For health professionals: patient handouts and how we write

Free patient handouts

Each exercise page has a Print this exercise button. The printout fits on one sheet of A4 and includes the steps, the rhythm and timing, how it should feel, when to stop, who should take care and the web address, so patients can find the breathe-along guide at home. You are welcome to print and share the handouts with patients, colleagues and groups. Please don’t change them or sell them.

For breathlessness (COPD, asthma, long COVID, heart failure)

• Breathing control (diaphragmatic breathing)
• Pursed-lip breathing
• Blow as you go
• Paced breathing for stairs and walking
• Positions to ease breathlessness

For sputum clearance

• Active cycle of breathing technique (ACBT)

For stress, anxiety and blood pressure

• Resonance breathing at six breaths a minute
• Cyclic sighing
• Box breathing
• 4-7-8 breathing
• Humming breath
• Alternate nostril breathing

Training methods

• Buteyko breathing for asthma
• Inspiratory muscle training

We also explain Wim Hof breathing, with its risks, because many patients ask about it. It has no breathe-along timer and no handout encouraging practice.

How we write the pages

• Sources. Cochrane and other systematic reviews, randomised trials, and UK guidance from NICE, the British Thoracic Society and SIGN, the NHS and the Royal College of Physicians. Every health claim links to its source.
• Evidence grades. Every exercise and every claimed benefit carries one of four grades, from strong to none, and each page explains its grade in a section headed “What the research shows”. The grades for each exercise, benefit and condition are summarised in a table on each section’s front page.
• Exercise steps follow the way each technique is taught in the trials that tested it and by NHS respiratory physiotherapists. Each includes when to stop and who should take care.
• Safety. We are explicit about breath-holding near water, fast breathing, pregnancy, epilepsy and heart conditions. See who should take care.
• Plain English. Short sentences, everyday words and UK spelling, aimed at a reading age most adults can manage.

Who checks them

The site is written and edited by Nell Avery, the pen name of its editor, who is not medically qualified. Every figure is checked against its source before publication. We are looking for a registered respiratory physiotherapist to review the clinical pages, and their name and HCPC registration will appear on every page they review. If you would be willing to help, or to point out anything you think is wrong or out of date, please email hello@breathingexercises.uk.

Updates and corrections

Every page shows when it was last updated and when its next review is due. We review health pages at least once a year, and sooner when guidance changes. Corrections are made openly, with a note when the meaning changes. See our editorial policy.

What this site is not

It is not a substitute for assessment. The exercises are general guidance; patients with lung or heart conditions benefit most from being assessed and taught by a respiratory physiotherapist or in pulmonary rehabilitation. Every page tells patients to keep taking their medicines and when to seek urgent help.

Independence

There are no adverts, sponsors or affiliate links, and nothing for sale. The site takes no money, products or favours from companies that make breathing apps, devices, courses or medicines. The breathe-along guide runs in the browser and records or sends nothing.