At one time smoking was regarded as an important part of looking good. The advertising portrayed people dressing well, living fast elegant lives. Film stars smoked on and offset. Then the health implications became more widely reported and smoking became less acceptable. Let us look at the best ways to understand and move on from a smoking habit.
For many people the original reasons for becoming a smoker have long ago moved out of their mindset. Many people started smoking quite young, often at school. ‘Everyone else’ smoked and so they wanted to fit in, be accepted as part of the gang, or thought that they would look tougher, more macho if they smoked. The behaviour stayed long after the gang lost its appeal.
Often people carry on smoking for a whole variety of reasons. Very few actually enjoy the taste of a cigarette and if they think back to their first cigarette often they will say that it made them feel sick, cough, go dizzy. They had to really persevere to become a smoker.
It is generally accepted that there are three parts to smoking : the habit pattern, the addiction to nicotine and the psychological dependancy. In truth our bodies are self healing organisms, so when we take into our bodies in excess of 4500 toxins, chemicals and pollutants, they go into overdrive to try to detoxify and clear our bodies of harmful things that should not be there. Our hearts may well have to beat up to an extra 10000 beats each day to clear these pollutants from our blood stream. Our lungs become congested with tar and breathing in all the cigarette dust in the air around us. As a result of this healing reaction nicotine can be out of our bodies and blood stream within days. Healing the other parts like skin and lungs takes somewhat longer.
The habit pattern is the conditioning that has occurred over time. Reaching for the phone, watching television, relaxing with a drink, after a meal, with friends. These are often the times when people like to feel that are relaxing with a cigarette. Interesting, when you think what I have described as happening internally in our bodies - it does not sound like a relaxing experience, does it ?
The key to breaking a habit pattern is to distract oneself. We can only think of one thing at a time, so find ways to distract your mind. If you were thinking of having a cigarette and an important business client arrived , your mind would instantly focus on the client and forget about the cigarette. This happens several times throughout the day with smokers. They think about a cigarette, something happens and they move on to something different, completely forgetting about the cigarette. Build that distraction into your daily life. Reorganise your routines so that they have no connections with smoking. Do things in a different order, sit in a different chair, change the room around. Also put away all smoking associations, clear away ash trays, clean the car, make all your clothes smell fresh and smoke free.
The psychological aspect of smoking is often the biggest hurdle. Many people fear putting on weight if they stop smoking, or they use it to manage stress or problem situations. It is important to recognise the ‘amber lights’, the times when stress or pressure is building up , and find better, more appropriate ways of managing those situations. Build regular quality ‘me’ time into your schedule. Find ways of relaxing, taking a walk, enjoying the fresh air, having a pleasant evening with friends, or at home alone and doing nice things that provide a pleasurable break for yourself.
All these things help you to commit to becoming healthier and fitter, free from a damaging, ageing habit that is increasingly unacceptable and anti-social. Ask yourself, ‘who is in control of me – me or 3” of paper with rolled up leaves inside it ?’
Susan Leigh, Counsellor and Hypnotherapist
www.lifestyletherapy.net