Smoking Relieves Your Stress?
Patrick Glancy
I've worked with a lot of people to quit smoking. In doing this, I have heard all kinds of reasons that it might be better if they kept smoking.
Smoking helps you think, relaxes you, de-stresses you, keeps you from getting upset at your family, tastes good with coffee, tastes really good after a meal. Basically, makes things "better" and makes you feel "better".
You don't believe these reasons. Not really. If you did, you wouldn't also want to quit smoking. Right? Actually you CAN have it both ways. You can believe your reasons to smoke at the same time you don't believe them. It is the difference between 'knowing' something and 'feeling' something.
You do have a strong reason to keep smoking or you would have quit by now. Just so you know, there are not any laws stating your reason to keep smoking needs to make any sense. It rarely does.
You've probably already proven your reasons untrue. Smoking might taste better with coffee because the coffee taste on your tongue covers the bad taste of smoking???
And most of the time you're AWARE it doesn't make sense. That doesn't change anything though, does it? Just one more log to toss on the fire of your motivation to quit. A fire that doesn't have much chance against the ocean of your craving to smoke.
It all comes down to two things. The belief that smoking will make you feel better and what you're trying to feel better than. That's it.
If you're too hot, you look for ways to cool off. If you're leg hurts you look for pain relief. If you feel bad (tired, stressed, overwhelmed, angry, lonely, whatever...) you look to feel good. If you have held the belief that smoking makes you feel good, that's where your mind takes you.
This is simple explanation of a craving. Some smokers have more than one type of craving, the 'first thing in the morning' craving might feel different than the 'on the phone' craving.
So how to help this situation? I can spend a few articles explaining it (and I have, look for them) But, it comes down to changing the feelings, motivations and beliefs involved.
First, the bad feeling needs to be helped. If it's about stress, get it managed, if it's a difficult situation, do what you can to take care of it or get some help. If it's a bad feeling you get that is beyond what the situation deserves, behavior modification might be what you need.
Second, the belief that smoking makes you feel good (it is often the mistaken, and understandable, belief that smoking equals being an adult, in control, strong, capable, etc...) The fact is, smoking is some plant leaf and chemicals wrapped in paper. The good feeling you're looking for, and sometimes experience, is created by YOU. YOU make yourself feel better when you smoke. You can make yourself feel just as good when drinking a glass of water. If, your mind believes it.
And there's the trick for most people. Successfully quitting smoking is much easier after changing these emotional connections. People don't often think of this. That is why the success rate of medication and nicotine replacement alone is so poor. The only current exception is Chantix and even Pfizer, the makers of Chantix, recommend behavior modification along with their medication.
http://www.glancyhypnosis.com/smoking.html Quit Smoking in Portland Oregon with Glancy Hypnosis
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