Chronic pain can be debilitating. It’s all consuming. So knowing where to begin to get help can feel overwhelming.
Here are some ways to get started.
Just move
Once you have the desire to move. As Nike says, “Just do it.”
It’s not enough to think about doing something. You have to act.
Habits are actions that become so routine they are triggered in response to specific acts. For example, putting on a seat belt every time you get into a car. They are automatic behaviors we’ve learned over time through repetition and practice that take little thought or effort.
The brain automatically associates common actions with certain events in order to free up mental resources for other tasks. But this takes time. Studies show repetition is required on average for 66 days before it’s incorporated into our routine.
Pleasure based habits release dopamine, which rewards and strengthens the habit, creating cravings to do it again. Studies have shown exercise releases our feel-good hormones e.g. endogenous opioids and endocannabinoids and socializing is as strong a pain reliever as morphine. Reinforcing those behaviors not only decreases pain but makes us happy- the best of both worlds. Another study concluded self-control and will power are similar to muscles. And like any muscle, it may get tired after use, but regular practice improves resolve and makes us stronger.
Most cravings last 90 seconds from the start of the neural impulse to when it ends. Wanting to eat that sugary food, crawl into bed, watch TV- instead of getting active is often the first reaction. But actual action from the time of conscious thought to movement only takes 1.42 seconds. That’s why an immediate response is best. Feel the urge to move. Get up and move.
Not for an hour, 30 minutes or even ten. Just start walking in place for two minutes. Walk around your house.
Go outside and feel the earth beneath your feet to add grounding benefits.
Put on your favorite music and just dance.
Don’t let the impulse pass.
Break it into smaller tasks
Our brains are incredible. The brain has the capacity to create or conquer pain, depending on the circumstances. When needed to heal a broken bone or tissue damage from a laceration, it uses pain as a way to keep us moving forward without harm. But when healed, it can become so used to those, then life saving measures, it can’t stop producing false signals that erroneously tell our bodies, stop, that’s not safe.
Our memory capacity is estimated to be 2.5 petabytes, that’s 2,500,000 gigabytes, the most powerful processor in existence. But it overwhelms easily. Just like any computer it can overheat with intense use. That’s why pacing is so important.
Eating healthy, losing weight, starting an exercise program takes time. But it can seem like a daunting task when just beginning. Start slow. Let the brain, body and muscles adapt. Break it into smaller tasks. Then every achievement releases feel good hormones that push us towards the next one.
Keep expectations reasonable. Research has shown we get a larger dopamine surge when there’s a bigger difference between expectations and outcomes e.g. expect to exercise an hour a week and only manage 10 minutes produces less dopamine than when we expect to exercise a minute a day and perform ten. If we set high goals for eventual achievement but keep daily expectations low, we’ll be thrilled with our overall progress.
Start a new habit when you’re at your best
We all have our optimal moments. Times when our brains are working on all cylinders, and we accomplish the most items on our to-do list. I have to get up at 5:30 AM for work but given the opportunity I’m a night owl at heart. That’s when I exercise best. After a long day it allows me time to reflect, wind down and surge oxygen and nutrients to my painful muscles while removing pent up inflammation and tension. I can stretch in the morning. But aerobic activities are best at night. Then I look forward to the release and it’s no longer a chore.
What’s your best time of the day?
Optimize activities big or small then. They won’t feel as overwhelming because you’ll have more energy and focus.
Take regular breaks
Pushing ourselves to exhaustion only worsens the pain.
Few things need to be done immediately. Most can be done over time or in small increments. I’m repurposing my daughter’s rooms. A nice way of saying I’m taking the shrine that existed in my house since she moved to California twelve years ago and making it mine. Once started I wanted to get it done overnight. My body rebelled. Now, months later it’s just beginning to look like I may finish.
Whether it’s a long-term project or daily chores they don’t and often can’t be done all at once without paying the price. It might take longer to prune the bushes, do the laundry or dishes but they will get done, eventually.
Learn to let go of expectations it has to completed now.
Enlist help
It’s easy to call it quits when we are the only person involved. Not in the mood to take a walk? No problem. But when a commitment is made, most of us find it harder to cancel. Study after study shows support for each other can make all the difference in starting and maintaining new healthy, pain-relieving habits.
Distract, distract, distract
We’ve discussed multiple ways to distract yourself.
Focus on what you can do
For most of us just getting started is the problem.
We think about it.
We procrastinate.
Then nothing gets done.
Instead just ask yourself, what’s the first step?
When exhausted, unmotivated, ready to crawl in to bed and in no mood to exercise I often make a deal with myself.
“I’ll just get on the elliptical for three minutes. That’s it, then I’ll quit.”
Usually three minutes turns into three more, then three more, then a full workout. I could tolerate the idea of just three minutes. But, on those rare occasions when I really am too beat, I call it quits knowing I did my best that day.
It’s a way to trick our brains into thinking something we believe is insurmountable can really be accomplished, one step at a time, by taking the time frame and ultimate task out of the picture. It circumvents the brain’s natural inclination to just say no and pushes it into a positive and product mode through action. It works with anything. Have a lot of unread emails haunting your day? Just attack two. Usually as the number declines, we feel invigorated to keep going. If not, at least we took two off the list.
These are just a few ways to get started with technique sure to decrease pain. I know, because I use them every day.
-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3505409/
-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4747633/
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