk

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Do a word search or puzzle to distract from the pain

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Do a word search or puzzle to distract from the pain

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While zero pain is a great goal, it’s most often an unrealistic expectation.

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Keep your mind busy

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Moderate and increase exercise slowly.  Don’t do the see saw - teeter totter.  Feeling great one day do everything, feeling bad next day doing nothing - aim for a healthy balance

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Keep moving, sitting for long periods of time, makes you feel worse . 

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Keep moving, sitting for long periods of time, makes you feel worse . 

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Get off the pain merry-go-round of doctors, tests, and drugs 

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Get off the pain merry-go-round of doctors, tests, and drugs 

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There isn’t always a cause and cure.

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Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty.

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Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty.

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Feel your feelings,  but stay in charge of how much space you allow the sadness, anger, disappointment to hold. Have a go to mantra that diverts your mind from the negative, such as, "this is temporary, and you always get through".

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Functional Medicine Reverses Chronic Pain

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Functional Medicine Reverses Chronic Pain

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See a good functional medicine practitioner who can get to the root cause of your pain and reverse it. Here’s a list of practitioners. https://afmccertification.com/?_ke=eyJrbF9lbWFpbCI6ICJqQGpvZGlmcmFua2xpbi5jb20iLCAia2xfY29tcGFueV9pZCI6ICJIQ1RSZ1QifQ%3D%3D

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Try to distract yourself by working or reading a book it really helps 😊

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Work according to traffic light system:
Green - you're feeling ok
Yellow/Orange - pain is creeping up, so pause, take a break.
Red - stop! Don't push yourself, it will only make things worse

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Deep breathing and tia chi help me a lot

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Deep breathing and tia chi help me a lot

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I do morning devotional and keep a gratitude journal.