Whether you are using Nicotine Replacement Therapy, Hypnosis or just Cold Turkey, these strategies and hints are for aiding you to stop smoking and are sure to assist you in helping your neurology change and thus enable you to stop smoking with ease. It is up to you to ensure that you do these things to really enhance what you are doing, the more effort you put into these exercises, the easier it is to stop smoking for good.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 1.

Being a smoker is like cycling with stabilisers attached to the wheels, you can find it hard to be 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 and give you power over the way you feel and help you let go of those old cravings and thus making it easier to stop smoking.

Powerful Stop Smoking 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 your self, your senses are enhanced, your hair and clothes will smell fresher and so on. Whenever you need to, look at that piece of paper.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 3

Next, we are going to programme your mind to feel disgusted by cigarettes. I want you recall 4 times when you thought to yourself “I’ve gotta 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. Take a moment now to come up with 4 different times that you felt that you have to quit or were disgusted by smoking.

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. 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 Stop Smoking 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 years 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.

Next, imagine how much better is your life 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.

Powerful Stop Smoking 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. 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 Stop Smoking 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 programme. In fact, if possible drink a lot of fruit juice. 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. Fresh fruit juice contains fructose which restores your blood sugar levels, vitamin C which helps clear out impurities and high levels of water and fibre 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 Stop Smoking Hint 7

You were used to using cigarettes to signal to your body to release happy chemicals, so next we are going to programme 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. Where abouts 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 programme 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 hear and take that good feeling into those situations without a 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!

Powerful Stop Smoking 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.

Powerful Stop Smoking 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.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 10

Reward yourself. Congratulate yourself. Feel how good it feels to stop smoking and be a non-smoker. 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 your self, by running through these exercises time after time; you are sure to be able to make it easier and easier and successfully stop smoking for good.

Copyright 2005 Adam Eason All Rights Reserved.

Bookmark to:

Smoking cigarettes or using tobacco is a self destructive and a suicidal behavior. If you are a smoker, then you already know this simple fact. But just knowing and being able to do something about it are often two different things.

You are probably aware that millions and millions of people die from tobacco related disease each and every year. But knowing this has not caused more than a minor movement away from use of the deadly plant by the general public. In fact, children all over the world are being led into the same destructive path as their elders. At their young age, they started smoking their first cigarettes, and quickly became addicted to a daily habit.

The huge problem with smoking cigarettes is in the seemingly unbreakable habit of using them. Habits are built - or assembled if you will - over a period of time and are created by repetitious behavior. Without the habit, which creates the craving, tobacco has no power of its own. It is as harmless and of no consequence as any simple garden weed. It is that internal unintentional perception about the drug that makes it dangerous.

Removing this kind of habit from a human being is not so simple. It requires a complete program of steps, taken one at a time with care and commitment. With this type of program, ending the smoking habit will feel more natural and is actually easier, even less painful than starting it. The first place to start is with these simple questions: Do you really want to quit smoking? Are you ready to do it now? If your answer to either question is “no,” you will probably be unable to quit at all.

Here are some simple but effective quit smoking tips:

Tip 1: Think of yourself as a non-smoker.

One of the best ways to think like a non-smoker one is to picture yourself in your day to day routine without cigarettes. When people ask you for a cigarette, you tell them that you don’t smoke. When you eat in a restaurant, you choose the non-smoking section. You stop taking breaks at work to smoke. Conceptualizing yourself as someone who doesn’t smoke will help you make that vision a reality. It may sound silly, but positive thinking of very specific activities in your life can help you achieve your goals.

Tip 2: Drink more water.

Water can be very instrumental in ending your smoking habit. Water flushes out the body and any toxins quickly. Some people feel bloated for the first couple of days of drinking extra water, but you will quickly enjoy its benefits. Drinking extra water will cause you to urinate more often, thus eliminating the toxins caused by smoking more quickly, reducing the urge to smoke. On top of that, you will feel healthier and more energetic.

Tip 3: Quit smoking with a buddy.

