September Is Pain Awareness Month: 5 Soft Ways to Honor Your Body

September is Pain Awareness Month, a time when the world comes together in solidarity for what millions of us experience every day. If you're reading this and live with chronic pain, then you already know how awareness months can simultaneously validate you and exhaust you. Yes, it's wonderful that people can know about chronic pain as something that exists. But beyond awareness is probably something you'd desire, which is a bit of direction for how to make living day-to-day easier to do.

To live with chronic pain is to have a complex relationship with your body. Some days, there are specific days in which your body appears to be fighting against you, and others where you would like to know what it is still able to do despite all of it. This month gives you an opportunity to stand back and reflect on how you might be kind to your body—not in acts of bravery or impeccable self-care schemes, but in small, manageable things that honor both your weaknesses and your strengths.

1. Base Self-Care On Your Patterns of Pain, Not Ideal Schedules

Most other suggestions for self-care presume you have steady pain and consistent energy. Reality check: Your pain probably goes in and out, and something that's doable on a low-pain day will be utterly impossible on a flare day.

For Days of High Pain: Keep your self-care choices uncomplicated and at arm's length. This could involve pre-situating comfort aids such as heating pads, soft blankets, or your preferred herbal tea bags in the area you spend most of your day in. A warm compress that can be microwaved for 30 seconds trumps a complex bath routine that you're unable to keep up with.

For Medium-Pain Days: That's when you can superimpose the more complex comfort strategies. Maybe it's the hot tub with Epsom salts, or some sitting outside if the weather is good enough. The point is to look for these possibilities and take advantage of them without overdoing it.

On Low-Pain Days: No need to "catch up" on all that you weren't able to do on bad days. Take this time to prepare instead for the next flare; stock up the pantry with food that's easy to prepare, organize your comfort supplies, or simply take a guilt-free nap.

It's not to do the same thing every day. It's to have some variety that will work regardless of what your body is doing. Maintain a mental or written list of 3-minute comfort activities, 10-minute relaxation activities, and 30-minute restorative activities so you'll always have something that will be suitable for your ability at the time.

2. Utilize Journaling as a Pain Management Tool, Not Merely an Emotional Distress Tool

Writing for pain is more than just dealing with feelings. It can be used to discover what triggers things, monitor what actually works, and authenticate your experience when others won't get it.

Monitoring Pain Patterns: Watch for what exacerbates your pain or alleviates it. This is not about curing, but noting patterns that may enable you to be more prepared. Your pain may be exacerbated before weather changes, or certain activities always lead to the next day's flare. Being able to note "today was a 7, yesterday I did X, Y, and Z" can be significant patterns over the long haul.

Validation Journaling: Pain is bothersome enough that it turns the habit of questioning yourself around, especially when you "look fine" to other people. Write down what you're experiencing—"the burning in my shoulders made it hard to focus in the meeting" or "I was able to get the dinner done despite hip pain"—and you're affirming your reality and reminding yourself that both your failures and successes are real.

Appreciation with Honesty: Condescending-sounding platitudes are how traditional expressions of gratitude come across when you hurt. So, you write about pain and tiny positives in the same journal entry: "My back was terrible today, AND I'm grateful my friend accommodated me when I had to reschedule with her." This respects the subtlety of living with chronic pain rather than insisting on toxic positivity.

Low-Energy Solutions: It's so overwhelming to write. Leave voice memos on your phone, keep a pain journaling app with simple grades, or just jot down three words for the day. Whatever sound recording of the experience is invaluable.

3. Reinvent Respect for Limitations as Strategic Self-Management

The "listen to your body" motto is infuriating when your body seems to be screaming opposite things all day long. Instead, rephrase honoring constraints as smart pain management, making choices that avoid bigger setbacks later on.

Energy Budgeting: View your available energy for the day (spoons) as a resource being wasted through pain. If you wake up in the red due to poor sleeping, then all activities cost more. Not getting as much done is not giving up, it's smart resource management that prevents burnouts.

The 70% Rule: Instead of pushing yourself to exhaustion, attempt to taper activity at about 70% of what you can do. This maintains buffer strength for unforeseen pain flares and reduces the boom-bust cycle that contributes to fueling long-term chronic pain.

Preemptive Rest: Don't drain your reserve energy by resting too late. Plan ahead for rest. If you know that grocery shopping drains you for a few hours, do nothing else the rest of that day. This is not being negative; this is realistic planning that keeps you from unnecessary discomfort.

Flexible Commitments: Practice flexibility about anything that you can. This might mean telling friends "I'm coming but may need to leave early" or scheduling important appointments in the time of day when you most typically feel well. Having plans for exiting fear from your life makes joining up more possible.

