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LIVING WELL WITH ILD

Manage your stress

Everyone has stress — it's a normal part of life. Living with ILD can cause you to feel stress as you learn how to cope with your disease and its symptoms. Learning how to manage your stress can help you stay healthier and happier.

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Practice breathing exercises

  • When you’re stressed, your heart rate and your breathing speed up. When you breathe faster, your breathing gets shallower, which can make you feel breathless. Feeling breathless can increase your stress and cause anxiety.

  • Breathing exercises, or controlled breathing, can help you relax when you are feeling stressed or anxious and can help stop the cycle of stress and anxiety.

  • For more on breathing exercises, see our video from our Virtual Pulmonary Rehabilitation program.

Listen to relaxation apps or recordings

  • There are many free or low-cost apps that provide soothing background music or nature sounds, like the sound of rain falling or waves on a beach.
  • Focusing on your breathing and the sound of music or nature will help you slow your breathing and become more relaxed.
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Exercise

  • Exercise is good for your body and can help you manage stress.
  • Yoga, tai chi and Qi Gong are forms of exercise that can be done at your own pace. They help you learn to focus on controlling your body and your breathing.
  • They also keep you moving and active and can help you become more flexible and improve your balance.

See Tips on staying active with ILD

 

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