Breathing control helps relax the airways. You should breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth with very little effort. Use normal, gentle breathing with the lower chest while relaxing the upper chest and shoulders.

A good way to do this is to place one hand on your stomach as you breathe. Remember to breathe gently so you relax the airways. If breathing out through the mouth is difficult, you can use the “pursed lips” technique. Repeat breathing control for six breaths before moving to chest expansion exercises.

2. Chest expansion exercises

Breathe in deeply. (Some people use a three-second hold of breath to get more air into smaller airways and behind the mucus.) Then breathe out without forcing the air out. This may be done with chest clapping or vibrating, followed by breathing control.

3. Huffing or huff coughing

Also called forced expiration technique, huff cough at different, controlled lengths to move mucus up to the larger airways. This huffing should be repeated until all mucus has been huffed out of the body.