Routes To Self Improvement Ezine
Issue 17
There is absolutely no doubt, even amongst educated smokers, that smoking damages the health of smokers. Sadly, even those who want to stop smoking find it extremely difficult to do so. As with any addiction, it does require mental strength, or will power, to give up smoking altogether. Plus there are the various stop smoking aids, such as nicotine patches and hypnosis.
In England, where I lived for much of my life, I knew many people who feared for their health because of smoking, tried to give up more than once, yet still continued smoking. It was sad to see, for they knew that death caused by lung cancer could be slow and painful; that they were at increased risk of heart disease and other health problems, if they continued smoking. I never knew anyone who tried hypnosis, but I would guess that most would be put off by the thought of losing control to the hypnotist.
But how about self hypnosis to stop smoking? Now, that is another option, and the article below looks into that possibility in a bit more detail.
How To Stop Smoking Through Self Hypnosis.
There are countless thousands of people worldwide who find it impossible to stop smoking, even though they know it has harmed, is harming and will harm their health. Some will succeed in stopping smoking, only to start again a bit later on. There are even drugs that claim to assist you in stopping smoking, and while some of these may have some effect, others have no effect whatsoever. However, there is a simpler and better way to stop smoking, and that is through self hypnosis.
If you have been smoking for a while, it becomes programmed into your mind. Each time you reach for a cigarette, it is your mind making the request to your hand. Your mind, therefore, is the source of the problem. As with any problem, you can only rectify it by going to the source, and putting things right there. Self hypnosis is an effective way of doing just that, and is therefore is the best way to stop smoking.
If you do not use self hypnosis, your attempts to stop smoking will only affect you on your conscious level, leaving the unconscious mind free to stoke up the desire to smoke. However strong willed you might be, the initial strong will that forces the conscious mind to say "stop smoking" is going to fade away, allowing your subconscious smoking program to come back even stronger than before. By your failure, you make it even more difficult to succeed in stopping smoking next time. For most individuals, there comes a time when smoking becomes part of their mental processes, at the same automatic level as breathing, eating, and sleeping. Such an entrenched habit is extremely difficult to overcome.
This is another good reason to stop smoking once and for all, and not have another failure. By repeatedly stopping and returning to smoking, you will become aware of your weakness and low will power. This can lead to other psychological issues, such as depression and a very low self-esteem. A person experiencing such a process will cause themselves yet more problems, experiencing insecurity, and becoming unwilling to take on important projects due to fear of failure.
The use of self-hypnosis is a good solution to all of these problems. There are several methods of falling into a self imposed and controlled state of relaxation. They work by providing your mind with a safe and quite place, where you can collect your thoughts and start focusing and working on the problem. Hypnosis works through suggestion, and you will apply this technique to your smoking problem. Repetitive practises of self-hypnosis are needed. However, with each time you practise, you will feel even more confident about your growing mental powers. Whenever your subconscious mind pushes you towards lighting a cigarette, then you can revert to self-hypnosis.
Self-hypnosis does not have immediate effects, but it is probably the best long term solution you can take to stop smoking. Many people are sceptical about the effects of self hypnosis, and may give up on it after a few days. This really is a process that requires you to start knowing your inner self better, and many people are not at all comfortable with that.
It is worth sticking with the self hypnosis process, though. Using self hypnosis will not only gradually reduces your desire to smoke, but will also reprogram your subconscious mind to forever eradicate the desire to smoke. When practised regularly for a few months, self-hypnosis techniques become efficient and beneficial to other aspects of your life too. Positive changes do not have to stop at smoking. They can and do influence other aspects of your life. This can be a real morale booster as you start to realise the mental control you can exert over your own previously self destructive mind. It can also, of course, have a beneficial effect on your health, more so than just from the effects of giving up smoking.
