This led to their defining the law of biofeedback. It states: “Not only does every change in thought cause a corresponding change in body function, but every change in body function is accompanied by a corresponding change in our thoughts and feelings.”

By first calming the mind, the body quickly follows suit and it becomes easeful and relaxed. According to the law of biofeedback, this should also work in reverse. And indeed it does. By first relaxing and calming the body, the mind quickly follows suit and it, too, becomes calm and serene. When the mind is calm and serene, our immunocompetence is enhanced to its optimal level.

Researches quickly realized that we could speed recovery from a cold, flu or other disease by relaxing the body. Several behavioral scientists went a step further and discovered that if, while in a state of deep bodily relaxation, we made mental pictures of our immune system fighting and destroying viruses, recovery was even swifter.

Out of these discoveries was born the psycho-techniques of Deep Relaxation and Creative Imagery. Deep Relaxation is also known as Relaxation Training, Deep Muscle Relaxation or Progressive Relaxation while Creative Imagery may also be called Guided Imagery.

To demonstrate how swiftly and effectively these techniques bolster our immunocompetence, Mary Jasnoski, a Harvard psychologist, performed a test on thirty-two college students all of whom were known to be good at creative imagery. The students were divided into three groups. During a one hour training session, group one, the control group, received no training. Croup two practiced deep relaxation and slow-breathing techniques. Group three also practiced deep relaxation with slow-breathing but additionally, they visualized their immune systems as strong, powerful entities that were vigorously attacking weak cold and flu viruses.

Saliva tests were made immediately afterward to measure two immune system components: salivary immunoglobulin cells (which attack upper respiratory tract viral infections) and helper T cells which spur antibody production.

The control group raised neither count. The relaxation – only group boosted their salivary immunoglobulin level. But the group which practiced both relaxation and visualization significantly raised the level of both immune system components.

This study, which was presented recently at the Society of Behavioral Medicine in San Francisco, demonstrated that relaxation alone may help fight colds or flu. But when imagery is used as well, the overall level of immunocompetence is clearly enhanced.

*213\30\4*