Grief, depression, fear, and panic have been shown to suppress the immune response, while laughter, play, love, faith, hope, and self-acceptance help to stimulate and balance immune function. Part of curing, then, involves the recognition and release of negative emotions such as resentment, guilt, anger, and self-hatred, and the fostering of feelings of well-being, adequacy, and self-control. Studies have shown that having a sense of control, and connectedness promotes the maintenance of good health even when under stress.

  Satisfaction in relationships and work are very important to one's happiness and health. Healthy relationships are characterized by a mutual flow of giving and receiving, mutual support and respect, and the ability to work out conflicts and difficulties.

  One of the essential components to curing is an ability to share feelings and pain with one another. It shows us that people are not alone and that they have something to offer. This can be realized in therapy, in social groups, and through the development of friends or close family relationships. David Spiegel, a psychiatrist at Stanford University, demonstrated that women with breast cancer who participated in a weekly support group lived twice as long as than those who did not.

  Dr. Peper says that there is an evidence that people who have few social contacts are more likely to get sick and less likely to recover from an illness. A long-term study found that people with the lowest amount of social ties were two to three times more likely to die of all causes than those with the most social connectedness. Dr. Fahrion adds that isolation and loneliness have also been shown to result in immune problems in bereaved individuals who have recently lost their loved ones.

  Guided imagery is an important method of curing. Dr. Achterberg suggests that every image a person has in the mind can affect immune function, blood flow, and heart rate. Other studies have shown that guided imagery can decrease chronic nightmares, reduce substance abuse, and expel many other psychological and physiological problems.

  Regulation of breathing plays an important role in mind/body medicine, because it puts about a state of relaxation. For example, shallow chest breathing and hyperventilation, are part of the body's response to stress. These dysfunctional breathing patterns can cause increased heart rate, blood vessel constriction, and muscle tension, as well as chains of negative thoughts.

  A person who suppresses unpleasant feelings and thoughts may also unknowingly restrict his breathing. Thus, it is important to express and release these emotions in order to maintain proper breathing. Likewise, proper breathing can help facilitate an emotional release. Many psycho-oriented therapies such as Reichian therapy emphasize emotional release through deliberate change of breathing patterns.

  Slow, conscious, diaphragmatic breathing is a powerful tool for promoting relaxation and awareness. It is an important component of many therapeutic approaches to the body and the mind, and is used in most forms of meditation as well as in the practice of yoga and qigong. When cardiac patients, who are usually shallow chest breathers, learn slow diaphragmatic breathing, there is a 50 percent drop in recurrence of coronary events. It can also be used to reduce panic attacks, headache, chest pain, and other symptoms.

  In a study at San Francisco State University, Dr. Peper, along with his student Vicci Tibbets, worked with a group of asthmatics to help them learn self-regulation approaches. Participants met in a group for sixteen weeks, using the power of group support. They were given slow diaphragmatic breathing and biofeedback training for calming the upper body muscles. Once breathing techniques were mastered, the participants learned to use them in increasingly stressful situations. As they began to feel in control, their fears decreased, and a sense of hope arised. Those participants who controled their lives and continued with their training were found to be in better shape at the fifteen-month follow-up, showing that self-responsibility contributed to the improvement of their health.