Encourage someone who always talks about quitting smoke to join you. It is much easier to give up a bad habit if you have a friend with whom to share sympathy and helpful tips. This “quit” buddy can help share your struggles because they know exactly what you’re going through.

Tip 4: Enlist support from others in your life.

Don’t try to quit smoking alone! It is best to let everyone know that you are quitting. Tell your best friend. Tell your girlfriend or boyfriend. Tell your mom. Make sure you let everyone know when you will be quitting so that you have people to hold you responsible if you are tempted to start again.

Tip 5: Count the days when you stop smoking.

Count the days you are smoke free. You can compare the number of days you last smoked to the present day. Make a point to always know how long you’ve quit smoking. Counting the days of not smoking will help convince you that you have quit for good. Most people will lose their cravings for cigarettes after about 3 days. If you are counting the days right from the start, then you will know when you can look forward to it becoming easier. In the beginning, it may seem like they will last forever. But after a few days, you’ll find that they continue to lessen and that it will get easier.

Tip 6: Be kind to yourself.

It isn’t easy to quit smoking, so be sure to reward yourself for your progress. Take yourself out to your favorite restaurant Buy yourself some flowers. You’ll find that you can now enjoy their scent for the first time in years!

If you have decided to quit smoking, but need help, be sure to visit Lisa Corwin’s Finish Smoking site for more tips: http://www.finish-smoking.com

Bookmark to:

Many people have tried to quit smoking and failed. What most of them don’t know that most smokers will fail several times before they quit completely. There have been many studies that have shown that cigarette smoking is as hard to break as a cocaine addiction. Some people have found it beneficial admitting to themselves that they are powerless over nicotine, before starting their journey to quitting smoking. If you admit that you are now smoking because you are addicted and not because it is a personal choice may help motivate you to making the next steps to quitting smoking.

Surprisingly about eighty percent of people try to quit smoke without help. Ninety five percent of those people fail. So getting help to quit smoking is a must. Do not try to do it by yourself. Seek help with programs and there are even meetings for people who are trying to quit smoking to help give you support. Find a program that may work for you, better yet find two or more. You can use a combination of programs. You can place a call to your local American Cancer Society and get a list of inexpensive mainstream programs. There are over the counter nicotine replacement methods that you can use such as nicotine gum and the patch. You could get a prescription for the nicotine inhaler or Zyban. You should buy a quit smoking book and audio tapes to listen to on the way to work. Some work places offer you a reward for quitting smoking. So not only do you save money you may get money as well.

A lot of people who have quit smoking claim that learning to take slow deep breaths were a very important technique to learn. Essentially every time you want a cigarette, you take a deep long breath and then very slowly exhale. If you purse you lips it will force you air to come out more slowly. When you exhale try to imagine all the tension coming out of you body and let you chin fall to your chest. Let the tension just flow out. You also need to remember the urge for a cigarette lasts for about five minutes. So if you get the strong urge to smoke, practice your breathing and tell yourself that you can make it through these five minutes. Then it will be better.

You will need to drink lots of water for the first few days to flush all the nicotine and toxins out of your body. Stay away from coffee, alcohol and high calorie snacks, these can trigger a craving for a cigarette. Some people find it helpful to find a substitute for their cigarette such as gum, lollipops, cinnamon sticks and hard candy. It may be helpful to change your normal routine. Take a walk or go to the gym during lunch or breaks. Please do not forget to ask for support form family, friend and co-workers. That way they know you are trying to quit and understand if you are a little grumpy! Do not be afraid to ask people around you not to smoke. This may be more important than you realize.

It will be helpful to write down ten things about being a non-smoker and then ten things bad about smoking. It really helps. It will also help if you reaffirm to yourself that you are a non-smoker, not a smoker who isn’t smoking at the moment. Repeat to yourself all day that you are a non-smoker. It is ok to grieve about quitting smoking. Your body has been programmed that smoking made you feel good. You will miss it in the beginning; it is okay to feel that grief.

Michael Russell

Your Independent Stop Smoking guide.

Bookmark to: