A Pocket Full Of Change For Managing Pain This Fall

 

Not every day presents a crisis of earth-shattering magnitude. However, those of us who experience chronic pain do have challenges to overcome on a regular basis making it important to be aware of system breakdown predictors. Factors apparent in a total system breakdown include a loss of our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual safety net (the four-seated teeter-totter we discuss in this series of books). If we are aware that mounting daily stressors are precursors to a crisis, can we be better prepared should a crisis occur?
 
Symptoms that risks are mounting:
 

• We become short-tempered.
• We don't feel rested for several days in a row.
• We have more difficulty than usual concentrating.
• We feel overwhelmed and without resources.
• Our pain is not being managed adequately.
• We struggle with tasks that we normally manage well.

 
What can we do when we find a consistent pattern that could be leading up to a coping failure? We can:
 

• Delay chores or break them down into segments.
• Approach each day individually and break it down by each hour if necessary.
• Summon help from support system members or healthcare providers.
• Give ourselves permission to rest.
• Change what we can, and let the rest go.
• Accept that some days doing the minimum allows us to charge our battery and prevent a total breakdown later.
• Focus on our successes.

 
Preparedness Is the Next Best Thing to an Apple Pie, Day Three, Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the See-Saw of Chronic Pain, Fall Devotions by Celeste Cooper RN and Jeff Miller, PhD. Read the reviews on Amazon here.
 
An effective tool for combating the effects of stress is positive thinking.  So when my stress meter is about to blow mercury into the universe, I open my tool kit.
 

• Say no to negativity.
• See opportunity in adversity
• Say, “I will.”
• Do a kindness.
• Create a positive word list.
• Imagine positive energy.
• Have a positive dialogue with my body.
• Write an affirmation.
• Write an “I am” or “I like” poem or phrase.

 
From my private collection...

The Promise of Like ©
 
I like camping, picnics, mountains with streams,
Invading my space and into my dreams,
Loony family, self, friends, and birds,
Even failing to speak with words.
 
Fortune to learn, watching children at play,
Scenery, lakes that reflect on the day,
Cakes, spirituality, flowers, a good book,
And cactus that winks with a funny look.
 
Mixed sun, rain, fall, a cloud that churns,
Laughter, antiques, Hummel’s and urns,
Gentle music, dogs, sea horses and cats,
Wildlife inspires me, even the bats.
 
I like promise and hope, flowers I like.
I like beginnings and endings, I just like.
 
Written by Celeste Cooper, author (Colorado, 2011). I wrote this poem from a random list of things I like.

Find more tips that are helpful in our Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the See-Saw of Chronic Pain series and Integrative Therapies for Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Myofascial Pain: The Mind-body Connection available at https://www.amazon.com/Celeste-Cooper/e/B002X2IZYG
 
 In healing

Think adversity?-See opportunity!

The Pained Ink Slayer

http://www.CelesteCooper.com

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Guest Blog on MINDFULNESS by Melissa Swanson

Following is a guest blog by “Fibro Warrior” Melissa Swanson on her relationship with mindfulness. Read about how her setbacks became the foundation for understanding mindfulness. 

Melissa's Blog

The day that I started to write this article it was an amazing coincidence I was watching 60 minutes  with a interview with an expert on mindfulness.  I reached down into the basket I keep next to my living room chair and pulled out the his CD. I had purchased it well over a year ago when I had been told probably for the third time by my friend that I should try it.

As we watched the report on 60 minutes I told my family that this is what I am supposed to be doing. I have tried it and had not been successful at it.

I can not count how many speakers or friends have told me to try mindfulness. Try asking a Type A person with ADD to lay down, shut your mind off and concentrate on your breathing while releasing each part of your body.

I was getting stressed out just trying relax. My mind would wander to the noises being made in our living room, the things I needed to do, then “STOP IT” “CONCENTRATE”. “Relax, breathe, shoulders, arms, “need to email the Volleyball parents” Ugh!!!

Each and every time I would try to relax I would get so stressed because I couldn’t focus on only my breathing and relaxing my body.

While attending the NFMCPA LAPAN advocacy training seminar, Dr. Michael Olpin was one of the speakers. Dr. Michael Olpin is a professor of Health Promotion at Weber State University and is the director of WSU’s Health Promotion Program. He is also director of the WSU Stress Relief Center. He earned his Ph.D. in Health Education from SIU, and his Master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Health Promotion and Psychology from BYU.

