Welcome to tip #4 in my series of Stop Smoking Tips for 2014. Since I wrote my last tip you might have heard of the sad death of a Rock & Roll legend - Phil Everly (of 'The Everly Brothers) on January 3, 2014, just two weeks prior to his 75th birthday. The cause of his death was complications attributed to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (a combination of emphysema and bronchitis), brought on by a lifetime of smoking.
Now depending
how long you have been smoking, you may have found that you had
developed specific times and activities that you now associate with
smoking? These can be anything from having a cup of coffee to a night
out and a drink with friends.
The
good news is that these cues can easily be broken and that you can
create new non smoking cues. My tip to change this to be aware of your
'thought process'. As part of my hypnosis program, one of the techniques
that I teach my clients is called 'Mindfulness' which helps achieve
this goal. It helps you to become aware of your thought process - and it
empowers you to see your thoughts for what they really are - just
'thoughts'; - and that you do not need to engage with them, just take a
long slow deep breath and watch them come and watch them go, without attaching any meaning to them. The average
thought lasts just a few moments! So, just because you have a thought to
smoke, does not mean you need to go down to the shop and buy a packet of cigarettes! Just say to yourself: "I might have a thought to smoke - but I don't have to".
Mindfulness helps us to happily live in the present moment and you will find it very beneficial if you mindfully remember that no craving lasts more than three minutes!
Just
like a fish swims in water, us human beings swim in our thoughts. How we use these thoughts very much equals how we feel. So getting your
'thought process' right when it comes to stopping smoking is very
important. Aim to develop a little ritual whenever you have a thought to
smoke. For example buy a bag of sweets and if you have a thought to smoke
unwrap and rewrap one of the sweets, and you'll find that a moment
later that thought will be already gone. Just distract yourself for that moment and take a slow deep breath and exhale.
Now
that you have made the decision to stop smoking, you know that it
really did serve no purpose in your life. However it is now important to
replace the smoking activity with something more productive. You could eat
an apple, drink a glass of water or even go for a walk or a run. Mindfully take up a new activity, hobby and/or past time. I am sure you
will find doing this will really help create new healthy habits and cues
for being healthy and free from a bad habit.
Before
long you will even be able to enjoy your cup of coffee and night out
smoke free. Just make sure that you prepare yourself (see previous
tip#2). Once you have one cup of coffee or night out smoke free, you will
find it will no longer be a cue to smoke, but a cue to remain a non smoker.
I hope you have found this tip beneficial. Please tune in again soon for the next in the series of my Stop Smoking tips for 2104.
© Trevor Eivers 2014
My name if Trevor Eivers and I am based in Waterford, Ireland. I am a
Certified Consulting Hypnotist (since 2010) with the National Guild of
Hypnotists (NGH), which is the largest hypnosis body in the world with
over 14,000 members in 83 different countries worldwide. I am also a
Certified NLP practitioner. I love my job in which I help everyday
people with everyday issues. Contact me at 086-8211677 or check me out
online at waterford-hypnosis.com or Facebook at :
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Trevor-Eivers-Hypnosis/177881245578285
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