4. Adapt Mind-Body Practices to Work with Pain, Not Against It

Old coping strategies are often unaware that chronic pain makes many of the normal routines impossible or almost impossible to perform. The secret is to adapt the techniques so they work within your own capabilities.

Breathing Techniques for Pain: When pain is intense, paying attention to breath actually becomes more attentive to hurt. Rather, employ breathing techniques that exist alongside pain, rather than efforts to breathe pain out. You can modify progressive muscle relaxation to tighten and relax only nonpainful zones, or you can focus on releasing tension in the area around your pain.

Adjustments in Meditation: Ordinary meditation typically means sitting still and clearing your mind, both of which are impossible while in pain. Try walking meditation if sitting is painful, or guided meditations for chronic pain that acknowledge pain but do not try to shut it off.

Slow Movement: Pain is good for movement, but it has to be the right kind and amount. Chair exercise is feasible if standing is difficult. Bed stretching avoids morning stiffness. Water exercises are helpful in pain joints. The goal is movement that is good while and after, not activity that causes further pain.

Distraction Strategies: Otherwise, the best pain management technique is conscious distraction. It might be listening to podcasts, manual tasks that won't make your pain worse, or conversation that gives your brain a distraction. Distraction isn't denial—it's a valid pain management tool.

5. Set Your Space for Relief and Every Day Function

Your physical environment can be on your side or against you in managing pain. Small changes disproportionately affect your comfort and daily functioning.

Strategic Furniture Arrangement: Position frequently used items at a height where bending or stretching is unnecessary. Position a basket of essentials, medicines, water, snack, phone charger, in every room where you find yourself spending significant time. Use furniture with arms that allow sitting and standing comfortably.

Control of Heat and Light: Pain is inclined to disrupt heat control and light sensitivity. Keep cooling devices and blankets within reach. Employ lamps instead of ceiling lights where possible. Blackout curtains are advantageous at the onset of a migraine or when you simply want to sleep during the day.

Comfort Supply Stations: Have comfort stations in many areas of your house. Bedside: heat pad, extra pillows, pain medication, water. Living room: comfortable blankets, supportive pillows, entertainment. Kitchen: light meals, ergonomic tools, easy-to-cook food.

Technology Adaptations: Voice assistants are able to leverage lights and temperature without having to leave the bed. Extra-long charging cables enable you to type from a reclined position. Ergonomic rests for keyboard, phone, and tablet minimize strain on usage.

Bathroom Adaptations: Grab bars, shower seats, raised toilet seats, and non-slip floor mats can stop falls and conserve energy. Have pain medication and heating pads within reach for nighttime emergencies.

Building Your Pain Management Tool Kit

The most effective pain management strategies are highly individualized. What is effective for your fibromyalgic buddy will be nothing for your arthritis, and what will carry you through Tuesdays will not carry you through Fridays when you're exhausted from the week.

Start by uncovering your pattern of pain and what triggers it on. Notice when you are worse or better throughout the day. Notice how weather, stress, rest, and activity level affect your pain. This is the foundation of the rest.

Develop multiple types for different situations. Have quick relief types for unpredictable pain surges, extended relief routines to deal with long-lasting flares, and maintenance routines for baseline pain that persists. The more variety, the better chance there will be something helpful any given time.

Keep in mind that pain management is trial and error on a daily basis. What is successful can shift with the changing nature of your condition, meds, or changing life circumstances. Get curious instead of frustrated when techniques that previously worked no longer work.

The Reality of Living Well with Chronic Pain

Pain Awareness Month is often a tease. Awareness is great, but it won't make your pain go away or make your daily struggles easier. What will help is useful information, good advice, and the understanding that living with chronic pain is a process, not a puzzle to solve.

Being good with chronic pain does not mean to eliminate pain, none of us can. It means acquiring skills, strategies, and support systems that allow you to have the highest quality of life despite ongoing pain. It means to value both your weakness and your strength, your frailty and your resilience.

There will be bad days and good. There will be better coping strategies than others. There will be months of steps backward rather than forward. All of this is normal and expected when one has a chronic illness. It is not about being perfect; it's about effective coping and moments of genuine comfort and peace.

Your pain is genuine, your hurt legitimate, and your efforts to claim it honorable. No matter what, if you take one small step in another direction or restart your whole pain management approach from scratch, any step towards better self-care is an act of self-respect and ongoing bravery.

Chronic pain living is constant adaptation and adapting that most other people don't recognize or admit. BeWell creates items engineered to the everyday reality of living with chronic illness—because the proper gear can make all the difference between simply existing, versus thriving, with chronic pain.