National Stop Smoking Day
Stop Smoking with Hypnotherapy
A Powerful combination of Hypnosis & Psychotherapy to set you free for good
Every year we have a National Stop Smoking day but if you are thinking about quitting cigarettes for good or have been mulling it over for a while now, this might be a good opportunity to put a plan into action. Your chances of success will be greatly improved by good preparation and planning and this guide will help you do that.
If you are already a non-smoker, pass this message on – you could be saving a life!
Here are some self-help tips to get you started.
Step 1: Building Motivation
Before deciding on your approach to becoming a non-smoker, it is important to understand that you have a far greater chance of success if you take responsibility for the process. The only person who will stop you from smoking is you. No amount of endless cold turkey deprivation will succeed if you are resisting the idea, or are not determined and committed. You will spend every day in a feeling of struggle, hoping that you can last the course but eventually the struggle will wear you down.
The best chance of success comes from being well motivated. The more you identify with your reasons to stop, the more likely it is that you will experience pleasure at the thought of being a non-smoker, rather than fear or resentment.
Make a list of reasons why you are looking forward to being a non-smoker – e.g. health, finances, family etc. You can build a supportive state of mind by giving thorough and detailed thought to each motive.
Take each reason one at a time and explore it in great detail so that you get a real sense of what you will be gaining – what you are giving yourself. This is a powerful weapon against the deprivation attitude and fear that often accompanies attempts to stop addictive behaviour.
Why do I want it? What will I gain?
What will I feel like when I have succeeded?
What will be the best thing about being healthier?
What will the healthier me be doing, that the smoking me cannot?
What will I enjoy about that?
Who will be the most surprised that I have successfully quit smoking?
Who will be the most pleased?
How will my appearance change?
How will my behaviour change?
How will success affect my self-esteem?
When I am free from the financial burden of smoking, how will I use that money?
Visualise yourself six months on, when it is difficult to imagine that you were ever a smoker.
You get the idea? Really paint a picture of success and let these thoughts overpower the doubts or fears. The negative thoughts are just the addiction fighting for survival.
Choose your words carefully. Avoid expressing it as ‘giving up’ because that confirms a deprivation mindset. “I’ve decided to quit” or “I have stopped” are stronger statements to support your decision.
“I must say despite my doubts you have cemented this philosophy of NON-SMOKER firmly into my conscious/subconscious/internalized mind and I thankyou for that gift. I felt completely comfortable and with you and knew instantly you were someone I could trust. I have handed out your card to several of my friends and I think you may get a few calls when they are ready. Once again thankyou and that’s from my daughter aswell”
D.B. Brighton
Step 2: Set a date
Choose a date to begin, avoiding potentially difficult or stressful times. If you have a friend or colleague who is thinking about quitting, consider teaming up for mutual support.
Step 3: Know Your Triggers & Routines
As much as is possible, you should aim to change your routines so that there are fewer triggered reminders about smoking. So, if you used to make a cup of tea and then stand by the window to smoke while drinking it, change the routine. Make the tea and go to another room. If you can’t change the routine, it helps to have a substitute behaviour. So, if you used to smoke in the car on the way to work, have a bottle of water with you and substitute sipping for puffing.
Hi Mary, Just to let you know my session worked perfectly and since I have been on a few big nights out without the want or need to light up and I (with your help) have quit the annoying habit for good. I am very pleased so thank you. LG, Madrid
Step 4: Fill the void
Each cigarette uses up about 10 minutes of your time, so when you stop smoking you will find that you have time on your hands. If you don’t have a plan, you will feel restless and at a loose end and you may mistake these feelings for cravings.
Take more exercise, do those DIY jobs, take up a creative activity, learn a musical instrument, get more involved with what the kids are doing, read, write, do yoga or be more experimental with you cooking. Make a list of the things that will help you.
Step 5: Understand Cravings
When you have stopped smoking, a craving is the way that your body lets you know that your toxins levels are falling and nicotine is leaving your body. Your body is simply alerting you to the changes.
