Showing posts with label Stopping Smoking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stopping Smoking. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Stoptober Non-Smoking Support

For those of you who have chosen the Stoptober month of October 2014 as your time to Stop Smoking ~ then congratulations you are 1/4 of the way already there in readiness for National No Smoking Day!
 
Keep going!
 
Each and every smoke free day is a success . . . however big or small it might seem ~ remember that it is an achievement!
 
It is really positive reinforcement of being able to say "No" to each thought, craving or offering of a cigarette . . . and every time you do you should tell yourself "Well Done!" inside your head, to acknowledge it as a success.
We all need positive encouragement & reinforcement around change, to support more of it!
 Stopping smoking is a mindset, so create a strong supportive mindset that you can do it, you can keep going and become a non-smoker for yourself, for your family, for LIFE!
 
I encourage my client who come to see me for Hypnotherapy to Stop Smoking, to speak to as many ex-smokers that they know and discover how they did it . . . what was their biggest motivation . . . what helped them . . . what didn't help them . . . what advice and support can they give you . . . what benefits have they enjoyed since stopping smoking . . . all these thoughts and learnings may help you decide what it will be for you to mean that you can do it too!
 
* Have a clear strong motivation in your mind.
* Plan strategies of what you will do instead of smoking.
* Save up the money you would have spent, so you can see the result financially too.
* Have some sugar free mints to hand.
* Keep yourself busy.
* Notice the differences in health improvements to increase health motivation.
* Find other ways to relax ~ Tai Chi, Yoga, Meditation, Walking, Reading . . .
* Think of yourself as a non-smoker.
 
So with those in mind, may I wish every Stoptober participant every success and long may it continue throughout the rest of the year and beyond!
 

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Smoking ~ Do you think you choose to smoke or what?

Today is National No Smoking Day! 

I'm sure for many smokers, they think . . . here we go again!
Everyone telling us about the harm smoking causes & why we should stop smoking.
Probably for some it's a day they forget to remember, as they are happy to continue enjoying those cigarettes and perhaps even think that it's their choice . . .
they choose to smoke . . .
or do they actually choose at all?

You see the thing about choice means YOU are in control, which also means you can take it or leave it. And if you can do that with your cigarettes, then yes you are in control of the choices you make ~ but for nearly all smokers, they are far from being IN control, in fact the habit, addiction and cigarettes control them. So what might start as a choice thing, something which you choose to do, then gradually as the addictive and habitual aspects of the cigarette and nicotine kick in, what actually happens is that you no longer choose to smoke . . . the cigarettes and nicotine are now controlling you . . . and your freedom of choice as to whether you can take it or leave it . . . has gone!
Because if you were totally in control, then if you wanted to stop, or choose to go without smoking for as long as YOU wanted to, then you would have that sense of indifference about your cigarette, something you could take or leave. . . maybe forget even, if you chose to.
But what most smokers find is the minute they think they can't have a cigarette or may have a time without them, those mind games start . . . they may have extra cigarettes (to top up) beforehand, so they don't miss out . . . or they may smoke like a chimney afterwards to make up for it . . . but what all will find is that they keep thinking about them . . . craving them . . . planning when or where the next one will be . . . etc etc and that cigarette has got control of you.

As a Cognitive Hypnotherapist, I'm fully aware of the struggles that smokers go through to stop smoking, the ups and downs, the highs and lows, the previous failures, the mental torture . . . and this is why actually having hypnosis can really support a smoker through the process of getting back into control, being more able to forget about cigarettes more and more, to overcome cravings, and learn others ways to relax and de-stress. Which helps to make the process of stopping smoking much more accessible and dare I say more comfortable (especially by helping to reduce the mood swings).

So to read more about it then see my link here on the benefits of hypnosis to stop smoking today ~

http://www.mindbodywellbeing.co.uk/Cognitive+Hypnotherapy-Kettering-Stopping+Smoking-22.php

Because ultimately we all want to feel like WE are in CONTROL of our lives and the choices we choose to make. . . don't we?