Chronic pain is equal parts physically debilitating and emotionally devastating. Those suffering from chronic pain tend to find coping mechanisms that bring them as much comfort as possible — but many ways of coping are less than healthy for the body and mind.

If you suffer from chronic pain, you can improve your experience and manage your pain without further harming your physical or psychological health. Here are a few healthy strategies for living with chronic pain:

If you suffer from chronic pain, here are ways you can improve your experience and manage your pain without further harming your physical or psychological health.

Be as Active as Possible

Exercise tends to be the last thing you want to do when you are in pain, but research has found that regular movement has amazing effects on the body and mind. Contrary to the previous belief that idleness would help the body heal, physical activity and exercise seem to help chronic pain sufferers reduce the frequency and intensity of their flare-ups while giving them more strength and mobility to complete tasks in their daily life.

This isn’t to say that you immediately need to start running marathons or deadlifting hundreds of pounds; rather, it means that you should start to incorporate activity more consciously into your rhythms and habits. Initially, your movements should be gentle, allowing your body the opportunity to warm up to simple exercise. You might start with a morning walk around your neighborhood or commit to an afternoon yoga session to stretch and build basic strength. Yoga With Adriene is a useful series that can guide you through flows to release tension without exacerbating discomfort.

As your tolerance for movement improves, you can begin to push your body — but if you notice your pain increasing, you should ease back. If a certain type of activity is worsening your pain symptoms, you might talk to your doctor about what that could mean for your diagnosis and treatment.

Find Safe Pain Relievers

For many years, chronic pain sufferers had two choices: live with their pain or take dangerous pain-relieving drugs. The go-to pain relievers for decades have been opiates and opioids, which are addictive and present plenty of unwanted side effects in addition to being life-threatening in the wrong dosage. Most chronic pain sufferers are wary to use any kind of narcotic because the costs (physical, emotional, financial) are so high.

Fortunately, as the issue of chronic pain has become more widely understood, safer options for pain relief have emerged. Medical marijuana is one of the best alternatives to opiates and opioids because it interrupts pain signals while helping address common causes of pain, like muscle tension or inflammation. You can find resources for applying to your state’s medical marijuana program or locate dispensaries near you using an online service like Weedmaps.

Other safe pain relief options include warm and cold compresses, baths, massage and meditation. Some sufferers find relief with more unusual treatments, like music therapy, aromatherapy and acupuncture, so these might be worth experimenting with, as well — but you should always consult your healthcare provider before trying something new.

Schedule Activities You Love

If you clear your schedule to accommodate your chronic pain, your mind will have nothing to focus on except the discomfort of your condition. In this way, chronic pain can take over your life and create for you a negative worldview that might lead to depression, or worse. To combat this, you need to give yourself something to look forward to.

Every week, or every day — as often as your pain and schedule allow — you should plan to do something that always makes you smile. This might be a visit to the zoo, lunch with a friend, an art course at your community center, or something else. You might use a tool like Atlas Obscura to find strange, exciting, and affordable activities near you. Ideally, your activities should break you out of your typical routine without generating overwhelming anxiety; the goal is to find something that adds positivity, control, and light to your life.

Commit to Sleep

It is common in the Digital Age for people to delay sleep or even skip it entirely, but a lack of sleep should not be a badge of honor. Sleep is as important to mental and physical health as water; your body relies on its nightly period of rest to flush toxins and repair critical systems, so if you are depriving yourself of sleep, you are likely making your chronic pain condition much, much worse. If your pain is interfering with your ability to sleep, you might try any of the safe pain relief methods listed above in the evenings before you doze off. You should give yourself as much time in bed as your body and mind feel they need, which might also mean allowing time during the day for naps.

Your chronic pain doesn’t control you; you are more than the pain you experience. You are capable of finding ways to reduce and manage your pain to lead a healthier, happier life.