It is my mission to help 800 smokers to quit cigarettes, by 31st December 2015. There are two powerful modalities I use to transform lives; Hypnotherapy and the Demartini Method. In the last 2 years, 97% of people I have seen, have been successful. Do you know someone close to you who is thinking about quitting smoking? Do you know someone who is just sick of it?
It is my mission to make quitting cigarettes much easier, by removing the cravings and the need to use willpower. Reading this article will make any attempt to quit smoking more effective. The following information and strategies can help reduce physical and emotional cravings. I will share with you what has worked so well for many of the people I have consulted with.
After talking with a lot of smokers, there are only ever 1 of these 3 reasons why they started smoking again, if they had quit previously. Something stressful happened, they were around others smokers and ‘just had one’, or they met a new partner who smoked. So there it is Connection and Managing Our Emotions.
When you quit smoking in the past and then had a cigarette again, you didn’t do it for the nicotine, you did it to get something. The last cigarette I had six years ago, was when I was around beautiful women who smoked. I was trying to gain more rapport with them. Many of my clients revealed they had smoked again for social reasons, or when something stressful happened in their life. What did they need at that time? Connection and/or to feel better.
I propose at times of high stress we need to look after ourselves even more, not less. By smoking a cigarette, the chemicals suppress your emotions, and it often means we don’t process things as well. Smoking could be a good temporary strategy, except for one big problem… In 99% of cases, having one cigarette leads to having more cigarettes, and the effort you put into quitting last time is undone in minutes. When something difficult happens; use deep breathing, get a time-out for yourself or exercise to process things more easily.
See my article on Getting Grounded for more on stress management. https://inspirehypnotherapy.com/2015/06/stopping-stress/
Do you see cigarettes as only a Bad habit? Or do you see the positives too? People often wonder, “why do I smoke, it costs me health, fitness, time and energy”? Every behaviour has a positive intention behind it. For some people cigarettes are; a stress reliever, a time filler, a way to be sociable, some people enjoy them. Whatever it is you get from them, you want to satisfy that need in the future. There is no such thing as a nicotine craving in the brain when your needs are fully met.
I can prove this further with this readily available statistic. Nicotine patches have around a 90% failure rate. That isn’t even for the long-term, that is just based on 3 month statistics. Nicotine is not the problem, that is why patches don’t usually work. It is logical to conclude that if nicotine isn’t the problem to in quitting smoking, then there is something else going on. It is not about nicotine, it is about your needs.
If you are wanting to quit cigarettes but this sounds like a lot of work, there is a solution. Hypnotherapy and the Demartini Method do make things a lot easier. The statistics on smoking say, that it takes 10-15 times before you give up cigarettes for good. With Hypnotherapy it takes 1-2 times to be free of smoking forever. The biggest reason for this, is that it takes away the need for you to have to use willpower. This means all of you feels like a non-smoker, not just a part of you.
There is another important factor at play with cigarettes. Are you aware that cigarettes contain sugar? I know right, who knew! This is important because sometimes when people stop smoking, they get a craving… This craving may not actually be for nicotine (see above discussion on nicotine in paragraph 6). This craving is partly due to routine, habit and the missing sugar. By replacing the sugar from cigarettes with fruit after your session, you reduce physical withdrawals. As a bonus outcome, eating fruit avoids possible weight gain, because you are not going for unhealthy foods when you quit smoking.
Here are the 4 take home points for quitting smoking.
- Hypnotherapy can help you change your routines and habits.
- If you get a craving ask yourself, “what do I really want/need right now”?
- Cigarettes obviously have positives otherwise you wouldn’t do it. Whatever you get from cigarettes, you want to satisfy that need effectively in the future.
- Cigarettes contain sugar, replace this with fruit for the first 2 weeks after quitting.
Jeremy Walker works as a Hypnotherapist and Demartini Method Facilitator in Brisbane QLD. He enjoys nothing better than seeing someone gain self-mastery in their life. Jeremy specialises in helping people with; quitting smoking, weight loss, sleep problems and psychosomatic health.
www.inspirehypnotherapy.com/hypnotherapy/quit-smoking-hypnotherapy
www.inspirehypnotherapy.com/hypnotherapy/weight-loss-hypnotherapy