Living with chronic pain and illness can bring up a lot of anxiety. You might be feeling a daily sense of worry, wondering if you will be able to manage your anxiety that increases when health and pain symptoms suddenly strike. While everyone’s anxiety symptoms and experiences with chronic pain and illness are different, I hear so many stories about how health symptoms interfere with daily life.

When experiencing uncomfortable sensations in the body what do you do? Do you ignore them? Do you try and distract yourself from what you are feeling? Or do you stop and sit still to understand what is going on within yourself? Most of the time it is hard to stop and take a moment to check in with sensations and emotions because life is just too busy. There are so many obligations and distractions that keep you moving from place to place without a moment to catch your breath.

There are so many studies showing the positive effects of meditation such as improved sleep, reduced blood pressure and greater focus to name a few. Even though we are aware of these benefits, it seems to be hard to actually implement this practice. Why is this? Well for many, the idea of mediating can sound a little intimidating.

Pain management often means incorporating a regular self care routine. That is because our bodies respond well when we stick to a schedule. This is especially true when talking about sleep routines for pain management. When we do this, our body intuitively knows when to go to sleep and when to wake up in the morning which aids in healing and repair work.

Living life with a high levels of physical pain is something many people experience. I deal with chronic pain and know how much it can interfere with daily life. It is my hope that the approaches shared here will provide options to those who dealing with persistent physical pain.