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10 Powerful
Hints to Stop Smoking
Whether you are using Nicotine Replacement Therapy, Hypnosis
or just Cold Turkey, these strategies and hints for aiding you
in stopping smoking are sure to help.
It is up to you to ensure that you do these things, but the
more effort you put into these exercises, the more you will
get out of them.
Powerful Hint 1.
Being a smoker is like cycling with training wheels. You can
find it hard to feel balanced without smoking. Now, when you
cycle freely again, the natural balance returns.
When people smoke, more than half of what they breathe is
fresh air - pulled through the cigarette right down into the
lungs. So if you feel any cravings you can instantly overcome
them by taking three deeper breaths.
Imagine breathing from that space just below your belly
button. Whenever you do this you put more oxygen into your
bloodstream. This means you can use deep breaths to change the
way you feel instantly, giving you power over the way you feel
and helping you let go of those old cravings and thus making
it easier to stop smoking.
Powerful Hint 2
Next, think now of all the reasons you don't like smoking, the
reasons that it's bad and the reasons you want to stop
smoking. Write down the key words on a piece of paper. For
example, you experience breathlessness, it's dirty, filthy and
your clothes smell, your friends and family are concerned and
it's expensive, unsociable and so on. Then, on the other side
of the paper, write down all the reasons why you'll feel good
when you've succeeded in stopping. You'll feel healthier,
you’ll feel in control of yourself, your senses are enhanced;
your hair and clothes will smell fresher and so on.
Next, pin the piece of paper to your fridge, or over your desk
at work. Use this as ammunition when the cravings start to
gnaw at you.
Powerful Hint 3
Next, we are going to program your mind to feel disgusted by
cigarettes. I want you recall 4 times when you thought to
yourself "I've got to quit", or that you felt disgusted about
smoking. Maybe you just felt really unhealthy, or your doctor
told you in a particular tone of voice 'You've got to quit' or
somebody you know was badly affected by smoking.
Remember old Grandpa lying in his death bed with pipes and
tubes hanging out of him. Think to yourself, “If that was me
at the end of my life, how would I feel?”
If you can light up a smoke after reminding yourself of these
things, you must have a death wish, or no reason to live.
Remember each of those times, one after another, as though
they are happening now. I want you to keep going through those
memories and make them as vivid as possible. The more vivid
you make those memories; the easier it will be to stop
smoking. See what you saw, hear what you heard and feel how
you felt.
Experience each individual event in crystal clarity, including
the emotions, and sensory experiences.
I want you to take a few minutes now to keep going through
those memories again and again, overlap each memory with the
next until you are totally and utterly disgusted by
cigarettes.
Powerful Hint 4
Have a think to yourself about the consequences of you not
stopping smoking now, if you just carry on and on. Imagine it,
what will happen if you carry on smoking. What are the
consequences? Imagine yourself in 6 months time, a year’s
time, even 5 years time if you do not stop smoking now. Think
of all the detrimental effects of not stopping right now and
how a simple decision you make today can make such an impact
on your future.
How sad and miserable will you feel if you are still smoking
in 6 months time? Think about that. A little white stick of
brown grass controls your life forever and will ultimately
spell your demise.
Next, imagine how much better your life is going to be when
you stop smoking. Really imagine it's months from now and you
successfully stopped. Smoking is a thing of the past,
something you used to do. Keep that feeling with you and
imagine having it tomorrow, and for the rest of next week. In
your mind, imagine stepping in to that non-smoking version of
you and feel how it feels to be a non-smoker.
Grab on to that feeling, as that will be the psychological
rock you cling to when you are in the depths of crippling
cravings.
Powerful Hint 5
Also, your mind is very sensitive to associations, so it's
very important that you have a clear out and remove all
tobacco products from your environment.
Move some of the furniture in your house and at work. Smokers
are accustomed to smoking in certain situations, as these set
of triggers.
So, for example, if you used to smoke on the telephone at work
move the phone to the other side of the desk. Throw away
ashtrays, old lighters and anything that you used to associate
with smoking. Make your environment conducive to stopping
smoking.
