Setting Goals When In Pain Or Recovering From Injuries.
How I started setting myself goals
I never thought I would be someone that benefits from beating personal goals or records when walking, running or cycling. It all started when I met my husband. He was very keen on his running and cycling. The only way I could ensure that we would spend some time together was if I started running and cycling too! So I joined his running club! Shortly afterwards I started attending the park runs with him on a Saturday morning too.
After my first park run I was excited to receive my text to find out how fast I had run (it wasn’t very fast!). But, before I knew it, I was eager to attend the next park run the following week. I wanted to see if I could beat my time. Each week I would set myself a personal goal of a specific time I wanted to beat. Achieving my goals was hugely rewarding. It gave me such a buzz and made me want to run faster the next time! When I failed to meet my weekly goal I would feel disappointed. I had to remind myself not to set my goals too high. I would be determined to have another go the following week. Quickly, I became a regular park run attender and was reaping all the benefits of regular exercise. I felt good.
When you are injured or in pain it can be hugely demoralising not being able to do the things you love. Especially if you have been in pain for a while. We sometimes see a cycle of events happen when people have been in pain for a while. Pain can stimulate negative thoughts, leading to negative emotions and altered behaviour. For example, a pain sensation in the lower back may trigger a thought – ‘oh no! My back is fragile’ . Or ‘my friend had a bad back and now can’t walk I need to protect it’. Very normally emotions such as fear, anger and worry may appear that, then affect behaviour such as moving in a slow, careful manner or holding your breath in anticipation of pain. This cycle of pain can bring your body into a state of ‘fight or flight’. Our breathing pattern alters, adrenaline levels increase, muscle tone changes and our nervous system becomes more sensitive. This further increasing the painful experience.
During difficult times like this, focusing our minds on what we want to get back to can be a great way of restoring control of our thoughts. This helps prevent them feed forwarding into negative emotions and compromised behaviour. The more specific and intentional we are in how we want to feel again, the greater the chance we give ourselves to reach our destination. For example if we were in a car in Wales and wanted to arrive at Tivoli Chiropractic Clinic, we wouldn’t get very far if we only put Gloucestershire in the Sat nav. However if you put Tivoli’s exact postcode in you would be much more likely to arrive on our doorstep! Having a very clear idea on what you want to get back to in life, how you want to feel (we don’t mean ‘not being in pain’ but instead we mean how do you actually want to feel and do you wish you could do?) and having a clear image in your mind of what this looks like can really help. Clear, step by step goals that are achievable and help you work up to your desired destination can be hugely rewarding and help the process.
If you have been suffering from pain for a while the following can be a useful exercise:
Write down what your pain currently feels like. What it feels like when you do day to day activities such as driving, cooking, getting onto bed etc. For example it may feel rigid, hot, sore etc.
Also write down what your body as a whole currently feels like now and when you do day to day activities.
Then write down your most common moods and emotions that you currently feel each day (eg, fed up, tired, angry, anxious).
Now, close your eyes and think about a time when your painful area felt great, without any pain or issues. Notice, where you are, when it was, what you were wearing? What was the weather like? Who you were with? What were you doing, how old were you? Then think about how your painful area felt and how your body felt then (eg, warm, light, soft etc), and what emotions you were feeling (happy, relaxed, calm etc).
Open your eyes and then write down how you want your painful area and body to feel. How you want your mood to feel. Where you want to be and what do you want to be doing.
Compare this with where you are now. Often people notice that where they are now and how they feel is actually very different to how they want to feel and want to get to.
Remember this image that came to your mind when you closed your eyes and place a picture or a destination of this image (or something similar that reminds you of the image) somewhere that you frequently look at during the day to remind you of it. For example as a screensaver on your phone or computer.
Every time you experience an unpleasant sensation in your painful area, remind yourself of the image and thoughts you became aware of when you closed your eyes and became aware of how you felt when you had no pain. This can be a great start to breaking the pain, thought, emotion and behaviour cycle. It is a start to setting achievable and rewarding goals to reach your desired destinations where you feel great. It’s a great way of reminding your brain how you once moved and how much more efficient your movement was when you were once pain free.
If you have completed the exercise above, your therapist would love to hear about your desired destination. They want to help you set achievable step by step goals to reach your desired outcome. Your exercises and rehab can then be adapted to your specific needs to help you brain develop different, non painful movement habits. Remember if you have had pain for a while it can take a few weeks and often 3 or 4 months before you notice a change. However, achieving even the small targets that lead up to your desired goal can be hugely rewarding. It can help you feel so much better even if your pain sensation has remained similar.
Please send me an email if you have any questions or need any help with reaching your goals.
Read onto our next article ‘Foot Posture’ by Chiropractor Kelly.
