Positions of Comfort

When you have trouble breathing, you may panic and begin to breathe rapidly. As you become more short of breath, and therefore, more nervous, you begin to use you shoulder and neck muscles and by breathing fast you use extra energy, extra oxygen and you trap air in your lungs. As you trap more air in your lungs, you will become more short of breath.

When you feel yourself getting short of breath, the first thing to do is to get comfortable and relax your shoulder and neck muscles. Learning the correct method of sitting in a chair, standing, energy conservation and the relaxation technique will help you get comfortable and relax.

Sitting in a Chair

First position: Lean forward and rest your elbows on your knees. (If you have a habit of sitting on the edge of your chair and pushing down on your hands with tense shoulders and arms when short of breath, replace it with this position.)

Keep your hands and shoulders relaxed and your back straight.

Second position: Lean forward and rest your shoulders, arms and head on a pillow placed on a table in front of you. When short of breath for a prolonged period of time, this position is helpful and you may be able to sleep like this.

Support the upper chest and head on pillows.

Remember to keep your back straight.

Standing

Stand facing a wall, about 12 to 18 inches away with your head on your forearms resting against the wall (or on a table or ledge). Rest your head on your forearms if you desire. Put one foot forward in lunge position (to relax abdominal muscles). If you become short of breath while you are walking and there is no place to sit down, take one of the following positions:

Standing first position:
Standing either lean forward with forearms on a chair or other handy object with shoulders and arms relaxed.

Standing second position:
if you find the above position awkward, then lean with your back against the wall, with your feet about 12 inches from the wall and your knees and trunk slightly bent.