{"id":1779,"date":"2015-08-20T18:38:56","date_gmt":"2015-08-20T18:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1779"},"modified":"2015-08-09T18:51:05","modified_gmt":"2015-08-09T18:51:05","slug":"chronic-pain-while-we-are-sleeping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/08\/chronic-pain-while-we-are-sleeping.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Pain: While We Are Sleeping"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>
Image Courtesy of Janes Barker\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When our pain is severe, it can be difficult to sleep. Even if we’re able to doze, we often awaken with pain, and those wee hours can stretch onward, bringing more anxiety and, yes, more pain.<\/p>\n

But some of that anxiety can be alleviated if we understand that, even while we are sleeping, God is working. He is watching over us, protecting us, ever aware that we, his beloved children, need our sleep in order to function well and to do his work.<\/p>\n

Our bodies, too, are working while we sleep, and the more we focus on quieting our minds and hearts, the more we will enable those vital processes of rejuvenation to occur – and the more refreshed we will feel when we do awaken.<\/p>\n

The world continues to move and shape while we sleep, and we can understand that this will occur even without our worrying about it, remaining awake at night fretting over things over which we have little control. This understanding can calm us and help us rest comfortably.<\/p>\n

Recognizing our sleep process is important for us to know what we need to allow our bodies to rest. A good physician can help us understand our sleep patterns and whether there are any medical aspects of sleep that we need to be aware of and\/or treat. A journal of what we do before we go to bed, and our patterns while snoozing, can help us and our docs assess the medical and, perhaps, psychological parts of our sleeping. \u00a0But it is also important to utilize prayer – covering prayer – that accompanies us to our resting state. This prayer lifts up our cares, including those associated with sleep (or lack thereof), to the Lord, and in return, we can invite our worry and tension to dissipate so that, while we are sleeping, we are truly relaxed knowing God is working – and watching over us – all the while!<\/p>\n

Peace,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When our pain is severe, it can be difficult to sleep. Even if we’re able to doze, we often awaken with pain, and those wee hours can stretch onward, bringing more anxiety and, yes, more pain. But some of that anxiety can be alleviated if we understand that, even while we are sleeping, God is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,1242,4,1047,1420,1245,1236,95,1421,1246],"tags":[44,1880,1876,1874,172,1879,1875,1877,1873,1878],"class_list":["post-1779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement-in-life","category-food-for-thought","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-good","category-pain-2","category-positive","category-prayer-2","category-prayers","category-take-some-time-to-rest","category-uplifting","tag-chronic-pain","tag-comfort-for-pain","tag-god-is-watching-over-us","tag-insomnia","tag-peace","tag-peace-in-pain","tag-prayer-before-sleep","tag-sleep-and-pain","tag-trouble-sleeping","tag-trouble-sleeping-with-pain"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic Pain: While We Are Sleeping - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/08\/chronic-pain-while-we-are-sleeping.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic Pain: While We Are Sleeping - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When our pain is severe, it can be difficult to sleep. 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She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1779"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1780,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1779\/revisions\/1780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}