How to Make Hobbies Work Despite Your Pain

There are no magic answers to living with pain. There’s no quick fix and often, there’s no fix at all. That’s why we need to learn about tools and techniques we can use to help us cope with it. Things like breathing, sleeping, pacing are necessary but hobbies can help too. However, it does seem difficult to have hobbies when pain continually sticks its oar in and takes the enjoyment away from them. Pain can make spending a small amount of time on hobbies seem more like work than fun. It shouldn’t be like that. Hobbies should be enjoyable.

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When Hobbies Work Well, They Might Help Your Pain

As I said above, there are no magic answers to living with pain. However, distractions work by helping to take your focus away from your pain – so, hobbies can help.

If I’m able to focus on a hobby, I think less about my pain. I’m not suggesting that my pain disappears. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. It’s still there and it keeps reminding me that it’s still there. But, somehow, the enjoyment that the hobby brings, makes me think less about my pain.

But hobbies can have a positive effect on your mental health too.

Very often, when you live with pain, you lose part of yourself. You might lose your self-confidence or you might feel as though you have no sense of purpose. Hobbies can give you something back. When you complete a project, you might feel a sense of satisfaction that you’ve achieved something. You start to remember that there is more to you than your pain. Hobbies can be such a good morale booster.

How to Make Hobbies Work for You if You Are Living With Pain

I’m sure that living with my pain would be much more difficult if I didn’t have a variety of hobbies to turn to. However, I do have to work out some ground rules and make some adaptions at times. But doing so means that I can enjoy my hobbies despite my pain.

Set Yourself Some Ground Rules

When you’re living with pain, you really need to set some ground rules so that your hobbies work for you. Some of these rules are things I’ve learned the hard way. Hopefully my hard learned lessons might prevent you from learning in the same way.

1. Think Comfort

Whether you’re painting, doing pottery or making cards, you need to be comfortable. Try to ensure you’re not bending at an awkward angle, use a chair at the correct height and cushions or pillows to give yourself support.

2. Use Tools to Make Your Hobby Easier

Use any tools available to make hobbies easier for you. For example, use an easel if you paint, rather than lean over a desk. Or if you bake, use an electric mixer.

3. Be Organised

Sometimes preparation takes time. If you have space, you could leave everything set up, so you are always ready to get started on your hobby. If you don’t have space, you could leave everything you need in one place so that it will take less time to get started. Plastic storage boxes are ideal for this.

If it takes effort and energy to set up, be sure to have a rest before starting on your hobby.

4. Pace Yourself

If you think you can manage to spend 30 minutes at a time on an active hobby, set a timer and don’t push your limits. You can always do more tomorrow. If your pain shouts at you before your timer is up, stop.

This post might help you to pace yourself

Spending 30 minutes four times a week on a hobby might not sound much. However, think of it this way – that’s 2 hours a week and 104 hours a year. You could probably achieve quite a lot in those 104 hours. When you’re living in pain, it might take longer to reach the destination but you will get there. So don’t rush it. Just try to enjoy the journey.

5. Take Breaks

Don’t sit or stand in one position for too long as that will no doubt aggravate your pain. Take rest breaks and exercise breaks. By exercising, I don’t mean you need to do a six-mile run. I simply mean move about a little and do some gentle stretches.

6. No Pressure

A hobby should be enjoyable so don’t give yourself added pressure. Turning hobbies into businesses might sound like a good idea and can work for some people but when you live with pain, it might not be a good idea. It often takes away the enjoyment of the hobby and adds more pressure to your life.

7. Ignore Negative Voices

Many of us have negative voices in our heads which tell us we’re not good enough. But you are good enough do ignore those voices. Don’t be hard on yourself and don’t let a lack of self-confidence stop you. Believe in yourself. Remember that you don’t have to aim for perfection. The enjoyment of the hobby is the most important part.

8. Join a Class or an Online Group

Join a local class or, if you’re unable to do that, join an online group. Besides getting help and encouragement, you will also meet people. A painful life is often a lonely life so getting together with like-minded people will help you to socialise and you’ll possibly make new friends.

Remember that all achievements are worth celebrating – no matter how big or small

Have a Variety of Hobbies and Distractions to Suit Your Pain Levels

You need a variety of hobbies and interests so that you always have distractions on better pain days and on the bad pain days. Obviously, some hobbies wouldn’t work on bad pain days so you need to have interests in things which you can do on those days.

