To begin, breathe slowly and feel yourself relax. When you breathe out, picture the air moving the ball away from your body, taking with it any painful or uncomfortable feelings. Continue to picture the ball moving toward you and away from you each time you breathe in and out. You may see the ball getting bigger and bigger as it takes away more and more tension and discomfort. If you choose to use imagery as a relaxation technique, please be sure to read the caution in the following section.
Visualization is a method that is similar to imagery.
With visualization, you create an inner picture that represents your fight against cancer. Some people getting chemotherapy use images of rockets blasting away their cancer cells or of knights in armor battling their cancer cells. Others create an image of their white blood cells or their drugs attacking the cancer cells. Visualization and imagery may help relieve stress and increase your sense of self-control. But it is very important to remember that they cannot take the place of the medical care your doctor prescribes to treat your cancer.