Surviving Pain in Fall

My respite is over and I am happy to say, I feel renewed once again. The beauty of summer in the Rockies is unforgettable.

As we came down out of the mountains, I became acutely aware that the summer heat and humidity are still present, but I also know fall will arrive soon and the lazy days of summer will surrender to crisp chilly air. For some who live with chronic pain, that will be welcome, while others will see their pain increase as a nature of their illness. Regardless, it's time to prepare. With short-term memory loss, I need written prompts, a string tied to my little finger or a note pinned to my jacket isn’t enough. That's how the Broken Body, Wounded Spirit Balancing the See-Saw of Chronic Pain series came to be.

If you aren’t familiar with the series, you can learn more at my author profile.  There is also detailed information on my website at the following links if you want more information before you decide if this is a book for you. If you have the book, it's time to get it out and re-explore. I suspect you will see things from a different perspective, and you will learn something new to share.

• About ​Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the SeeSaw ofChronic Pain, FALL DEVOTIONS
• Table of Contents
• Endorsements - Inside the Cover 

Fall is the season for reaping the rewards of summer and preparing for the winter. It is a time to reflect and look forward. I hope you enjoy Fall Devotions. We have been told it offers encouragement, practical advice, comfort, and aesthetic appeal.

Here’s to a colorful and hearty fall season.

Available:

Amazon in paperback 

Kindle version 

Amazon UK Kindle 

Amazon Canada Kindle 

Barnes and Nobel paperback 

A Spring Lesson on Mindfulness: Dealing with Pain and Illness

It comes as no surprise that when we are sedentary, our mind shifts without provocation. And for those of us who live with persistent pain and illness, its source sticks out like a thumb that was just smashed with a huge hammer, red and swollen, throbbing, and begging for attention. But unlike a sore thumb, chronic pain and illness does not heal with time. Want to or not, we must acknowledge it. Through acknowledgement, we learn to accept it. And, when we learn not to scream, ridicule, or judge pain, fatigue or chronic illness, we do better. 

“But only a person in the depths 

of despair neglected to look beyond winter to the spring that inevitably followed, bringing back color and life and hope.”

~Mary Balogh

Biofeedback gives us hard evidence that our mind does have an effect on our body. This mindfulness boosts our defenses against the myriad of problems living with chronic pain and illness can bring to our door. So, what can we do to calm down the brain when it wants to take on a mind of its own? We can learn to be mindful. 

Our pain or other illness is not the villain here; it is the result of a bad character insulting our body. It doesn’t want to exist anymore than we want to experience it. So, being hard on it isn’t helpful, it won’t make it go away, and it won’t make us feel better.

In your journal, or in this book, write down what you think you MUST do. Now, go back and decide what it really is that you NEED to do. I suspect you will find the Must Do's that keep getting pushed to the bottom of your inbox resolve on their own. If you are having trouble giving up the driving force of stress inducing thoughts, pick up a good CD on mindfulness. There is a difference in living a packed life and living a full life.

Ten Lessons from Pain:

1. Acceptance of what is.
2. Compassion for the less fortunate.
3. Change is not a bad word.
4. Humility is a virtue.
5. Strength in not surrendering to stressors.
6. …

Can I make a list of my own ten lessons on pain?

[The above is an excerpt from: Broken Body Wounded Spirit: Balancing the See-Saw of Chronic Pain, SPRING DEVOTIONS, Day Seventy-five]

BUY NOW!

Remember, there will be times when no matter what we do to negate it, pain will demand its just course. During these periods, we should be particularly aware so our mind-body interaction can heal. Whatever means you use to become mindful, whether it be prayer, meditation, structured action, silent retreat, creative visualization, T'ai Chi, just do it! Procrastination is not our friend. 


You can find other topics, tips and exercises in our books (Jeff Miller, PhD, coauthor), and more. Take a few minutes to go through the table of contents for Spring Devotions.

 "We are all subject to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune; they are around us, in a space we do not control. This book is a gentle, yet forceful reminder that the best defenses against them reside within- in a space we do control, welling up from resources we can learn to cultivate. Hope here is equally soft and irresistible, much like Spring itself."

 ~Dr. David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP, Director,Yale University Prevention Research Center

Read what our other reviewers had to say about Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the See-Saw of Chronic Pain, SPRING DEVOTIONS.

~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~

"Adversity is only an obstacle if we fail to see opportunity."  

Celeste Cooper, RN

Connect with Celeste

Celeste’s Website: http://CelesteCooper.com

Learn more about what you can do to help your body function to its potential in the books you can find here on Celeste's  blog. Subscribe to posts by using the information in the upper right hand corner or use the share buttons to share with others. 

Celeste’s other books can also be found at Author Central. 


All answers and blogs are based on the author's opinions and writing and are not meant to replace medical advice.  

Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the SeeSaw of Chronic Pain, SUMMER DEVOTIONS

Summer is just around the corner, and with it comes challenges for the person living with chronic pain and illness. Being prepared to face each day, sometimes each moment, is important for maximizing the many aspects that confront the person living in pain. Following is information on SUMMER DEVOTIONS in the Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the SeeSaw of Chronic Pain series.

About the Book 

By focusing on each summer day, the authors send their readers on a personal journey that allows them to restructure their personal experience with pain. In the foreword, Erica Verillo says “...Organized into a “book of days” each chapter offers a combination of practical coping advice – how to manage the sleep disorder that often comes with chronic pain, dietary considerations, and how to review the effectiveness of treatments – information (what do all those medical acronyms mean?), and guidance through the emotional turmoil of chronic illness...”

