The Pain Companion Blog: insights and resources for moving beyond chronic pain

Fear & Chronic Pain Go Hand-in-Hand

7/24/2021

We all face fear when we're living in chronic pain. Many of us suffer from panic attacks in the night due to the incredible stress and anxiety we experience living with constant pain and an uncertain future.

In my new 9-minute video, How to Overcome the Fear, Anxiety & Stress of Living in Chronic Pain, I read from The Pain Companion, Chapter Nine: Fear, Anxiety, and Stress. I explain the Fear Protocol that I developed for myself step by step so that you can use it over and over again, as needed. The Fear Protocol is a simple, practical technique to use when experiencing any level of anxiety or fear.

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The Pain Companion: Everyday Wisdom for Living With and Moving Beyond Chronic Pain is available at all fine booksellers. https://amzn.to/3j2TLeS

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The Pain Companion Chapter 8: Victimization & Powerlessness

7/14/2021

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We all feel like victims of chronic pain at some point. It's hard not to. But we can find ways to take our power back from pain, one choice at a time.

In this 5-minute video, I read Chapter 8 of The Pain Companion about overcoming feelings of victimization and powerlessness and offer ways you can step back into the center of your own healing path.

We often feel out of control when we're in pain, so noticing even the smallest decisions and actions that we CAN control helps.
It's easy to spend a lot of time in blaming pain, the situation, our doctors, and mostly ourselves for being in pain, but it's not going to get us where we want to go. Releasing blame and taking up the reins of our own healing helps renew our sense of empowerment.
We can feel powerless over our own fate when it feels like everyone else is influencing or directing our healing - doctors, medical and insurance systems, work, even family. Making a conscious choice to direct our own healing path can go a long way in relieving that and restoring a sense of empowerment and self worth.

Watch Does Chronic Pain Make You Feel Like a Powerless Victim?

Subscribe to The Pain Companion on YouTube to catch all Sarah's videos.

The Pain Companion: Everyday Wisdom for Living With and Moving Beyond Chronic Pain is available at all fine booksellers. https://amzn.to/3j2TLeS

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The Pain Companion: Chapter 7: Anger & Blame

6/17/2021

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While anger and blame are absolutely understandable when we're living with chronic pain, they can lead to ongoing bitterness and resentment.

Living with these intense emotions and not knowing how to let them move on can add to the sensation of being trapped in pain.

Learning how to safely release anger, blame, bitterness, and resentment frees up the energy we need for true, deep healing and allows us to feel a measure of relief, peace of mind, and renewed happiness even as we are still moving through our physical pain.

In her latest video, Living Free of Anger & Blame in Chronic Pain, Sarah reads Chapter 7 from The Pain Companion on Anger & Blame and suggests practical methods you can use to let go of the cycle of living in anger and blame, including those feelings directed toward yourself.

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The Pain Companion, Chapter 6: Guilt & Shame

6/5/2021

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It doesn't make sense that we would feel guilty and ashamed of living in chronic pain, but we often do. We begin to feel wrong for not being able to fix ourselves, to heal, and to stop the pain.

Sarah's video, No More Guilt & Shame From Living in Chronic Pain, discusses these difficult feelings and offers a Technique for Releasing Difficult Emotions and discusses ways to let go of feelings of shame and guilt around pain and replace them with self respect and self honoring.

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The Pain Companion: Chapters 1 - 4: Living in Chronic Pain

5/20/2021

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I think it is so important to acknowledge the extent to which pain alters the way we feel about life and about ourselves. For me, a necessary step in healing was to recognize how much my physical pain was affecting me emotionally and to begin to have compassion for myself for everything I was going through.

I also believe it is important to validate each other because we are the only ones who really understand what it's like to live with long term pain. I hope that in watching this video you may feel acknowledged and validated for facing the myriad challenges that come with living in pain and having the courage to carry on.

In this video, How Does Physical Pain Affect Your Emotions?, Sarah reads Part One: Pain Moves In from The Pain Companion with commentary.

Life Taken Over by Pain
The Submersion of the Self
When Pain Won't Leave
Feeling Bad About Feeling Bad

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Welcome to The Pain Companion Blog! Reflections and sound advice on living with chronic pain - a peaceful way station on the path to greater well being.
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