One of my favourite things to do is to help people become smoke free, for some of these people its the first act of self love that they do for themselves in their life. This can then lead to many more health improvements and further action to self care and self love.
We all know how destructive smoking is to our health and for most people when you get down to it, they don’t actually like it. Either the taste, the smell or being controlled by the habit of smoking.
This is different to some other forms of addiction, like drinking, eating, shopping, gambling etc.
Smokers on an unconscious level say ‘So even if I don’t like it, I will still do it!’
It’s a pure act of self hate and destruction. This sounds really brutal, most people don’t consciously think, I’m going to have a cigarette because I hate myself, but under hypnotherapy when we take the veil off there is usually some aspect of not being good enough, not coping or some other low vibration emotion that is driving the habit of smoking.
To prepare to give up smoking there is quite a few steps that we need to take in order to be really ready, when I work with people that have got themselves prepared to become smoke free then their success rate is much, much higher.
First of all you need to be really uncomfortable with smoking, and feel that internal readiness to become smoke free. If you could rate how much you want to give up smoking on a scale of 1-10 and you are 8 or above, then you are ready, if you are any lower, wait until it becomes an 8, before you start the process and follow the readiness tips below.
If you are an 8 and really wanting to become smoke free and finally love yourself well, then these tips will be useful for you now:
Set A Date: Make sure that the date is at least a week or two away, you cant just turn your life around in 24 hours. So set a date that will be the date you become smoke free. This will psychologically set you up for success, as you prepare to end the habit on this date.
Be A Mindful Smoker: With every cigarette that you have from the time you set your date, become mindful about how it REALLY makes you feel, when you draw it back really notice what happens in your body and notice the taste and smell. Notice how you feel after a cigarette and at the end of the day after smoking all day, how your body is feeling. Also, every time you smoke tell yourself ‘On the (insert date) I will be smoke free.
What does smoking give you? Journal or just think about what smoking offers you, does it give you 5 minutes time out? Does it help you deal with stressful situations? Does it fill in the boredom? Figure out what the day-to-day smoking offers you.
Get ready to bring in some higher vibration replacements: Now you know what the smoking gives you, now write a list or a plan of all the replacements you can do instead of smoke, to give you time out, or to de-stress you. Finding an alternative, like water the garden, go for a walk, have a glass of water, breath, get back into the hobby you once loved. Whatever it is for you… get a bank of them together in preparation for your first Smoke free day!
Throw away all the paraphernalia and change the area at home where you typically smoke. Most people have an outside verandah, or courtyard, or chair, where they smoke at home. This space will have a psychological and emotional pull that will be a reminder, so we need to give it a new purpose, redecorate it, change the chair, even sell it on Gumtree and get a new one, anything to re purpose that space. This is great to do the day before the date you have set for yourself, and then any other cigarettes that you have while you have created this lovely space, you must have somewhere else, just for the short interim before your smoke free date.
Cigarettes be gone: On your smoke free date, make sure you have no cigarettes left, if you do have some left think about what you’re going to do with them, give them to a smoking friend, throw them in the bin (my favourite). Just have a plan for those cigarettes.
Of course it would be great to have an appointment with a hypnotherapist on your due date that will successfully get you across the line with support, but some people after doing these steps above can do it quite naturally and easily on their own, with no added support.
All the very best with your healthy goals.
YOU CAN DO THIS!
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