Have you been trying to quit smoking? Finding it difficult to let go of the habit? Have you been thinking you can't quit because you are deeply addicted to Nicotine? Have you considered using dangerous drugs such as Chantix to help you quit?
Quitting or changing any habit is actually a very simple process. And no matter what anyone has told you, smoking is a habit. The difficulty you are having is because of rituals and habituated behaviors.
Briefly, your subconscious has learned that when x happens, then y (smoking) occurs. And now you are running a program in your subconscious that says when x (and x can be anything from a cup of coffee or a beer, to a major life changing event) happens, then the smoking behavior follows. It's as simple as that. You have hypnotized your subconscious into believing something is true and necessary.
But is it really so? Is it necessary to have a cigarette every time you have a cup of coffee or a beer? Is it really?
Is smoking the only way to think through life changing events in your life? Is it really?
If you have decided that cigarettes are not necessary for you, you are already almost there. If you have quit smoking for even a short time, you've already proven that you can. So how can you get from this point of being almost there to the final "I Quit". The following is an easy to follow process that just may work for you. It worked for me and for many others I've helped over the years.
To prepare yourself for the process, be sure to make smoking conscious, by that I mean become aware by changing your rituals. Make sure that you're not just reaching for a cigarette. Keep your cigarettes out of reach and don't smoke in the house or car. This will force you to become aware of every time you want to smoke.
The First D: Delay
Anytime you think you want to smoke, check the time. Then give yourself 10 - 30 minutes to be smoke free. I told myself that I could have a cigarette in 10 minutes if I still wanted it. Then I went on about my day. Often, I would check my watch to discover that 30 minutes or more had passed. At this point I would choose to either smoke the cigarette if I really wanted to, or put it off for another 10 minutes. After a while, I wouldn't smoke if I was watching a movie. I'd delay until after the movie was over. The same if I was watching a good show on TV. And so on. It's really easy, and you do it every day anyway, whenever you find yourself in no smoking zones.
The Second D: Distract
The fits right in with the First D. When you delay your cigarette, you then distract yourself from smoking by doing something you desire, such as watching tv, or the rest of the movie, or reading a good book, or even exercising. You could even set a goal for yourself to walk around the block whenever you want to smoke instead of smoking. Distraction is the process when you teach your subconscious that there are other ways of handling stress, or socializing, and so on. Try to find something that you enjoy and will enhance your life.
The Third D: Deep Breathing
Instead of smoking, you may decide to take a deep breath and allow the oxygen to fill your lungs and go to your brain rather than the nicotine. Just breathe deeply and comfortably, and imagine that you can feel the oxygen as it moves through your lungs, into your blood stream, into the cells of your body and up into your brain. You can imagine the cells feeling rejuvenated and alive with all this oxygen. Take about 30 seconds and do this every time you desire to smoke.
The Fourth D: Drink Filtered Water
When you begin to put off smoking, your body immediately begins to detox itself. It is very important to help your body all you can with this detoxing process. Drinking lots of filtered water will help your body flush away the toxins and will make releasing cigarettes from your life much easier. Flushing your system and getting rid of those toxins will make your final goal much easier. And remember to filter the water. You want to detox your body, not put more chemicals into your system.
The Fifth D: De-hypnotize
This is where the tire meets the road. You have hypnotized yourself for years that smoking was what you needed to do, and that you couldn't quit because you were "hooked" and "addicted". Now, if you are serious about quitting, you need to De-hypnotize yourself.
And the place to begin is to become aware of your language. Your subconscious is very literal and words will often mean things you're not aware of. For example, become aware of the word "try" and when you use it. "Try" is one of those failure words that will keep you "hooked". You might think about it like this: when you try to do something, you will most likely fail because you haven't done it. Just "try" to breath. Breathing is an either you do or you don't kind of thing. Same with tying your shoe laces. Do you say to yourself, I think I'll try to tie my shoelaces? or do you say, I'm going to tie my shoelaces. See the difference? So don't "try" to quit smoking, just "quit smoking".
Another word that gets us in trouble is "should". When we use this word, we are going into parental mode and telling ourselves what we should do. This implies that we don't have a choice, not if we're good people, and it can make us uncomfortable at best.
So, becoming aware of the language you use around cigarettes and changing that language to give yourself the choice will be a winning tactic every time.
You might want to say to yourself, "I can choose to have a cigarette now, or I can choose to have a cigarette in 30 minutes".
This type of language will begin to change or de-hypnotize the way you think about yourself as a non-smoker. A smoker doesn't have any choice about smoking. They smoke because they are addicted. A non-smoker has the choice to have a cigarette or not. So make it easy on yourself and give yourself the choice.
Through a lot of supportive self-talk such as "I can and will do this", "I have a choice in this matter", "I am a non-smoker", you can change your mind and change your life. Remember, this process can take as long or as short a time as you want. It is your life and your health. Choose to create the life of your dreams.
Recognize that what you focus on today will be your future tomorrow.
Open your life up to new exciting opportunities. Begin your life again NOW!
And if you don't think you can do it, or you don't deserve to be happy, or you're too deep into the pain, or you just need a checkup, give yourself a chance to make those changes in your life that you've been dreaming of.
You can contact me directly for assistance. Send me an email and I will respond as quickly as I can.
Blessings and Peace,
Sharon
PS: Get your copy of the ebook, Introduction to Energy Work, at http://www.ChangeYourLifeNowCoaching.com. You can also visit me at http://www.EastHillHypnosis.com, email me at sharon@ChangeYourLifeNowCoaching.com or call 850-725-6400. I look forward to getting to know you.
copyright 2010 by Sharon Routledge, MA CH
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