You can't quit smoking really?

It is possible to be a happy smoker, if you truly don't know what it is doing to you. Otherwise the reason you started smoking doesn't reflect why you continue to do so. Rationalizing or justifying an addiction is standard regardless of what a person is addicted to, as parents we totally disregard that it is addiction itself that we set as an example to our kids not just for cigarettes, but addiction as a lifestyle. There is so much gobbledygook around relieving yourself of a life threatening habit that these justifications get trotted out as fact. Alan Carr said it best when he said, 'Smokers have a cigarette, to feel like a non smoker feels all the time.'  

I am not a conspiracy theorist, but if i was one the last thing i would do is smoke, as the corporate level lies and manipulations of facts, along with horrendously high profits has meant that countries like mine can impose 70% excise tax and still make it a worthwhile market, we have outlawed advertising on all levels and the numbers of smokers has reduced dramatically in the last 30 years, but still every service station, dairy and supermarket sells them. The mighty buck overrules any consideration even profit for retailers is miniscule compared to what the companies themselves make. As an ex smoker I am mortified at the hole in my pocket made by twenty three years of fagging up large although the journey back from the addiction and hypocrisy of if all. 

I smoke because I like it has to be one of the most obvious forms of denial out there, I haven't yet met a smoker who didn't whine about the cost and most who have said or thought, 'If i could give up tomorrow I would." Here's a bit of news that may shock you, you CAN give up tomorrow, you just need to recognize one little thing. You don't smoke because you want to, no matter why you started smoking, you now smoke because you are an addict.

You don't smoke because it makes you feel like an adult, even if that is one of the many reasons you can find for starting, We were told that only adults smoked, so a teenager can be forgiven for thinking that it is a right of passage, once you become an adult that reason no longer applies. If you thought smoking helped you to fit in it would be clear to you by now, that friendships are not created or held together by smoking but rather by actually liking each other, go figure. 

For a number of years now I have heard smokers say that quitting smoking is harder than anything other drug. seriously? a few weeks of mild discomfort and it is all over try experiencing the DT.s of quitting alcohol and if you haven't seen heroine footage of withdrawal have a look you have to be bonkers to use that one as a reason to keep smoking I say, but then addiction does that, it makes excuses for itself and hunts down a reason to continue. My favourite is the stress factor so lets get that one out of the way immediately,you don't light a smoke because you are stressed, you are stressed because you need a cigarette.

New Tobacco Atlas Estimates U.S. $35 Billion Tobacco Industry Profits and Almost 6 Million Annual Deaths

*In 2010, tobacco industry’s profit was equivalent to US$6,000 for each death caused by tobacco. * Since the 1st Tobacco Atlas in 2002, almost 50 million people have died from tobacco. * 43 trillion cigarettes have been smoked in the last decade.

In a recent consultation with a person who wanted to quit, was emotionally devastated because she was still a smoker while being a protagonist for healthy living . I asked her if she had thought about not having her next cigarette? she surprised herself by saying no she hadn't considered not having that next cigarette, Not smoking was an abstract idea and so hypnosis would not have worked well for her. There is a noticeable and ongoing sense of achievement that lasts for many years when a person lets go of feeding a corporation and denial of self harm, I believe this is because your body rejoices in a choice that can only mean a longer happier life. 

If you are thinking about quitting but haven't got around to it or if smoking has got to the point where it is having a noticeable affect on both your wallet and your health all you need to do, is step away from the cigarette packet. You can get patches, use hypnosis, Quit Smoking Hypnosis Download or talk to a Doctor, but one thing is clear,  any reason you give for smoking is false and the only reason for not stopping, is not stopping. 

Meditation, Mindfulness and YOU

  Meditation and mindfulness is promoted as a power to help people put stress out of their minds and live for the moment to reduce fear and anxiety, while allowing the practitioner to be more aware of their space and impact on the world and those around them. The treatment can itself trigger mania, depression, hallucinations and psychosis, psychological studies in the UK and US have found.  one in 14 of them suffered ‘profoundly adverse effects’, according to Dr Miguel Farias, head of the brain, belief and behaviour research group at Coventry University and Catherine Wikholm, a researcher in clinical psychology at the University of Surrey.

He said: ‘The assumption of the majority of both TM [transcendental meditation] and mindfulness researchers is that meditation can only do one good. ‘This shows a rather narrow-minded view. How can a technique that allows you to look within and change your perception or reality of yourself be without potential adverse effects?

The answer is that it can’t, and all meditation studies should assess not only positive but negative effects.’ minfulness bias

If you don't want to know more about this perhaps the ideal of mindfulness could use a bit more work, if you are selling the idea then it is a good time to determine your qualifications to do so. Dr Deepak Chopra is a proponent of TM and mindfulness, there is nothing better, he suggests, than letting your mind go into that blank space of nothingness, he is qualified to aid you in discovering that place, he has teams of specialists at his disposal and more than that, over 40 years as a doctor in his experiential bag, but does he leave everything to the meditative solution? the answer is no he does not, he encourages that you discover what you need within but also provides guidance, a listening ear to help with the discoveries and himself sells recorded guided meditations that direct you to live with a greater belief in yourself.

