Our Self-help Resources provide you with 24/7 access to information and tools to help you self manage the challenges you face throughout the cancer journey. Our services are also accessible to anyone caring for someone with cancer as well as anyone with a Hereditary Cancer gene e.g. BRCA.
This is a good way of helping you relax and can be a useful exercise to do before you go to bed to aid sleep. Click on the video below for a body relaxation demo.
Often when you are anxious you breathe faster. Slowing your breathing down can help reduce your heart rate, reduce you level of anxiety and make you feel more in control. For example, one technique is called ‘breathing for 4’. Breath in slowly for 4, hold for 4, breath out for 4 and hold for 4. If you do this 5 times your breathing will become more relaxed, your heart rate will slow down and you will feel more in control. Click on the video below for a range of techniques to help you control your breathing.
This is a way of taking your mind to a safe relaxing place e.g. beach, walk in the park, imaging the sounds, smells and the relaxation feeling. The video below provides a meditation you can use at home.
A form of meditation that involves fully focusing your attention to the present moment, observing what is happening with a calm, non-judging awareness, allowing thoughts and feelings to come and go without getting caught up in them. The aim is to concentrate only on what is happening in the here and now, not the past and not the future as we cannot change the past and often have limited control over the future.
As you apply cream to your hands start to pay attention to your speed when rubbing in the cream… if you are doing this quickly…Can you slow this down? Pay attention to how the skin feels… is it dry? … is it soft? Feel it soften as the cream soaks in. Pay attention to the temperature of your hands… are they warm or cool? Are your fingers the same temperature as the rest of your hand? Are the muscles in your hand tense or relaxed? Invite the muscles to feel soft as you massage the cream in. Check how you are breathing… is your breath slow or quick. Begin to slow and deepen your breath as you massage the cream into your hands Using your thumb move gently in circles from the outside of your palm into the centre. Repeat this a few times moving slowly and breathing slowly. Do this on both hands Using your fingertips move gently in circles on the back of your hand from the outside into the centre Circle gently up your fingers… paying attention to the front, back and sides of the fingers. Repeat this on both hands. Remember to massage slowly and breathe deeply and slowly Circle or rub gently along the crease in your palm behind your knuckles. In reflexology this is the reflex for your diaphragm and it can be calming to gently massage this area. Finish by taking 3 calming breaths and pay attention to how your hands feel now. How does the rest of your body feel now?
