It's Not in Your Head

21 Pacing Strategies: How to Prevent Flares & Manage Energy with Chronic Pain

Dr. Dan Bates & Justine Feitelson Season 1 Episode 21

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0:00 | 58:24

This episode reframes "pacing" as a practical, personalized system rather than a vague concept. The hosts walk through how to manage timing, tasks, and tolerance to gain capacity and reclaim activities that chronic pain has limited. Key strategies include:

  • Task batching and scheduling
  • Managing contextual variables (stress, sleep, physical load)
  • Graded exposure to build resilience
  • Built-in flexibility for flare adaptation

The episode emphasizes that flares are a natural part of the process — and that a strong pacing plan you know how to adapt and progress appropriately, reduces their frequency and shortens recovery time.


Resources:

www.iniyh.com

www.resilientwarriorcoachingllc.com/cpp

Timestamps:

00:00 Official Intro

00:18 Intro to Pacing

04:21 Three Components of Planning

09:22 Task Batching vs. Task Switching

14:06 Juz's Schedule Example

18:10 Tolerance

23:03 Techniques to Execute Pacing

31:25 Juz's Chorus Example

33:25 Graded Exposure 

38:09 Activity Pacing

39:04 Awareness & Monitoring

45:21 Zone 2 Cardio

48:10 Flare Management

52:48 Create Rest Around Big Toll Items

54:51 Wrap-up

57:57 Disclaimer