Two breathing techniques for shortness of breath — belly breathing and pursed-lip breathing — to slow your breathing, open your lungs, and feel calmer.

If you are experiencing shortness of breath, you should try a breathing technique to slow your breathing down. So what are the breathing techniques that help with shortness of breath? There are two you can use: belly breathing and pursed-lip breathing. Let's practice both. You can do them at the same time, but we'll practice one at a time to get the hang of it.

First, we'll try belly breathing. You'll want to start at rest, so stop what you're doing and take a seat or lie down somewhere comfortable — sitting tall or lying down with your shoulders and arms relaxed. Place your hands on your belly. We're going to breathe in for three to four seconds and breathe out for three to four seconds. Be careful not to hold your breath. Start breathing deeply and slowly through your nose with your mouth closed. You'll feel your belly expand as your lungs fill with air, then slowly breathe out through your mouth like you're whistling. Let your belly release all of the air, and do not force the air out of your lungs.

This is pursed-lip breathing. You can use both techniques together: belly breathing when you breathe in, and pursed-lip breathing when you breathe out. Let's try again. Breathe in through your nose like you're smelling a cake. Purse your lips and blow out the candles on the cake. Great job.

Repeat these techniques for five to ten minutes, or until your breath is back to normal — breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. Breathing techniques help slow your breathing down and open up the lungs. If your shortness of breath does not get better with these techniques, please call 911 immediately. And that is how you do belly and pursed-lip breathing to slow and control your shortness of breath. Thank you for watching. You can find more videos in the resource section of the app.

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