Powerful Hint 6
Smokers sometimes use their habit to give themselves little
breaks during the day. Taking a break is good for you, so
carry on taking that time off, but do something different.
Walk round the block, have a cup of tea or drink of water, or
do some of the techniques on this program. In fact, if
possible drink a lot of fruit juice, as it is full of
vitamins.
When you stop smoking the body goes through a big change. The
blood sugar levels tend to fall, the digestion is slowed down
and your body starts to eject the tar and poisons that have
accumulated.
Basically, when you quit, your body will go into emergency
rebuild mode. This taxes your body's stores of nutrition.
Fresh fruit juice contains fructose which restores your blood
sugar levels, vitamin C which helps clear out impurities and
high levels of water and fiber to keep your digestion going.
Also try to eat fruit every day for at least two weeks after
you have stopped.
Also when you stop, cut your caffeine intake by half. Nicotine
breaks down caffeine so without nicotine a little coffee will
have a big effect. Drink 8-10 glasses of water (ideally
bottled) to help wash out your system.
Powerful Hint 7
You were used to using cigarettes to signal to your body to
release happy chemicals, so next we are going to program some
good feelings into your future. Allow yourself to fully
remember now a time when you felt very deep ecstasy, pleasure
or bliss, right now.
Take a moment to recall it as vividly as possible. Remember
that time, see what you saw, hear what you heard and feel how
good you felt. Whereabouts in your body were those feelings?
Imagine turning them up and spreading them through your body
to make them more intense.
Keep going through the memory, as soon as it finishes, go
through it again and again, all the time squeezing your thumb
and finger together. In your mind, make those images big and
bright, sounds loud and harmonious and feelings strong and
intensified. We are making an associational link between the
squeeze of your fingers and that good feeling.
Okay, stop and relax. Now if you have done that correctly when
you squeeze your thumb and finger together you should feel
that good feeling again. Go ahead do that now, squeeze thumb
and finger and remember that good feeling.
Now we're going to program good feelings to happen
automatically whenever you are in a situation where you used
to smoke but now you stop smoking.
So, next I'd like you to squeeze your thumb and finger
together, get that good feeling going and now imagine being in
several situations where you would have smoked, but being
there feeling great without a cigarette. See what you'll see
here and take that good feeling into those situations without
the need for a cigarette.
Imagine being in a situation where someone offers you a
cigarette and you confidently say 'No thanks, I don't smoke'.
And feel fantastic about it!
Reward yourself with a pat on the back, because you no longer
are a filthy smoker. No longer are you a slave to the evil
little weed.
Powerful Hint 8
Get social support. Your commitment to stopping smoking for
the rest of your life can be made much easier by talking about
it to friends and family and letting them support you. They
will congratulate you on doing so well too! You really did
stop smoking. GOOD ON YOU!!!
Powerful Hint 9
Be aware of making excuses for yourself. Some people talk
themselves into smoking, especially if they encounter a
stressful situation and in the past they used to deal with it
by smoking. If those old thoughts pop into your head, shout
the word “STOP” in your head, to stop the thoughts from
progressing.
Nicotine just stresses your body more and is like that itch
that can never be properly scratched; the more you smoke, the
more you have to. So say “STOP” and steer clear of old
slippery slopes.
Nicotine attaches to the sympathetic parts of the brain, so
when you are stressed by a certain event, your brain
automatically looks for ways to make itself feel better. It
sympathizes with you and tells you to do the first habitual
thing that it thinks of to make it feel better. Just remind
your brain that you are not a smoker, so it needs to find
something else to entertain itself.
Powerful Hint 10
Reward yourself. Congratulate yourself. Treat yourself each
time you get past a certain milestone; the first week or first
month, the six month target. Let yourself know that you did
something really special here.
Keep on using your brain, stretching it and helping yourself.
By running through these exercises time after time; you will
make it easier and easier and successfully stop smoking for
good.
Source:
http://www.smokerswebsite.net |
