Many smokers know all the reasons why they ’should’ stop, but still struggle making the decision to quit. They beat themselves up, complaining of a lack of willpower. But they are wrong, it isn’t willpower you need. Using willpower implies that you are fighting against something.
Smokers in this condition experience mood swings, cravings and irritability. That’s because they are sitting on the fence. As any smoker trying to quit knows, that’s a painful place to be. It’s much better to ‘jump off the fence’. When you reach the decision, quitting becomes effortless. But as we know, making that decision can be tough.
Hundreds of clients have told us that although they want to stop, they still enjoy smoking. For many smokers there are strong associations between smoking and pleasure, for example:
“A drink and a cigarette go together”
“I love to smoke in the morning with my tea/coffee”
“I enjoy a cigarette after dinner.”
For other smokers there are associations with stress:
“I feel anxious and I need to smoke”
“I know I’ll be irritable without my cigarettes.”
Some feel deprived at the thought of quitting:
“I miss my cigarettes”
“I feel deprived”
“I feel I have lost a friend”
“I’m afraid to let go.”
For some women with young children, cigarettes provide an escape for ten minutes. “This is my time.” Similarly, both men and women use cigarettes as a reward, as an excuse to take a break. For some, the thought of never being able to smoke again is terrifying.
Whatever your mixed feelings, you need to realise that they are just beliefs. But because your unconscious mind has to act in accordance with your beliefs, you experience conflict, the discomfort of being torn between what you ’should’ do, and what you feel comfortable doing… which is to maintain the habit… keep doing what you’ve been doing for years…in spite of the fact that it’s destroying your health, burning your money, becoming increasingly unsociable etc. etc.
So, for many people, arriving at the decision to stop smoking is hard. Here are the reasons why…
Have you ever wondered why most smokers take up the habit in their teens, between the age of 10 and 20? Ask any smoker and you will confirm this for yourself. Psychologists talk about this time of our lives as the ’socialisation period’, when we are extremely sensitive to being part of the group. Now, remember what it was like when you were at school, or at your first job. You desperately wanted to ‘fit in’ because the worst emotional pain we can feel during that part of our lives is the feeling of being ‘left out’.
Have you every heard of your mind being described as like an iceberg, with nine tenths below the surface? The conscious mind is the tiny one tenth part above the surface, the unconscious is the nine tenths below. As you know, the unconscious, which stores all of our memories, which breathes air into our lungs, beats our heart and carries out all automatic functions on our behalf, is designed to protect us from emotional, as well as physical pain.
During our teens, we start smoking to protect ourselves from emotional pain, to avoid being left out, to be part of the group. At that time there may also have been some peer pressure, “mummies boy”, perhaps a sense of rebellion, or wanting to look grown up or glamorous like that film star. This explains why, in spite of that first experience making us cough and choke and feel ill, we forced ourselves to smoke again and again until it become a habit.
Now years later, when you are considering stopping smoking, you get a feeling of panic, of anxiety, “how will I survive without a cigarette?”. These uncomfortable feelings are entirely caused by your unconscious mind which still (just as when you were a teenager) ‘thinks’ it’s doing you a favour by keeping you smoking. Your unconscious mind still ‘thinks’ it’s protecting you from emotional pain, not realising that years have passed and that now, with increasing legislation, stop smoking uk is becoming more and more likely.
The reason our approach is so successful is because we deal with the root cause of smoking. As well as breaking the old smoking habit with advanced hypnosis, we are resolving the unconscious conflicts and erroneous beliefs which have ’stopped you stopping’.
Specialist smoking cessation practitioners need to have the skills and experience to dissolve your conflicts, painlessly and easily. Many of our clients say, “It’s as if I’ve never smoked!” When you read some of the testimonials, it suddenly makes sense. It can’t be a nicotine addiction because, as your doctor will tell you, all the nicotine is out of your system within 48 hours.
You know of people who have stopped and then started again, months later. And you also know lots of people who have stopped and who still crave a cigarette, even years later. You also know of those who have gained weight when they quit. Why? It’s because the unconscious conflict wasn’t resolved, as it is with our approach. Client Daryl Hine from Buntingford told us:
“I was smoking right up to the point of walking in. The session was very interesting, both educational and engaging. Throughout the hypnosis, I was fully awake and yet fully relaxed. It’s a strange sensation. I’d classify it as a ‘pleasant, strange experience’. About an hour later I walked out of the session thinking, ‘That was interesting,’ but not feeling any different. I still didn’t believe I could quit. It wasn’t till days later that I realised that I hadn’t smoked and that it had worked.
It’s coming up for a year now and it’s been easy. No desire to smoke, feell better in myself. All the normal stress points have been fine and I’ve had no craving at all. Health wise I’m much better. I do a fair bit of exercise. I’ve saved myself a considerable amount of time at work, gaining an extra hour each day that I now use more productively. As well as time, I’ve saved a fortune because I had been smoking 25-30 a day. I’ve been a great advocate of the Stop Smoking Centre and I’m willing to talk to anyone about my experience.”
So if you have mixed feelings about stopping smoking, call us any time and we’ll be happy to chat or even provide a free consultation where we can resolve your unconscious conflicts.
Recently I followed up with just such a client, who had come for a free consultation, and she had stopped smoking - just by resolving her conflicts.
Dave Trevena
The Hertford Stop Smoking Centre
Freephone: 0800 093 9714
Down load our free report from:
http://www.stopsmokingcentre.co.uk
[tags]Stop smoking, Quit smoking, Addiction[/tags]