Exercises to help breathlessness

To improve your breathing, you must first become aware of how you breathe. This is a simple exercise to help you become more aware of your breathing.

 First, make yourself comfortable. Sitting upright with your head supported is a good position to start in. Also, make sure that you are in a quiet comfortable room where you can relax.

1. Put one hand on your chest and one hand on your tummy.
2. Sigh out and then breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.
3. The hand on your chest should barely move, while the hand on your tummy should move up and down. This is the right way to breathe, so practise it as often as you can.

Once you are comfortable with knowing how you breathe, you can concentrate on improving your breathing. This is called controlled breathing.

1. Put your hands on your chest and your tummy as before.
2. Sigh out. This will help you relax and drop your shoulders.
3. Now try and make your breath out twice as long as your breath in.
4. It helps to count it in your head: in - one, out - one, two.
5. Continue these exercises until you are comfortable and they feel natural.

Feeling breathless can be frightening and make you feel anxious. This is normal. But remember that anxiety can make your breathlessness worse. 

These are some simple ways to prevent you from becoming anxious:

• Recognise when you are feeling anxious.
• Find somewhere to sit and tell a friend what is happening.
• Sigh out and drop your shoulders.
• Concentrate on breathing in through your nose and out through your pursed lips.
• Feel your tummy move as you breathe.
• Stretch out your hands and wriggle your fingers.
• Tell yourself that anxiety will only make you feel worse.
• Congratulate yourself when you have overcome your feelings of anxiety.

If you would like more information on how to deal with anxiety, call our Support Line on Freephone 1800 200 700 and speak to one of our specialist cancer nurses about counselling services and cancer support centres and groups. You can also call into a Daffodil Centre.