10 daily steps to chronic pain recovery

There’s a lot to digest in my full-length Recovery Journey Roadmap, so I thought it would be a good idea to outline what I did on a daily basis, in a short-and-sweet format to get straight to the point of what worked for me. Your personal situation may well be different from mine so use this as a suggestion of what the daily work looked like for me, and adapt it to whatever fits your situation and lifestyle.

I like to look at this list as totally non-negotiable, certainly the top 5 items, or I simply would had resisted doing any of them! I've added links in each relevant point if there's further information in here for you to read more. Again these are just suggestions, and what I did. This is in no way a list of things you have to do, everyone is different.

1. Get out of bed as soon as you’re fully awake  - this prevents you from ruminating or getting anxious about your day and gets you moving straight away. Make a cup of tea, grab your journal or computer. Find a quiet space to work, in your bed is good, wherever you can let your guard down and be undisturbed. 
2. Read my list of daily reminders and affirmations and repeat it out loud to yourself twice over. 
3. Grab a pad or computer and start your journalling - pick a topic from your lists of stressors (some topic examples here, and some journal prompts here for you), or just think about whatever is occupying most space in your mind today, and start writing. 
4. Soothe yourself with a guided meditation. Grab your headphones, turn off your phone notifications and melt into healing your overactive nervous system.
5. Get yourself moving, go to work, do some stretching, workout, yoga, go for a walk, or just do some house chores, anything to get your body moving.
6. Watch Dan Buglio's video of the day, catch up on any days you've missed if you have time, they're always short and jammed with awesome advice!
7. Catch up on some relevant learning that will help you along your journey (book, podcast, documentary, IGTV etc). You could consider this optional when you've done lots of learning already, but it really helped me keep going.
8. Have fun, find something that brings you joy and do it as much as you can. Let the feeling seep through your every cell and love it. (Gardening, playing with pets, children, build something, draw something, write something, call a friend, cooking, listen to music…)
9. Commit to your mindset - dismiss your fears about your symptoms as soon as they creep in, draw a curtain over them and focus on something else that you love. Adjust your attitude and refuse to obsess over being frustrated. Accept the situation exactly as it is and carry on about your day, finding joyful things to take part in.
10. Be kind to yourself - try to notice any self-limiting beliefs creeping in or any obvious self-sabotaging and nip it in the bud, no being critical of your actions or progress. ONLY kindness is welcome in your recovery space!

If you’re particularly riddled with anxiety on any given day, try a breathwork session after meditating. It only takes about 10 minutes to complete and it will literally reboot your whole mood.

Use common sense here if you don’t have time in the mornings, you could set your alarm earlier to get up and work on yourself first before anything else starts, or consider setting time aside later on before bedtime. All you need is 30-40 mins or so, then the rest can be fit around your daily schedule.

Try not to obsess over this work

Recovery can easily become a full time job, so although being consistent with these practices was essential for me, I didn't let my recovery become my obsession. Put in the time you can, but release the frustration and expectation from this work. Your body knows how to heal itself, allow it space and time to do so without FORCING anything to happen frustratingly.

Check out my full-length Recovery Journey Roadmap if you would like more details about exactly how I became pain-free! You can also watch a video interview about my recovery here. Follow me on Facebook or Instagram for more resources and updates on everything chronic recovery.