How do I build a meaningful life
while living with chronic pain?
Practical strategies, healthy habits, and natural wellness approaches
to help improve your quality of life.
Living with chronic pain is about much more than managing symptoms. For years, I led a chronic pain support group through the American Chronic Pain Association (ACPA) and the U.S. Pain Foundation. The lessons here draw on that curriculum, my own journey living with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), and my background as a Certified Natural Health Professional, Herbalist, Aromatherapist, and Gut Health Nutrition Specialist.
Whether you just developed chronic pain or have lived with it for years, understanding your condition is one of the most important steps. I created this free Learning Center to help you understand how chronic pain affects your whole body and find practical ways to improve your quality of life, one healthy habit at a time.
Read my original RSD/CRPS story and my 20-year update. Learn more about Mara.
How to Use This Learning Center
Work through the modules in order or jump to the topics that interest you most. Each lesson builds on the previous one, but you’re welcome to learn at your own pace and revisit lessons whenever you need a refresher.
Module 1 – Understanding Chronic Pain
Chronic pain involves much more than how we feel physically. It can influence our emotions, relationships, daily routines, and overall quality of life. Before you can manage chronic pain, it helps to understand what it is, how it differs from acute pain, and why it can continue long after an injury has healed. These lessons explain what chronic pain is, why it persists, how it affects your nervous system, and why understanding these changes is the first step toward living well with chronic pain.
Module 2 – How Chronic Pain Affects Your Body
Chronic pain doesn’t only affect one part of your body; it can affect your whole body. Your nervous system, immune system, hormones, inflammation levels, gut health, sleep, and overall well-being are interconnected. Understanding these connections can help you make more informed choices to support your health.
- Chronic Pain and the Nervous System: Learn how chronic pain affects the nervous system, and discover the connections among the brain, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, the vagus nerve, inflammation, gut health, and other body systems that can influence your healing and recovery.
- How Stress Affects Chronic Pain – Learn how ongoing stress can affect the nervous system and your experience of pain.
- How Stress Affects the Body – Learn how stress can affect the whole body, including your brain.
Free: The 5-Day Stress Reset
Simple daily steps to calm your nervous system, sleep better, and feel more like yourself again. Includes a printable habit tracker.
Module 3 – Building Healthy Habits
Managing chronic pain is an ongoing process, and your plan will change as you learn what works for you. One of the best things you can develop is small, consistent habits to create a healthier lifestyle. Supporting your body through good nutrition, stress management, gut health, quality sleep, regular movement, and reducing inflammation and toxicity can all contribute to better overall health and well-being, improving your quality of life. These articles explore practical ways to support your body naturally to help you build better habits.
- Lifestyle Factors and Chronic Pain
- Healthy Eating / Nutrition
- Gut Health
- Inflammation
- Movement
- Sleep and Recovery
- Managing Stress Naturally
- Mind-Body Connection
- Environmental Toxicity
- Healthy Habits Challenge
Want to learn more about building healthy habits? Watch one of our complimentary pre-recorded workshops.
Module 4 – Exploring Pain Management Options
There is no single approach when it comes to managing chronic pain, and no approach works for everyone. That’s why it can help to explore your options with your healthcare team to find what works for you. What you try depends on the type and cause of your pain. Your approach may include lifestyle changes, complementary therapies, medical treatments, or a combination of several approaches.
These articles are educational and share what I’ve researched or experienced. They are not recommendations. Talk with your healthcare provider before trying any treatment, especially medical procedures, devices, or medications.
Everyday & Complementary Approaches
- Choices for Managing Chronic Pain
- Meditation
- Massage Therapy
- Energy Therapy
- Hypnosis
- Aromatherapy
- Bach Flower Essences
- Essential Oils for Sore Muscles
- Herbs & Supplements
Bodywork
Devices and Technology for Pain Management
- Electrical Stimulation
- TENS
- Calmare
- Mirror Therapy
- Biofeedback
- Spinal Cord Stimulators
- PEMF
- Far Infrared Therapy
Oxygen & Circulation
- Oxygen View of Pain – A Doctor’s Perspective on Pain
- Hyperbaric Oxygen
- Ozone Therapy
Medical & Intervention Therapies
Medications & Other Approaches
Module 5 – Developing Healthy Coping Skills
Faith, hope, and prayer guided me through the relentless challenges of living with chronic pain. I know how living with chronic pain can often cause you to feel discouraged, overwhelmed, and uncertain about the future. Chronic pain doesn’t always go away; however, learning healthy ways to cope can help you get through both good and bad days. Coping skills also help you regain hope, build strength, and improve your quality of life. These articles offer practical tips and tools to help you move forward with more confidence.
- Creating Change – Change can be difficult. Learn how small, consistent changes can lead to healthier habits and improvements in your daily life.
- Journal Writing – Journaling is helpful for many to process emotions, reduce stress, recognize progress, and support their overall well-being.
- Managing Time – Learning to pace yourself can help you avoid the chronic pain cycle, which is so common when dealing with it every day. Learn how to maximize your energy without overdoing it.
- Positive Thoughts – Your mindset can shape how you cope with pain. Learn how small shifts in perspective can help on difficult days.
- Managing Emotions – Learn practical ways to cope with the frustration, grief, anxiety, and other emotions that often accompany chronic pain and influence it.
- 5 Tips for Emotional Balance – Learn five simple things you can start doing today to build habits for happiness.
Module 6 – Becoming Your Own Advocate
When you feel bad and are living with chronic pain, standing up for yourself can be difficult. Managing your medications, making sure you are being treated respectfully, and being listened to are important. These resources can help you speak up for yourself with confidence.
- Medication Safety
- Patient Rights
- Assertiveness Skills
- Chronic Pain Resources & Support
- 10 Steps From Patient to Person
- Quality of Life Scale – Use the American Chronic Pain Association’s Quality of Life Scale to help assess how pain is affecting your daily function and communicate that impact with your healthcare team.
Books That Helped Me Understand and Live With Chronic Pain
- Living with RSD
- Putting Out the Fire
- All in My Mind
- Heal Your Pain Now
- The Way Out
- Making the Invisible, Visible
- Strategies for Health
You can find these books in my Amazon Store. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Living with chronic pain takes more than understanding your symptoms. It takes practical habits, patience, and support.
If you’re ready for a more structured approach, explore my 8-Week Nervous System Reset program, designed to help you manage stress, support your nervous system, and build healthier habits while living with chronic pain.
Not ready for a program? Start with The Healthy Habits Challenge.