Finding physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual balance can be challenging for the person living with chronic pain. There is a primal need to provide physical comfort and positive interactions with others. Though this is something everyone faces, those who live with chronic pain are confronted with these challenges, and more, every day. Summer Devotions strives to help readers reclaim control over their lives by interacting with daily prompts for inward reflection. Everyone's experience with pain is unique and so should be their strategies for coping.

"Broken Body, Wounded Spirit takes those who suffer from chronic pain and illness on a magical ride to a place where all patients need to go: a place of relaxation, solace, and perspective. Woven in a rich pattern of interrelated tips, stories, and lovely truisms, we learn that we control our journey, and that being mindful of the realities of dealing with a chronic disease puts us in charge. I highly recommend this soulful little book."
 ~Richard Carson, Health advocate and Founder of ProHealth.com
From Summer Devotions Inside the Cover

“A must have for anyone suffering from the frustration of chronic pain. Best part about this book is you don't have to read it in order... I've skimmed through several times and each time there is another inspiration just waiting!”  Amazon Reviewer

 “I am only about halfway through this book, but have found it thought-provoking, insightful and uplifting. I don't read a lot, and this is broken down into daily readings which is helpful, yet I often find myself wanting to read more than one days worth at a time. I would highly recommend this book and the fact that it is available on Kindle on my phone and I can take it with me and read it anywhere is an added bonus! “Hannah, AmazonReviewer 

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Celeste  is an advanced trained RN who was forced into early retirement because of chronic pain. Her experience as an educator, an advocate, and a person living with chronic pain gives her a unique perspective. Her motivation for writing self-help books is to fulfill her personal purpose of helping others. Celeste believes it is up to each individual to explore ways to improve their life and encourages her readers through the exercises included in her works. She also believes every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect and understands first-hand that is something each person must learn to demand in a kind and meaningful way, despite judgment imposed by others. For that reasons she advocates and educates.

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Jeff  Miller, PhD is a clinical psychologist with several specialties, including management of chronic pain disorders.  His goal is to help patients learn to cope with the psychological and spiritual aspects of pain and provide easy to use tools for maintaining forward momentum in their life.

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Available:

Amazon (Also available in Kindle) 

Barnes and Noble 

Amazon UK 

Amazon Canada 

In healing,

Celeste Cooper, RN / Author, Freelancer, Advocate

Think adversity?-See opportunity!

http://www.CelesteCooper.com

2 Day Free Book Download - WINTER DEVOTIONS, Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the See-Saw of Chronic Pain (Series)

Just in time for the winter season, we are giving our readers a free download of the Kindle version on Saturday, December 13, 2014 beginning 12:00 AM PST ending Sunday December 14, 2014 at midnight. No thanks necessary, but it would make us ecstatic if you would leave a review on Amazon. 

Happy Holidays

Download at:

http://amazon.com/dp/B00HAVXLYO/

Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the See-Saw of Chronic Pain (Series)

WINTER DEVOTIONS

by Celeste Cooper, RN, BSN and Jeff Miller, PhD

There is nothing charismatic about chronic pain. Pain is greedy and demanding. It consumes our time, our relationships, and our function; it threatens everything that is important in our lives, and threatens to rob us of our character and our dignity.

The winter season is often compared to dying. This death allows us to come full circle and prepare for new ways of thinking, ways that allow us to reclaim control and defend ourselves against the grotesque monster that creates fear, agony, loneliness, and resentment.

Sharing their medical expertise, and Celeste as patient and advocate, the authors start with a blank canvas as white as the pure driven snow, full of possibilities. Offering a blend of integrative therapies and day by day tidbits of wisdom, the authors encourage their readers finalize to create a picture worth a thousand words, and encourage them to explore their unique, and sometimes, universal experiences. 

Join in as we walk the barren winter landscape that is necessary to rid ourselves of previous conceptions as we prepare for the spring season of rebirth.

 

Published by ImPress Media (2013)

ISBN:  13: 978-0615924052   ASIN (Kindle Ebook): B00HAVXLYO

Available at all major online retailers in 6” x 9” paperback.

“This lovely book of devotions is rich with insight and practical suggestions for any one with chronic pain. It is filled witch inspirational and healing words dealing with topics from nutrition, exercise and sleep to relating successfully to your doctor.”

~Susan E. Opper, MD, Medical Director of Saint Luke’s Pain Management Services, Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City.

“I love the very idea of “Winter Devotions”.   The struggle of living with chronic pain is compounded for many by the winter months when it is cold, damp, and often gloomy.  Bones ache, joints hurts, and the spirit sometimes become depressed. This wonderful book provides a tool to help with those issues.  The quotes, photography and motivation of authors Celeste Cooper and Jeff Miller all bring much needed hope and relief.”

~Myra J. Christopher, Kathleen M. Foley Chair in Pain and Palliative Care at the Center for Practical Bioethics and Principal Investigator of the Pain Action Alliance to Implement a National Strategy.

and more...

(See Reverse)

"...When pain is in 'boss mode,' it detracts from our innate need to socialize and contribute, and confronting chronic pain takes constant reminders..."

Following are a few thought provoking questions you interact with Winter Devotions:

• How can I find balance in my strengths and weakness?
• How can I clear my path today and take out unnecessary accumulated thoughts?
• How can I change my word energy?
• How does freeing memories make me feel?
• How can I make healthy substitutions this winter?
• What do those pain terms mean?
• How can I overcome procrastination?
• Is there something here I would like to explore?
• On the pain scale, what is my ten?
• What is something I always wanted to try, but never made the time? 
• What rules do I want for my journal?
• What can I do to maintain and build healthy relationships?
• Have I thought about my choices? 
• How can I redirect pain when it gets bossy?

Read more about other books by these authors at http://CelesteCooper.com  (About the Books Tab)