Sophrology and chronic illness: living day to day a little more easily

Living with a chronic illness means dealing every day with limits you didn't choose. Sophrology changes nothing about the illness itself, and I'd rather say so in the very first line. What it can do is help you live a little more calmly with what comes with it: worry, tiredness, disrupted sleep, and the fear of running out of air when the illness affects the lungs.

This article replaces an older text about pulmonary fibrosis. I've rewritten it more broadly, for everyone living with a long-term illness, with particular attention to respiratory conditions. I'm a sophrologist in Bordeaux, at my practice and by video call.

Here you'll find what sophrology can offer, what studies and a French lung health foundation say, exercises suited to difficult days, and how I work alongside your medical team.

What living with a chronic illness does to your morale

A long-term illness isn't only about the body. There's the moment you're told, often a shock. Then uncertainty about how things will develop, repeated tests, plans to rethink, a changing place within the family or at work.

For idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, the Fondation du Souffle, a French lung health foundation, points out that care needs to be comprehensive: relieving cough and breathlessness, but also anxiety, and giving carers better support. Among the non-drug approaches that can improve quality of life, it lists pulmonary rehabilitation, oxygen therapy and psychological support, and it recommends tackling stress, in particular with relaxation techniques.

In the accounts the foundation publishes, people with the illness talk about loneliness, the fear of breathlessness and the relief of being able to talk to others in the same situation. Relatives talk about a constant vigilance that wears them out.

A meta-analysis of 25 studies covering more than 78,000 people with pulmonary fibrosis found, using screening questionnaires, signs of anxiety in around 42% of them and signs of depression in 38%. The figures are much lower when only cases assessed by a doctor are counted, but they show this emotional burden is far from rare.

What sophrology can offer, and what it doesn't do

Sophrology combines breathing, relaxing the body and visualisation. With a chronic illness, I use it for modest, concrete goals:

• finding moments of calm in a day full of worry;
• coping better with waiting for tests and results;
• falling asleep more easily when your thoughts are racing in the evening;
• reconnecting with a body you sometimes feel you're just putting up with;
• putting into words what you feel, without having to be strong for everyone.

What I often see in sessions with people worn down by a long-term illness is that they've got into the habit of holding on. Holding on for appointments, for the family, so as not to worry anyone. Simply having an hour where you have nothing to prove, where you can say it's hard, already changes something. We're not trying to "think positive": we're looking for moments of respite, small but regular.

What it doesn't do: it doesn't slow down an illness, it doesn't improve how your lungs work, and it doesn't replace treatment, pulmonary rehabilitation or psychological support when that's needed. Sophrology does not replace medical advice. If anyone promises you otherwise, be wary.

What the studies say

Research on sophrology itself is scarce. A trial with 60 women with fibromyalgia compared twelve weeks of sophrology with twelve weeks of strength training: pain went down to a similar extent in both groups, but strength training did more to improve strength and the ability to manage everyday tasks. It's a good illustration of what I believe: sophrology can have a place alongside adapted physical activity, not instead of it.

For respiratory illnesses, most of the evidence concerns relaxation in the broad sense. A meta-analysis of 25 trials in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) shows a small effect of relaxation on anxiety and mood, and a moderate effect on quality of life. The authors call for better-quality studies.

When the illness affects your breathing

With pulmonary fibrosis or COPD, breathlessness is frightening. And fear, in turn, speeds up and blocks your breathing. Many people describe this circle: an effort, short breath, rising panic, and even shorter breath.

What medicine recommends first is pulmonary rehabilitation. A Cochrane review of 21 studies concludes that it is safe and probably improves exercise capacity, breathlessness and quality of life in interstitial lung disease, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The Fondation du Souffle notes that it can also include psychosocial support, and that a daily walk is recommended. If it hasn't been offered to you yet, ask your lung specialist.

Sophrology can help on the emotional side. I won't teach you a medical breathing technique: that's your physiotherapist's role. In sessions I never ask you to hold your breath or breathe harder. Instead we work on what happens around the breath: relaxing shoulders that creep up, paying attention to the points where your body is supported, noticing the sensation without panicking.

Three exercises for difficult days

Do them sitting in an armchair with your back supported. Stop if you feel worse.

Points of support

Close your eyes if you like. Feel your feet on the floor, then the weight of your thighs on the seat, your back against the backrest, your hands resting. Name each point of contact silently, slowly. There's no need to change your breathing: let it be. Two or three minutes are enough. This exercise helps when worry rises, because it brings your attention back to what is stable.

Letting the shoulders go

Without forcing, lift your shoulders slightly, then let them come down gently, as if they were getting heavier. Repeat three times at your own pace. Then let your jaw loosen and your forehead relax. When you're short of breath, the upper body tenses: this small gesture helps you avoid adding extra tension.

Your safe place

Think of a place where you felt good and safe: a garden, a beach, a room from your childhood. Bring back the colours, the sounds, the temperature of the air. Stay there for a minute or two. The people I work with often use this exercise before a test or in the evening to help them fall asleep.

Some breathing exercises, such as heart coherence breathing, ask you to follow a set breathing rhythm: talk to your lung specialist before trying them if your breathing is limited.

And the people close to you?

A chronic illness also weighs on those who support you: your partner, your children, your friends. The Fondation du Souffle stresses the carer's place in overall care. Carers often feel they have no right to be tired or worried, since they're not the ones who are ill.

Sophrology can give them room to breathe, quite literally. The same exercises work: points of support, letting go, the safe place. And when possible, practising together for a few minutes in the evening can become a soothing ritual for both of you. To see how I work with emotions, you can read my article on managing stress and emotions.

Building support together with your medical team

Before we start, I ask what illness you have, what care is in place and what is hardest for you right now. I then adapt the sessions: sitting or lying down, shorter sessions if fatigue is significant, exercises with no breathing effort at all. If your condition worsens, if anxiety becomes overwhelming or if dark thoughts appear, I refer you to your doctor straight away.

You can read about what happens in a sophrology session. I offer sophrology for adults and sophrology for seniors at my practice on rue Ducau in Bordeaux, as well as online sophrology if travelling is difficult. My prices are listed per session. And talk to your doctor about it: the best way forward is for everyone to play their own part, together.