Breathing and relaxation techniques
Breathing exercises and relaxation techniques may help you if you become breathless. Your physiotherapist or nurse can show you how to do these at home.
Try to stay calm if you become breathless. This is easier said than done sometimes. But the more anxious you get, the tighter your muscles will be, and the worse your breathing will become.
Watch a short video showing breathing techniques for long term breathlessness:
[Woman talking to man]
Voiceover: These exercises show you how to regain control of your breathing when you are feeling breathless. It can be frightening when you feel breathless and practicing these exercises can help you remain calm when your symptoms are worse.
The first exercise is breathing control. Breathing from your tummy or abdomen is the most efficient way to breathe. It helps to ease your breathing.
Sit upright with your back supported. Relax your arms and shoulders, with your arms by your side. Put one hand just above your belly button. This allows you to feel the movement and know whether you are doing the breathing correctly.
Breathe in through your nose, allowing your tummy to expand. You will feel your hand being pushed by your tummy. Then, breathe out slowly through your mouth. You will now feel your hand fall as your tummy flattens. Repeat this until you have got your breath back. Your breathing should be smooth and quiet. You will feel your chest relax as you become less breathless. It helps to make sure your shoulders are relaxed. This is not always easy but it can help to have someone gently massaging or pressing on your shoulders as you practise the exercise. Practising this will mean that you eventually will be able to do it whilst standing and even walking if you become breathless.
The next exercise is for sudden or severe breathlessness. It is called pursed lips breathing. It slows the flow of air as you breathe out helping to open your airways and release trapped air. This makes breathing easier.
First, stop what you are doing. And lean forward with your arms supported. Focus on the out breath, breathe out slowly through your mouth, with your lips pursed as if you were going to whistle. Take longer to breathe out than to breathe in. And remind yourself that your breathing will ease soon. Continue to do this for a couple of minutes and then you will feel more in control of your breathing.
Abdominal breathing
Abdominal (tummy) breathing helps to expand your lungs fully. It also allows you to relax and control your breathing because you are concentrating on something else, instead of how breathless you are. Abdominal breathing means you deliberately expand your abdominal wall when you breathe.
Start by sitting in a comfortable position with your back and head supported. This allows your
and tummy to expand fully.
Put your hands on your tummy, as you breathe in your tummy rises and expands and relaxes as you breathe out.
You may find it helpful to practice these exercises when you are not breathless so you get used to doing them.
Remember you can’t breathe in properly unless you have breathed out first
Sometimes if you are very anxious about catching your breath, you might forget to breathe out. Make sure you take enough time to breathe out fully before your next breath in.
Controlled breathing
If you are getting very breathless, stop what you are doing and sit up straight. This will help to get as much oxygen into your lungs as possible.
Remind yourself breathlessness will ease off soon
Try to concentrate on:
- breathing in slowly through your nose
- breathing out through your mouth
The pursed lip relaxation technique
If you can't sleep or are very breathless when you wake, try the pursed lip relaxation technique:
- breathe in through your nose
- breathe out through pursed lips (as if you were going to whistle) taking much longer than it took to breathe in
- keep doing this for a few minutes, it should help you feel more in control of your breathing
This technique slows the flow of air as you breathe out. It helps to open up your airways and releases trapped air making breathing easier.
You can use this technique during any activity that makes you feel breathless such as climbing stairs.
Controlled breathing techniques are very like relaxation exercises. As you breathe out try to relax your shoulders. It can help to have someone gently massaging or pressing on your shoulders as you do this.
If you practise this 3 or 4 times a day, you should notice that you are breathing more deeply as well as more slowly.
A breeze or using a fan will also help
Many people with breathing problems find it helps to be near a breeze from an open window or to have a small fan in the room. This gets the air moving and often helps you feel less short of breath.
If you find this helps you might also find it helpful to carry a small hand held fan when you are out and use it when you feel breathless.
Rectangle Breathing
Rectangle breathing can help slow down and control your breathing. You can focus on any rectangular shape around you. For example, a rectangle in a book, picture or window. By looking at the sides of any rectangle you can gradually slow down your breathing rate. You breathe in for the short side, out for the long side. It is often recommended to try 4 seconds to breathe in and 6 seconds to breathe out. This may improve your breathlessness.
There are several different rectangle breathing techniques. It might be a question of trying these and seeing which works best for you.
Distraction techniques
Having a distraction by focusing on something else can also help improve breathlessness. It may help when you are feeling anxious and short of breath.
There are several things you can do. Ask your specialist nurses for more information about this. Examples include:
- counting backwards
- thinking about a song or poem
- listening to music
Visualisation or hypnotherapy
Some people find it useful to practise relaxation techniques. For example, visualisation or hypnotherapy. Once you have learned these techniques, you can use them as soon as you begin to get breathless or anxious.
Coping with lifestyle changes
You might feel that you need to change things about your lifestyle and give up activities you once enjoyed.
This can be hard to come to terms with, especially if you were very active and played sports.
Give yourself time to adjust and try to think of other ways to enjoy your time. This may be an opportunity to try less physical hobbies.
You might find it helpful to speak to your specialist nurse. Or it may help to join a support group and talk over problems with other people in similar situations. You may also want to look at Cancer Chat which is our online forum.
Sources of support
Some hospitals have specialist breathlessness clinics. Ask your doctor to refer you if there is a service in your area. They can teach the techniques here and much more. If there isn't a special clinic, ask to have a chat with a physiotherapist or nurse who specialises in helping people with breathing problems.
Occupational therapists can assess your breathlessness and help you find ways of managing your breathlessness. They can get you equipment for your house, such as rails for stairs or your bathroom.
Remember that you are not alone. Other people have gone through similar experiences.
