Be the Boss of Your Pain speaks to kids ages 8 and up with this message: Your body, mind, and spirit—working together—have amazing abilities to help you control how your body feels, even when you have pain. When you have pain, you often start feeling bad in other ways, too. You might have low energy, get poor sleep, or have no appetite. You might get in a lousy mood or be bored and worried. You might even feel disconnected or hopeless. When you start to have these problems, being the boss of your body can help. You can practice these body boss skills to take control of your pain:

• Belly breathing
• Positive thinking
• Replacing negative thoughts with positive self-talk
• Aromatherapy
• Acupressure

Kids will be happier and healthier when they are the boss of their bodies and can take care of some of their pain on their own. The self-care skills in this book do not replace health care professionals, but they do help kids learn what they can do to take care of themselves. They will learn to deal with headaches, stomachaches, and other pain to make themselves feel better—without always going to the doctor or taking medicine.