Are you "living well?" Some people will do better in the coming year. I have an illustration; let's call him Steven. He's a retired health professional — nice guy, bright, not inclined to get involved in things that don't have real merit.

Last year, Steven attended a series of workshops called "Living Well" (six 21„2-hour classes that provide new approaches to self-managing a chronic disease). He was there reluctantly, at the encouragement of his wife who wanted better ways to address her diabetes. Steven was skeptical, but he clearly loved his spouse — and so he attended.

Steven sat through the initial workshop acting, dare I say, a little smug. He wasn't fully engaged; he had things figured out with his own health and little interest in new approaches. (I can relay this quite accurately, I was one of the instructors.)

But when we got to a discussion about pain management, something changed. Who doesn't have pain? Maybe it's chronic back pain, an arthritic knee or elbow. Maybe it's the painful malaise of fibromyalgia or the restless-leg discomfort of venous insufficiency. In the workshops, we talk about managing pain using cognitive (mind-management) "distraction" techniques.

Let's try it.

Advertisement

Close your eyes and imagine you're holding a big, bright, yellow lemon. Picture it in your mind. Feel the texture in your hand. Lift the lemon to you nose. Smell it's strong, citrus aroma. ... now bring the lemon to your mouth take a big bite out of the lemon let the tart juice fill your mouth suck the juice from that lemon. (By this time you might be puckering a little, maybe even salivating. And it's all in your mind.)

Steven found the lemon illustration quite compelling. He quickly developed his own "distraction technique." It's simple. You might try it. Next time pain keeps you awake at night, count backwards from 100 by 3s. That's it — that's Steven's distraction technique. As I said, "simple," and as he would say, "effective."

This disease self-management stuff is not for everyone. I've had people in my workshops who did not find it useful. (But not too many.) But most recognize knowledge and specific skills mean we come to be more in control of our own health.

One of my fellow instructors puts it this way, "If you don't take care of your body, where will you live?"

These workshops show participants how to take better care of always-aging and sometimes disease-impacted bodies through improved nutrition, focused physical activity, relaxation techniques, communication tools — and pain management approaches like Steven's.

Does it get any better? Yes, it does.

Sharon Johnson is as associate professor in the College of Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State University and on the faculty of the OSU Extension Service.