6 Hobbies Every Person with Chronic Pain Should Have | Life in the Real
- Updated on: 2018-04-19
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Chronic pain has a way of slowly taking over your life. You eventually reach the point where everything revolves around your pain and I do mean everything. Over the years I have tried a fair amount of different hobbies. All in search of something that clicks and allows for a passionate distraction. It was definitely not an easy road but I regret nothing. It led me to completely turning my life around! I have learned that it is not enough to take up a hobby, you actually have to tailor it to your needs. There is no “one-size fits-all” option for anyone living with chronic pain. It’s all about creating exactly what works for you. These 6 hobbies are my final picks, which I practice every day. These star picks have led to monumental improvements in my health, pain levels and overall quality of life! I hope this gives you a better idea of what you need to do to start feeling better. Remember that the real trick lies in adapting each hobby to your exact needs.
The Reason Meditation allows you to get in touch with your body and learn how to better CONTROL it, this being everything from your thoughts and emotions to your breathing patterns. This is great for MANAGING stress, anxiety and pain.
The Perks The lowered anxiety you experience will directly translate into LESS pain. Anxiety can single-handedly send any chronic pain sufferer into an unexpected flare. Meaning that by having a better hold on anxiety and stress is a HUGE win. Also, learning to better control your thoughts and emotions can go a LONG way to improving your overall quality of life.
The Tip Chose a quiet corner in your house and set up a little “meditation nook“. You can always sign up to any meditation class but if you prefer to stay at home, YouTube has MILLIONS of awesome videos to get you started (same for meditation music!).
The Helper Invest in the following items to help you get as COMFORTABLE as possible when you meditate, as it involves being in one spot for a while:
The Reason Reading OPENS your mind like noting else does and allows you to continue LEARNING as much as you want throughout life. You want to be successful? This is the way to achieve it, GUARANTEED.
The Perks Reading is great for EVERYONE but anyone with chronic pain can begin taking control of their life by simply picking up a book. The options are endless but you can choose to focus your reading on SPECIFIC topics that best relate to what you need to improve your quality of life to where it should be! Remember information is POWER! Here are some reading topic ideas and some relevant books to better illustrate what I mean:
The TipPINTEREST is a great place to find all kinds of different INFORMATION regarding pretty much any subject, chronic pain and illness being a popular topic. Also, it can be a great place to MEET other people going through similar situations as your own. Pinterest truly made a difference in my life as son as I was able to understand how to effectively use it.If I peeked your curiosity check out my profile and get to starting on your own!
The HelperThe position in which you read will have a HUGE impact on how you feel, as we tend to slouch when reading for extended periods of time. Do your best to be AWARE, maintain proper posture and avoid incorrect positioning. Believe me when I say that If you skip this step you have some ROUGH days ahead of you! Let’s not add more problems to the mix.
The ReasonThere are few things that are as effective at UNLEASHING your creative side as writing. We’re talking about an open field that runs eternally just waiting for you to begin BUILDING. All this straight from the confines of your very own mind. It doesn’t get much better than that!
The Perks Writing gives you total FREEDOM to unleash your thoughts and emotions on a blank sheet of paper, and believe me when I say, it REALLY helps! Write about anything you want from a personal journals, articles or even movie screen plays. The beauty of this hobby lies within the freedom it provides.
The Tip Writing is a great skill for making AMAZING income straight from your home, requiring little set-up before you can start making some money. I personally have been able to GREATLY improve my quality of life thanks to taking up online writing. This was more than welcomed as it opened up more time to care for myself.
The Helper An Ergonomic mouse and keyboard are just as important as maintaining proper posture for your writing venture to be a success. Take these things in mind when you plan your work schedule. I will be publishing quite a few posts on working with chronic pain very soon! FOLLOW ME! I got great things on the way!
The Reason Yoga allows you to extensively STRETCH your muscles and ligaments in proper form while generating little or no impact for your joints (depending on what routine you choose). Not only does it help with MOBILITY and FLEXIBILITY but it also tones core muscles, which can help with back pain.