Nicotine is addictive and cravings can be uncomfortable. But just how strong are those cravings? There’s no physical pain in nicotine withdrawal. It’s a restless emptiness, a feeling of something missing. It’s interesting to note that most smokers are able to sleep through 8 hours without a nicotine craving waking them every hour for a cigarette. People often tell me that when they know they are going somewhere where they will not be allowed to smoke, like the cinema, or visiting non-smokers, or long haul plane journeys, they are able to be quite comfortable with not smoking.
If you can think of a similar situation that applies to you, then ask yourself “how do I that?” How do I not smoke? Just take a moment now to think about the times when you have been able to not smoke.
A craving is just a feeling that has a very short life span. It has a beginning, a middle and an end and on average last for about 10 seconds. When you are determined to stop smoking, ten seconds is quite do-able. If you experience a craving, what you really need to do is fully distract yourself for that time and any noticeable feeling will subside. The more you are able to do this, the less the feeling will occur.
“My friends can’t believe it! They said that if you can stop me smoking, you can stop anyone!”
J.T. Brighton
Step 5: Challenge Limiting Beliefs
Listen to your own limiting beliefs about smoking. Here are a few typical examples:
“It relieves boredom”. How? We know smoking is not interesting.
“It helps my concentration”. In reality, smoking is a distraction behaviour.
It gives me something to do with my hands” ok, but what else could you do? Is that cigarette really worth risking your life just so you have something to do with your hands?
“It’s a treat and gives me time for me”. Well, we all need to treat ourselves but how else could you achieve the same result without playing Russian roulette with your health?
“It relieves stress”. No it doesn’t. Smoking adds to the stress.
“It helps me to relax”. When a person smokes a cigarette, they breathe deeply when they inhale which means that there is an increase in the amount of oxygen being breathed deep down into the lungs. (50% of what you inhale is oxygen, 50% is toxic). The oxygen assists a feeling of pleasure or satisfaction. When the smoker exhales, they tend to make an extended out-breath. The long exhale is connected to the parasympathetic nervous system and signals to the brain to release a feeling of calm. So, it’s got nothing to do with the smoking, it’s the breathing pattern of the smoker that creates relaxation.
7/11 Breathing
Use this 7/11 breathing technique as a way of helping you through the first few days or weeks of successful non-smoking.
Begin by emptying your lungs with a long slow exhale. Then, when the lungs begin to breathe in, keep the breath slow and steady and count to 7. Then breathe out, slowly counting to 11. As you breathe out, imagine you have a candle in front of you and that your breath will flicker the flame but not blow it out. Repeat 10 times and try to do it five times a day – or when you might be thinking about cigarettes.
It takes practice so persevere. You can practice this from time to time, whenever you think of it. On the bus, while doing the washing up – any time, anywhere.
Another thing that you can do when you are practising this breathing technique is to really imagine yourself as a happy non-smoker. Visualise success at every opportunity and this will help you to manage any doubting thoughts.
Decide How
If you don’t want to try the cold turkey approach, there are a number of other methods available, such as Nicotine Replacement Therapy (patches & sprays) Anti-smoking pills (Zyban & Chantix). According to NHS published quarterly reports on effectiveness of these treatments, figures show that after 4 weeks 38% of smokers have successfully quit. This figure drops to 18% beyond the 3 month period. It’s also worth considering that these methods do nothing to shift the addictive mindset and do not minimise the risk of substitute behaviours such as over-eating.
Counselling therapies such as CBT and have a good success rate as they help you to challenge the smoker’s mindset.
Hypnotherapy is your best chance
In the largest study ever of its kind, results from the University of Iowa (Oct 1992 issue of The Journal of Applied Psychology) revealed that hypnosis was the most effective way of quitting smoking. It is three times more effective than patches and sprays and 15 times more effective than willpower. These findings came from statistics combining 600 studies of over 72,000 people from America and Europe.
The use of Solution Focused Psychotherapy and Hypnotherapy is a powerful combination that, on average has around 65% success rate. This approach not only helps you to change the way you have been thinking about smoking but also helps to bypass self-doubt and limiting beliefs for future success This approach really strengthens your resolve.
Make an appointment
Call me to arrange an appointment. See my Stop Smoking page for further information and testimonials.
Stay Stopped
Aside from all of the things mentioned above, when you quit smoking it is really important to make sure that you are getting your basic needs met.
