Having completed the “Getting Loose” exercises remain lying on your back. Carry out the “Breathing Easy” exercise for 10 minutes, as follows:

• Inhale
  • Inhale slowly and deeply, filling your chest with air, counting four seconds to yourself. One and two and three and four’.  The count is to give you a nice and easy, even pace. Try to breathe as fully as you can without discomfort. Imagine your chest slowly filling with air, from your diaphragm to your collar.

• Hold Breath
  • When you have inhaled fully, hold your breath for another four seconds, again counting to yourself ‘One and two and three and four’. This should be just a comfortable pause. Do not do it until you a blue in the face.
• Exhale
  • Exhale – but do not blow. Just let the air lout through your mouth slowly saying to yourself ‘Easy…easy…easy…easy’. Let out as much air as you can, down to the lower part of the lungs. Feel yourself relaxing as you do. Feel your shoulders, chest and diaphragm letting go. As you exhale, think of the tension flowing out of you.

Do not worry of the sequence is not exact or the cadence perfect. It may seem a bit difficult to stay with at first but just keep going. The important thing is to establish the slow relaxed breathing rate. After the ten cycles, your breathing rate will be automatically slower and you can dispense with the “One and two and three and four” cadence.

Now do as follows

• Inhale – Breathe in fully.
• Hold breath – Hold it very briefly.
• Exhale – Let the air out slowly, (do not blow), saying mentally ‘Easy…easy…easy…easy’ with each exhalation.
• Repeat this cycle ten times.

You will soon begin to feel a calm, thoroughly pleasurable feeling – some say warmth radiating from your chest throughout your body

Now let yourself breath normally and tell relaxing phrases ‘I feel very relaxed…All the tension is going out of me as I exhale and good feelings are coming into me as I inhale…when I am playing my sport, I will be able to take a few deep breaths and by saying, “Easy” will be able to tell myself to relax whenever I feel  overly tense…When I am playing, I will recall the good feelings I am experiencing now and they will automatically return to me. Imagine all this happening as you say it to yourself.

Now do as follows

• Inhale – Breathe in fully.
• Hold breath – Hold it very briefly.
• Exhale – Let the air out slowly, (do not blow), saying mentally ‘Easy…easy…easy…easy’ with each exhalation.
• Repeat this cycle ten times.

Now let your breathing go naturally, and pay attention to the present feelings in your body. Repeat the same encouraging phrases to yourself that you did earlier. Listen to the sound of your own breath coming in and out. You will notice that the breathing is slow and deep without you having to make it that way. The exhaling will last longer – as soon as an eight – count perhaps.

Continue to do the breathing exercises for the rest of the session, each time alternating the ten cycles of inhale – hold – exhale with the mental encouragement. After the last cycle of ten, just let yourself enjoy the feeling for a minute.

Easy

Tell yourself for the rest of the day I will recall this sensation everytime I tell myself easy.

Disclaimer

Physiotherapy articles are provided for general information only and should in no way be considered as a substitute for the advice and information your Physiotherapist will supply about your particular condition.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate, the Physiotherapy Clinic Fiji Limited and the authors of the articles in  this web site accept no responsibility and cannot guarantee the consequences if patients choose to rely upon these contents as their sole source of information about a condition and its rehabilitation.