Useful resources

ReConnect2Life: slide useful resources
Additional resources for information about living with chronic pain.

ReConnect2Life
Our website, which is still in development (your ideas, feedback or contributions would be gratefully received). At the moment, we are particularly focussed on developing resources to support you in progressing with your exercise and activity goals. These include videos (for Tai Chi and ‘body conditioning’ exercises) and photographs.

ACT Companion: The Happiness Trap App
Free App providing numerous interactive exercises and tolls to support you to be mindful and present. The skills learnt can be applied to real life situations, encouraging you to be present, open and connected with your values. Guided practices designed for anyone from a beginner to an experienced practitioner.

Action for Happiness
“We all want to live happy and fulfilling lives and we want the people we love to be happy too. So happiness matters to all of us.
Happiness is about our lives as a whole: it includes the fluctuating feelings we experience everyday but also our overall satisfaction with life. It is influenced by our genes, upbringing and our external circumstances – such as our health, our work and our financial situation. But crucially it is also heavily influenced by our choices – our inner attitudes, how we approach our relationships, our personal values and our sense of purpose.”

Action On Pain
Free App providing numerous interactive exercises and tolls to support you to be mindful and present. The skills learnt can be applied to real life situations, encouraging you to be present, open and connected with your values. Guided practices designed for anyone from a beginner to an experienced practitioner.

Ageing Well Torbay – Community Builders
Connecting you to local like-minded people and organisations in your local community. Bringing positive changes to the area that you live through friendships and activities happening in your local areas from coffee mornings to social dog walking, IT support and craft workshops and well and opening up communication and links between neighbours for daily support.

The Alice Cross Centre
A local community centre for health and wellbeing, offering a range of activities including coffee mornings, memory café, lunch club, Tai Chi, digital skills, seated exercise, arts and crafts, music mornings and more.

Breathworks – Free guided meditation and mindfulness practices
Free guided meditation for mindfulness, tension release and sleep.

Burning Nights CRPS Support
Burning Nights CRPS Support is a national UK charity working to improve life for those affected by Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.

Cocolime Fitness
A personal trainer with a focus on creating fun, low impact exercises to those who suffer with fibromyalgia, fatigue and chronic pain. There are a variety of videos included on her YouTube channel to cover toning, conditioning, stretching and gentle movement.

Devon Communities Together
A local, independent charity working to create projects and services to support the local community. Providing training, upskilling and advice to groups and individuals across Devon to make positive changes and outcomes to their communities.

Devon Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Services
Providing confidential, specialist and professional support to survivors of rape, sexual assault and childhood sexual abuse. Getting in touch is the first step in coping with and recovering from what has happened to you. This specialist support can be given online, in person or by phone and alongside support, information can be given on your options and rights.

Devon Recovery Learning Community
An NHS trust service, offering Devon residents who have suffered from mental health difficulties, the opportunity to join local courses to aid wellbeing and recovery. Recovery Courses aim to promote wellbeing for the whole person and are centred around rebuilding your life, knowledge and understanding about mental health and developing practical skills. Courses allow you to experience new things, get involved and make a different to your community and give you the opportunity to try more adventurous activities. The Courses are free of charge, but do require booking and this may involve a waiting list.

Footsteps Festival
Footsteps Festival, an online celebration of living well with pain. Developed by people who live with pain and professionals in pain management. Also see: Footsteps Festival on YouTube.

healthtalk.org – Chronic Pain
Interviews with patients and clinicians, as well as explanatory texts. The site deals with many conditions, not just chronic pain.

HOPE Programme
A local support programme to provide practical support and advice in managing long term health issues including building confidence, managing fatigue, managing depression and anxiety and to help build self-confidence and resilience.

Live Well With Pain
Live Well with Pain, the website for people who are living with persistent pain. It’s completely free to use and full of trusted techniques that people have found useful in helping them get on with their lives – despite their pain.

Living with chronic pain – free online CD
Developed by Neil Berry, who is an NHS Consultant Clinical Psychologist with Hampshire Community Health Care in Southampton / Hythe, this link has 10 audio tracks to help you with living alongside chronic pain: living with chronic pain; regaining control of your body; sleep and diet; medication – friend or foe?; setting goals; managing negative emotions; learning to relax your body; relaxation in a nutshell; relaxation session – introduction; relaxation

Low Back Pain
A fast-speaking, but brilliantly drawn explanation about new onset, and persistent low back pain. It covers the things that health care professionals are concerned about and how they assess them, and also the role and limitations of investigations. It introduces the importance of physical activity and the role of our emotions and concerns. It lasts about 10 minutes – but well worth watching.

Mindful – About Mindful
An excellent American website that provides a lot of background and practical information about Mindfulness. It provides links to videos, newsletters, research and world-wide links.

The Mindfulness Association
This is primarily a course about training in Mindfulness and therapies associated with it. However, it also a useful, brief and illustrated example of what Mindfulness is.

moodgym
This is paid service with a yearly subscription, but offers practical and advice and skills to help to prevent and manage symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Pain and Me
Pain and Me: Tamar Pincus talks about chronic pain, acceptance and commitment.

Pain Revolution
Revolutionising pain care and education through understanding, empowerment and long-term capacity building.

The Pain Toolkit
The Pain Toolkit is for people who live with persistent pain and Healthcare teams who support them.

Pain Toolkit booklet
This is a simple information booklet that aims to provide some handy tips and skill to support people in managing their pain. It is used nationally and has been translated into a number of different languages. One of the lead developers of the Pain Toolkit suffers from persistent pain, and sits on a number of advisory committees.

Pinpoint Devon
A search engine to help you find a range of support, services, groups and advice in the local area.

Tai Chi & Qigong Union for Great Britain
Information on the history of Tai Chi and it’s values and principles.

TALKWORKS
Local telephone or video support service to provide support and a talking therapy service to anyone going through emotional difficulties including but not limited to anxiety, stress or long-term health conditions.

Tame the Beast
Sharing their knowledge and field experience in the aim of helping people get closer to reducing and managing their pain.

Torbay and South Devon Physiotherapy Service
Physiotherapy services, aim to enable people to regain, maintain or improve their functional independence or learn to adapt to sudden or progressive disability.

Torbay Youth Trust
Supporting children and young people who care for a family member. Skills and experienced practitioners work alongside children, young people and their families within the community, helping explore strengths, unpick challenges and discover ways to lead fulfilling lives.

The Windmill Centre
Host of the Chronic Pain and Wellbeing Café which is a social, non-judgemental group who meet regularly. Offering “chats and a laugh alongside coffee and cake”.