- Realize that unless you are traveling on an airplane or a bus you are always free to smoke
whenever you wish to, even if you have to do it out in the cold air. - Avoid substituting things like tea, coffee, chocolate, chewing gum, more exercise, drinking
mineral water, etc. for cigarettes, as they won’t satisfy your desire to smoke in the long run. - Choose a starting time of your program to stop smoking that does not coincide with an emotional
upheaval or stressful situation. It is best to link the starting date with a positive event in your life.
New moon day is one of the best days to start quitting. - Think about all the benefits that will come to you when you stop smoking, i.e., better health, less
mucus discharge from the lungs, cleaner breath, saving money, etc. - Acknowledge your desire to smoke when it comes up by saying to yourself: “I really have the
desire to smoke now and I feel free to do so, but right now I decide not to smoke.” When the
desire to smoke returns in an hour or so, you may choose to fulfill it this time. This will teach you
to consciously accept your desire to smoke, but not always fulfill it. By choosing not to smoke
each time the desire emerges, you train your mind to make conscious choices. - Often, your desire to smoke is coupled with clues like drinking a cup of coffee, the ringing of the
telephone, waiting for a bus or a taxi, or switching on the television set. Your addiction is a
“program” that you have written in your subconscious mind and associated with such clues. As the
clues occur, your desire to smoke pops up, too. The next time you want to smoke when the
telephone rings, while you drink a cup of coffee, or after you switch on the TV, make the
conscious choice to wait for a few minutes until you have the time or opportunity to smoke
consciously. Another suggestion is to smoke somewhere in the house or garden where you usually
don’t smoke. This will sever the ties to your subconscious and make your decision whether to
smoke or not a more conscious one. - Allow your desire to smoke to become quite strong before you actually reach for the cigarette; in
other words, you will still have the freedom to smoke but postpone your decision for a while until
you really feel the discomfort. Notice where in your body you feel tense, irritable or nervous. It is
important to feel how strong your desire to smoke becomes before you light up. Most smokers
give into the slightest urge to smoke and do not even notice when they light up. You want to break
the pattern of doing things unconsciously. - To make it easier to quit smoking (or any other addiction), drink half a glass (or more) of water (at
room temperature) before you choose to smoke a cigarette every time you have the urge to smoke.
Physically speaking, the urge to smoke is directly linked to toxins that were deposited in the
connective tissues of the body and are now entering the blood, increasing blood thickness. The
thickening of blood generally causes irritation, nervousness and anxiety, even panic. Instead of
pushing the toxins back into the connective tissues (as they will surely reemerge) drinking a glass
of water will make your blood thinner, which will help to remove the toxins from the body. Thus,
the urge to smoke lessens each time you do this and eventually disappears altogether. - Finally, your addiction to smoking is not something terrible that you need to get rid of. It is rather
an opportunity to train yourself to become the master of your destiny. In this sense, your addiction
can become one of the very best teachers you have ever had.
avery
(avery)
#1