Self diagnosing on the net and then self prescribing with free youtube resources can bring its own problems as when you are in that depressive space or stressed out to the max, you may not be the best person to select treatment, it is easy to go for what appears to be the quick fix and completely miss the point. As an hypnotherapist i love meditation techniques and of course the process of hypnosis, the results are truly dynamic, it has to be said that many times after consultation, I am the one choosing both the target and most effect program due to the natural desire of the client to reduce symptoms. From my perspective those symptoms will disappear once you have eliminated the cause, I am comfortable saying that many failures with hypnosis are purely about not seeking the right target. I can remember a lovely man who came to me for smoking cessation, as we started his induction he suddenly sat up in the chair and asked me to hold his hand, when i asked him why he said, " my dad used to light a cigar after a good day and let me sit on his knee, this didn't happen often, only when he was celebrating success." Clearly he was not going to stop smoking if I used a toxicity technique as in his early years he could identify smoking with both success and love, it was time to find a new target to achieve what this man desired.

Even with Energy Therapy when a client is in pain, I find myself encouraging them to focus on the big picture and not use the energy like a painkiller (and yes this does work) as it will only be a success in the short term, that over a matter of weeks the pain will return, Energy does not know where to go as so many love to say, it goes in your body, where you direct it. If you consciously want a particular result or have a mistaken idea of what the core issue is, you won't get elimination, you will feel much better for a while though. This specifically is why entering a single directed program can have more benefits than you can possibly imagine, whether you are trying to evolve an already okay life, heal the past or rejuvenate a flagging body it is worth seeking out the professional who can provide what you need and guide you through the pitfalls, one of which is being in an ongoing cycle of trying to heal yourself.

When I first started meditating on a regularly basis, I had no plan it just happened and for the next 12 months i was meditating for somewhere in the region of 6 hours a day, not all at the same time you understand, first thing in the morning when i woke, periods during the day while the kids were at school and at night to fill my evening after the children were in bed. It was an accelerated learning period for me, but it was painful. There were times i refer to as 'the cringe', these were those raw moments where i recognized my own behaviours in full detail, they were genuinely horrible. There were times when I heard huge cracks like lightening just a few inches from my body, and still others where I experienced smells, sounds and feelings from another time. These would sometimes take days or weeks to come back from so I would meditate some more. There were times i was exhilarated and others in ecstasy. sometimes there were mind blowing creation realities and yet others where the sorrow of my own life overwhelmed me. Over time my days became freer and I was on top of the world, and then the bubble would burst open and reality of the world beyond would challenge my new found emotional freedom. I personally believe everyone can benefit from being guided through the relevant areas of this but I only had inadequately trained spiritual advisors, mediums, seichim and reiki masters, who could not answer my questions about my experiences, who had not warned me of the potentials of such deep and committed introspection. I fumbled my way through learning about energy, and then fumbled for a few years doing readings and energy work, until the realization dawned, that I was not particularly interested in helping others to have a 30 minute wow, but preferred the idea of a deep and abiding life change that could enhance the life experience. The energy work had already pushed me to do an anatomy and physiology course but I was drawn to something a bit deeper following the drive to train in Clinical Hypnotherapy and to learn the effect of language, both the language I use with clients, but also hearing the words they use to explain themselves or ask for help. Reading the aura and seeing energy changes in the body as a person spoke to me was a bonus as I had discovered over the years, that if you did not know how to interpret that back to your client in an effective way, you could not help them progress. nyehh enough about me.

Dorothy's Web

Before engaging on a program of meditation and mindfulness, make sure you have the help you need, not only in finding the right balance and target but also in being able to relate the experiences you have back to someone who can help you to deal with them. Go in open eyed and ready to take a few blows to your inner belief in who you are or the story you have been selling, and then don't let yourself sit there, giving up because it is too hard, push on through the pain to gain the rewards you are seeking. Don't lie to yourself, a solid meditation practice can improve your attitude, your health and your lifestyle, but it doesn't fix your life, it doesn't remove lifelong triggers and behaviours when you are challenged. You can relax yourself with a 15 minute self-hypnosis or meditation, you can change your mind set for an interview later, but you will not have done enough to make those changes permanent if you haven't addressed the underlying issues. I know we live in an age where everyone wants everything for free, but it is still true that you get what you pay for, even if you want to do it all on your own, you will benefit from having a professional to talk to (not casual others in an online chat), about what you are going through, or even someone to help diagnose and direct you to finding what is suitable for you. Do beware of bad freebies, there are plenty out there that not only don't work, but inroad your belief in your ability to make any necessary changes. It may not be that meditation or hypnosis don't work for you but that those who produced the one you chose were either not good at it, or the one you chose was not the right one for you.