We were told his focus is stress management, mind/body wellness, mental & emotional wellness, and wellness coaching.

He said “a nice quiet room is best” and to forget using relaxation tapes like sounds from the rainforest.

He sat in his chair, closed his eyes, exhaled and let his body relax.  “Silently focus and repeat a specific word for 10-20 minutes.  This word you choose is called your mantra.  Choose a single calming word like peace, serene, silence.  He chose the word (one). Allow your mind to whisper your mantra over and over at a pace of about one repetition every 3-4 seconds”

He softly said the word 1 took a slight pause and then repeated the process 1..1..1…

He was in the middle of counting and started talking the thoughts that had popped into his head. “I need to remember to call so and so and I need to do…. Then when he realized he had loss focus he stopped and began again 1….1…1

What he said next was the turning point for me. “It is okay for your mind to wander”. “The important thing is to not get upset if you lose focus”.

Once you realize that you have lost your focus just start again 1..1..1

It was ok if I my mind wandered? Someone just told me I didn’t have to be perfect.

Then it was our turn… Softly he said

“Close your eyes, let your breath out, feel your body go limp and start counting 1,1,1.

Okay for the next 5 minutes we are going to try it.

Sitting in this uncomfortable chair in a conference room with all these people my body actually began to relax.

Yes, it did wander but as soon as I caught myself I started again.

“Slowly return to normal waking consciousness.  Take at least 2 minutes to return.”

I had finally discovered something that worked for me.  I needed to have someone tell me it was okay to get off track without stressing about it. Also, like every other treatment, medication, diet we have to keep trying new things until we find the right one that fits us.  I now have success with the CD’s that I had stressed out every time I had tried.

The last issue of the NFMCPA’s magazine Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain Life’s Winter 2014 issue has a very informative and helpful article by Kim Jones and Mary Casselberry.

In addition to Dr. Michael Olpin’s website and his books ~ “Unwind; 7 principles for a Stress-Free Life & “The World is Not a Stressful Place; Stress relief for everyone” my friends also recommend Jon Kabat-Zinn ~ Full Catastrophe Living Using the Wisdomof Your Body and Mind to Face the Stress, Pain and Illness  and  Dr. Bernie Siegel. 

It seems that everywhere I turn someone is talking, tweeting or blogging about the benefits of Mindfulness.  I don’t know about everyone else but my life is so busy once I trained myself on how to do it finding the time was the next hurdle.  I found the time.  I chose to practice mindfulness during the time that I am waiting in my car for my Teenager after practices and games, in my office at school during my lunch and even as I soak in the bathtub. It is a cold winter and I do need to find time ways to help my body get through until Spring and Mindfulness is one of those ways. 

How can mindfulness work in your life?

About Melissa

Melissa Swanson is a chronic pain patient, advocate, and author. through her Facebook page, she offers positive encouragement, medical information, resources, and support to 10,000 + fibromyalgia and chronic pain patients. In addition to her own blog, Melissa has been published in "Living Well with Fibromyalgia" and the NFMCPA "Advocate Voice".  Graduate of the 2014 Class of Leaders Against Pain Scholarship Training sponsored by the National Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain Association.  Member of the Leaders Against Pain Action Network.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/survivingfibro

Blog: www.survivingwithfibro.wordpress.com

Twitter:  MelissaSwanso22

Email: swansonmjs@gmail.com

A Gift

I give many thanks to Melissa for sharing her heartfelt story on mindfulness and her personal journey with chronic pain. Her support means to world to me as a friend, fellow patient, and author. I couldn't possibly think of a better way to introduce you to the helpful tips in Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the SeeSaw of Chronic Pain, Spring Devotions. Thank you Melissa for being my friend, for your collaboration, for your leadership and your support.

Other Tips:

What’s New in Mindfulness Research from Health Central Editor

Fitness Magazine, Meditation for Beginners: How to Meditate 

If you need additional help, visit George Green’sMindfulness Advantage

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Update 2015

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

Celeste Cooper, RN

Author—Patient—Health Central Chronic Pain Pro —Advocate

New Website

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.

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