My Hobbies – The Ones That Have Worked and the Ones That Didn’t

I’ve tried my hand at several hobbies. Some have worked, some haven’t. I’ve had hobbies that I’ve loved but needed to give up due to my pain. But other hobbies work for me despite my pain.

You’ll see where I learned those ground rules the hard way.

Jewellery Making

Years ago, in my twenties, I made jewellery. However, my back pain went into overdrive from leaning over a table and my fingers ached from fiddling with jewellery wire. But people liked and wanted to buy my jewellery so I fought against the pain and set up a stall at a craft fair. And guess what happened? On the morning of the craft fair, my back gave up on me entirely. I couldn’t go to the craft fair. I couldn’t do anything. In fact, I could hardly move for months afterwards.

Needlework

So, the jewellery hobby was cast aside and along came needlework. I did tapestry, embroidery and cross-stitch. Then I started making my own cross-stitch designs so that I could make personalised gifts for people I knew. I loved doing that. However, my fingers complained (again) about working with needles. I’ve since been diagnosed with a type of arthritis that affects my fingers which probably explains the pain I had. Every so often, I get the urge to start again, but I know that my fingers would struggle so I try to fight that urge.

Card Making

I love making cards. The first card I made was a golden wedding anniversary card for my mum and dad. I couldn’t find a card that I liked in the shops so made one myself. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out and so were other people and they started placing orders for special cards. The next thing I knew, I had booked a stall at a craft fair to sell my handmade cards. Hmm…

I managed to attend that craft fair, but really, it was such a stupid idea because I was just piling pressure on myself. Pain and pressure don’t go together so I stopped thinking about craft fairs. I still enjoy making cards occasionally but I definitely won’t ever go down that road again of setting up stall at craft fairs.

Art

Art is a hobby that took me by surprise. My husband and I were at an art exhibition in a nearby town. I was admiring the paintings and kept saying, “I wish I could paint.” Unbeknown to me, the art teacher was behind me at one point. “You can. Everyone can,” he told me. I couldn’t even draw a straight line but he talked me into enrolling in his class. It was only for two hours, one afternoon a week which I thought was manageable.

I went to the first class with a great deal of trepidation and a voice in my head that kept saying, “Why on earth are you here? You cannot draw.” I’m good at knocking myself down and kept hearing that voice in my head for months. But the art teacher was good. He helped to silence that voice and convinced me that I could draw and paint. Truth be told, I shocked myself.

Eventually, going to the class became too much for me. My pain was getting worse and I was struggling to manage those two hours. It wasn’t just the class itself that was the problem. It was the fifteen-minute journey to and from the class as well. I began to dread going. I was in pain driving there, in pain while I was there and I suffered even more afterwards. It became too much and I had to stop going. I was sad about it because the class had given me a confidence boost when I really needed it and I’d made some great friends. However, I didn’t stop painting.

The teacher had taught me a lot so I was able to continue on my own at home and I used online groups to get extra help. Over the years, I’ve gone through spells of not being able to paint at all because my pain hasn’t allowed it or because my meds make my brain fuzzy and my hands shake. But I haven’t given up on it entirely. I haven’t painted for a long time and I feel as though I’m losing my confidence again but I’m sure that I will get it back. I will pick up my paintbrushes again. (And I will use my ground rules!)

Reading and Writing

I can’t talk about hobbies without mentioning reading and writing. When I had to retire from work due to my pain, I could do nothing. So I read and read and read some more. Books can take you away from your pain and troubles. So can writing. Writing can be cathartic and therapeutic but creative writing can also take you into another world entirely.

Sometimes my pain and meds affect my brain to the stage that I can hardly string two sentences together properly. At those times, I might just jot down ideas for later.

Television, Social Media and Online Games

Of course, there are days when nothing really distracts me from my pain. And I’m sure most people with painful conditions recognise that feeling. On those days, I take extra meds and lie in bed just like everyone else. I switch on the television, scroll social media or play online games in the hope that I will find something to focus on until I fall asleep.

A few minutes of focusing less on my pain is good on those days.

Remember to Celebrate Your Achievements

I hope this post might help you to enjoy hobbies enough that they work for you despite your pain. The trick is to set ground rules. But remember that every minute you spend on a hobby is an achievement, so be proud of yourself for trying.

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What hobbies do you have? Have you had hobbies that you’ve had to give up because of your pain?

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