Smoking Lets you Relax?
I’ve helped a lot of people quit smoking. While doing this, I’ve been told a lot of reasons why it is excellent to smoke.
I’ve been told smoking sharpens your mind, relaxes you, calms you, keeps you from yelling at the kids (or spouse), tastes excellent with coffee, tastes better after a meal. In small, makes you feel “better”. (I always question “better than what”?)
I know you don’t really believe these reasons, or why would you be trying to stop smoking. Still, a part of you DOES believe these reasons.
The obvious and overlooked part is you must have a strong reason to continue smoking or you would have already stopped. By the way, there is no law that says your reason to keep smoking has to make any logical sense. It rarely does.
Nearly all of the reasons you continue smoking can easily be proven incorrect. Example: Maybe smoking helps you relax during work breaks because you get away and go outside to do it.
Most of the time you KNOW the reason doesn’t make sense. That doesn’t change the craving though, does it? Just one more one more reason in your list of reasons to quit. A list that doesn’t have much chance against the well-rooted cravings to smoke.
It all comes down to two things. The belief that smoking will make you feel better and what you’re trying to feel better than. That’s it.
If you’re too hot, you look for ways to cool off. If you’re leg hurts you look for pain relief. If you feel terrible (tired, stressed, overwhelmed, mad, lonely, whatever…) you look to feel excellent. If you have held the belief that smoking makes you feel excellent, that’s where your mind takes you.
This is an only slightly simplified explanation of a craving. Most smokers have more than one type of craving like, the ‘first thing in the morning’ craving feels different than the ‘after lunch’ craving. But the same model applies.
So, what are you supposed to do? I can write several pages talking about this (and I have, look for them) But, it all comes down to modifying the feeling, motivation and belief involved.
First, the terrible feeling needs to be helped. If it’s about stress, get it managed, if it’s a hard situation, do what you can to take care of it or get some help. If it’s a terrible feeling you get that is beyond what the situation deserves, behavior modification might be what you need.
Second, the belief that smoking makes you feel excellent (it is often the mistaken, and understandable, belief that smoking equals being an adult, in control, strong, capable, etc…) The fact is, smoking is some plant leaf and chemicals wrapped in paper. The excellent feeling you’re looking for, and sometimes experience, is made by YOU. YOU make yourself feel better when you smoke. You can make yourself feel just as excellent when drinking a glass of water. If, your mind believes it.
And that’s the bottom line. The bulk of the quit smoking issue is about behavior modification – changing the way you feel. That’s why the success rate of most prescription medication and nicotine replacement (like the patch and nicotine gum) alone is so low. The only current exception is Chantix and even Pfizer, the makers of Chantix, recommend behavior modification go along with the medication.
Make use of the Quick Hypnosis advanced techniques for your quit smoking hypnotherapy program!
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