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For me, distraction therapy often helps me cope with the mild pain and twinges associated with a "good" day, or the pain that hits when I am out in public and can't lie down, undress, or reach for the heating pad.
Deep breathing or focused breathing is one method I use. This usually works best if I can sit down comfortably, but I have made use of these techniques while leaning on a table or shopping cart. Close your eyes, find an imaginary focal point (I use the bridge of my nose), and slowly breathe in through your nose to a count of ten, then out through your mouth. Slow, controlled, focused breathing. By using the "focal point" and counting, you can learn to "turn down the volume" on the pain for a short time, usually long enough to get you home where you can deal with it.
Relaxation and meditation techniques can not only take your mind off the "little" pains, they can also help you deal with a sleepless night. If I'm having problems drifting off, I use a similar focused breathing routine, consciously relaxing each part of my body as I focus on my breathing. I start with my toes, and concentrate on each area for two full inhale/exhale cycles. Usually by the time I get to my waist area, I'm nearly asleep. Don't skip a part of your body just because you think it isn't important. Include everything - toes, soles, instep, heels, ankles, and so on.
Get outside - even if it means using a cane, walker, or wheelchair, or relaxing in front of an open window and imagining you are outside. I have hummingbird feeders right outside my picture window, where I can watch the little clown from the comfort of my sofa. I can also see most of my flower beds from my sofa, so that I can enjoy the beauty of my flowers even when I can't get out to tend them. This happens to be an eastern window, which means that I get the benefit of some beautiful sunrises and sunsets, as well as rainbows after a summer storm.
Find pleasure in the simple things - the beauty of nature that you can see from your windows, a good joke shared with friends, a houseplant in bloom. I have indoor miniature roses that bloom all year around, so I have beauty with me all the time. Summer time and warm weather means that I spend a lot of time working on my gardens, even if I have to have help to get there. My partner does all of the heavy work in the gardens for me - digging, planting, etc. I do the planning and the weeding. I have two rose bushes that my mother brought up to me which originally came from my great-great-grandparents' farm, as well as wild roses, old-fashioned roses, mini roses, and one hybrid ever-bearing tea rose planted along our property line. To minimize the work required on this "rose hedge", I have removed all of the sod, laid plastic, and covered it with field stones. I also have the big old-fashioned bachelor buttons, columbine, poppies, peonies, allium, tulips, daffodils, lilies, and the list goes on and on. My berry patch provides us with strawberries and raspberries enough to put some in the freezer, and our vegetable garden finishes filling the freezer for winter. My partner and my stepson help me with the planting, weeding, and harvesting, which means that our veggie garden and berry patch ends up being family time spent together.
I have been sewing and crafting almost all of my life, and I find it very useful now to keep me feeling "productive" in spite of the pain. I sew, crochet, knit, cross-stitch, embroider, bead, and do plastic canvas designs. Crafting not only saves us money (I will make gifts instead of buying them), it also helps keep my mind off the pain. When I am focusing on a pattern or design, I'm not focusing on how much I hurt, how bad I feel, or how dependent I've become. I spend all year planning and completing my craft projects so that what I enter in the local hobby show every summer can then be given away for birthday or Christmas presents while I am creating the next year's hobby show entries.
I read a lot - if it's printed, I read it. I have no preferred type of reading material, although I do try to avoid romance novels. I also enjoy working on computers, and have taken a correspondence course on computer repair, even though most days I don't have the stamina to stay with a repair job much longer than an hour or two.
And when the pain levels start breaking through my distraction methods, I know it's time to resort to the coping strategies to get me through until the breakthrough meds can take effect.
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