Taking a class, and help from the patch

Natasha Gruppo loved lighting up. "Cigarettes were always there for me," she says. "Fortunately, I realized that smoking was really like having a friend who's holding a gun behind her back."
She got her wake-up call two years ago when a severe asthma attack sent her to the ER. "I thought, 'How far does this have to escalate for me to stop?'" she says.
Soon after, she saw an advertisement about a smoking-cessation class in the employee newsletter published by the university where she works as a finance counselor. Natasha figured trying to quit in a group would provide her with some much-needed support, so she joined. In the classes she learned about nicotine-replacement-therapy options and strategies for coping with withdrawal. She started wearing the patch and quit along with her classmates, who kept her accountable. And when cravings hit, she used a breathing technique she'd learned: "I closed my eyes and inhaled and exhaled three times," she says. "When I opened my eyes, the desire had passed." (Deep breathing is a craving-busting technique recommended by the American Cancer Society.) Eight weeks later, Natasha started forgetting to put on her patch