- Accept that you have persistent pain & move on
- Get Involved - Building a support team
- Pacing. Learn to pace yourself
- Learn to prioritise and plan out your days
- Setting Goals and Action Plans
- Being patient with yourself
- Learn relaxation skills & keep relaxed
- Keeping fit. Stretching & Exercise
- Keep a diary and track your progress
- Have a set-back plan to fall back on
- Team Work. Get involved with others
- Keeping it up. Put into practise tools, 1-11
Available in French, German
Italian & more
The Pain Toolkit is also available in French, German & Italian and many more languages. They can be downloaded by clicking here.
Tool Seven
Learn Relaxation Skills
Relaxation skills are very important for tense muscles in the body and for unwinding the mind.
Relaxtion could be:
- Reading a book
- Listening to some music
- Gardening
- Meeting friends for a coffee/tea
- Going the cinema or a restaurant
- Belly breathing (your health care professional can show you how)
- Meditation
- Dancing
- Walking
Tip: Try this relaxation CD from Bob Lewin.
Coping or self managing?
coping with persistent pain can be like playing a game of snakes and ladders - a game of luck. Being an over achiever you can tend to do more on good ays (climb the ladder) and on bad days, do less and return to bed. (This is like sliding down the snake). Self managing is taking positive, planned action which can reduce the 'luck' element in pain self management.