The Perks This provides a great, healthy way to effectively FIGHT pain, stiffness and joint inflammation while providing your body with many other essential health benefits. Yoga also has a high focus on BREATHING (much like meditation) which can be very relevant in most chronic pain scenarios. Last but not least, Yoga is CHEAP!
The Tip Get a beginner’s kit, start slow, ease into and be DISCIPLINED! Take your time, try new positions and find what works best for you. No one routine will work for everyone, you have to put in the WORK and find your perfect combo. Keep a log of all your progress and you will eventually create the PERFECT routine for you!
The Helper Try practicing yoga in a HEATED room. By having the temperature warmer than usual your muscles can truly loosen up and yoga will be even more effective as a PAIN-MANAGING activity! Also, being on hard floors is a big issue for some of us, so I recommend you invest in a thicker yoga mat.
The ReasonPhysical activity and exercise are CRUCIAL for our body to function at its best, even more so for people living with chronic pain. The combination of chemical reactions that occur in the body during a workout can have a HUGE impact on how we feel. It improves how we feel regarding pain and everything else!
The PerksExercising will not only LOWER your pain level but also help to keep anxiety and stress away. This will effectively decrease your discomfort further. The physical activity will also help keep your WEIGHT under better control. When you combine this with a healthy diet and exercise you can really TURN your life around!
The Tip Much like a mentioned for yoga, you must take it SLOW and find the workout that best works for you. This is not a race to see who gets to the top first. It’s more like a marathon to see who can get the finish line in the best shape. Your goal must not only be to decrease pain but also to PRESERVE your body the best you can. To achieve this you must find the right exercises for you. I have found that plank exercises are by far of the the best routines for chronic pain. They allow for AMAZING benefits with minimal joint damage.
The Helper Here are some other low-impact physical activities that are GREAT for managing pain. I have found that sometimes a COMBINATION of different activities allows me to get a better workout. Doing this also allows me to avoid over-straining any particular part of my body too much.
The Reason Learning how to cook gives you a deeper appreciation for proper food PREPARATION. Cooking allows you to be creative with what you eat. This makes eating healthy a much more ENJOYABLE experience.
The Perks What you eat IS the main factor that will determine how good or bad you feel on any given day. It makes sense to be INVOLVED and in control of that one, very important aspect of your health. By doing this you will gain a higher level of CONTROL over your life and how you feel. This translates into nothing but positive changes in your life!
The Tip Use PINTEREST and YOUTUBE as your tools to become the perfect chronic pain chef! Pinterest will give you all the ideas and recipes you could possibly imagine. YouTube will thoroughly educate you on how to prepare each meal, step by step. This adds up to a superbly EFFECTIVE way to lower your pain naturally and DELICIOUSLY! All while learning what food works best for you, not a bad deal.
The Helper If you pain levels limit your from moving much at this point (with some time and effort your WILL feel better!) you can use AMAZON FRESH. This service delivers everything you will be needing to cook straight to your doorstep. This will eliminate the need to hurry over to the grocery store.
As we know, chronic pain varies greatly from one person to the next, making us all react differently to EVERYTHING. This list is based on my own experience, some things may work for you and some may not. The whole idea is that you TAILOR your entire daily routine to your exact needs. Make all the small adjustments along the way as needed (No one knows what you need better than you!). One thing I do want to make perfectly clear, you WILL get better if you start down this road. Chronic pain, in many cases, is not curable but it sure as hell is MANAGEABLE. It took me 6 years to wise up and start changing my life for the better. Although it has been (and continues to be) a very rough journey, I GUARANTEE you that I would be a thousand times worse off without my sacred daily routine. Pain, unfortunately is a big motivator to stay put and do nothing.
You know what else is a GREAT motivator?
I hope this helps you start your own journey to living pain-free. I promise this is one decision you will NOT regret! If you enjoyed this post go ahead and FOLLOW ME, I got some great things in the works!
