Stop Smoking

By Gayle A. North

"Just as you learned to be a smoker, you  can learn to be a nonsmoker."

There are three main groups of serious smokers:

The first group acknowledges the hazards of smoking, yet they continue to smoke because of the danger.  These smokers mistake the risks of smoking for bravado.  They derive a distorted sense of excitement from smoking in spite of the admitted danger.  They resist treatment.  These people may pay lip service to quitting, but usually lack serious commitment.

The second group has faced the facts of smoking, and because of their respect for their bodies and in the interest of their health, they stop poisoning themselves.  This group often stops smoking on their own without outside treatment.

The third group is made up of smokers who want to quit, but need something besides harsh words from their doctors or other scare tactics.  These smokers have a high motivation and recognize their need and desire to stop smoking.  They are looking for a method to direct and convert their desire to quit smoking into successful action.  Smokers in this group can quit and are good candidates for a Hypnosis Smoking Cessation Program.

All behaviors, including smoking, begin with a positive intent.

The positive intent for many people who started smoking at a young age was to bond or identify with friends or someone they loved and admired. 

People who started smoking for these reasons had an unconscious belief that smoking would make them more lovable, more acceptable, or more attractive.

Other people begin smoking as a way to cope with feelings such as fear or a set of  circumstances and  later use smoking as their way of relaxing.  These people may replace eating and/or emotional expression with smoking.

These smokers have an unconscious belief that smoking relieves their buried feelings and creates a sense of peace.  “Smoking calms my nerves”, they may say.

Media advertising has programmed many people to expect positive benefits from smoking.

The idea that smoking will provide the positive effects that smokers are looking for has been imprinted in the subconscious minds of smokers, largely, by media advertising. 

Tobacco ads have used every persuasive trick including powerful visual images, catchy songs and subversive subliminal methods to influence people to smoke – convincing (especially young) minds that they will receive positive benefits from smoking cigarettes.

With our conscious minds, we come to realize that tobacco company advertising promises are lies.

Most identification smokers come to realize that smoking cigarettes does not make anyone more attractive.  They eventually experience more wrinkles, odors, stained teeth, bad breath, etc.

Most replacement smokers come to realize that cigarettes do not truly relax the body.  They learn that the blood vessel constriction and reduced oxygen in the blood actually weakens the nervous system and decreases their ability to cope with stress.  

Our subconscious mind may still expect the positive benefits it learned about from the advertising campaigns years ago.

At some point, most smokers will acknowledge that smoking produces the opposite of the desired effects and that their positive intention has been misdirected into a behavior that does not work.  It’s a bad joke – but they feel hooked.

They feel hooked because the old erroneous beliefs are alive and well in their subconscious mind … running the automatic behavior. 

Why is smoking cessation with hypnosis and NLP so effective?

Through hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), the subconscious can realize that smoking is no longer wanted or needed, and that smoking never did work in the first place - as evidenced by the fact that the soothing effects of smoking a cigarette are very temporary.  

The reason  that hypnosis can do this is that it is a patterned communication process by which we can access states of the mind that allow us to "hear" and be "heard" better.  Receptivity is enhanced.

In these more receptive states, (the same state we are in when we are listening to engaging speakers), the hypnotherapist offers suggestions designed to replace the erroneous beliefs in the subconscious mind with newer realizations which are closer to the current truth of the individual.   The subconscious mind can then begin to act on the new information and run a new behavior.

NLP, a tool for creating new images of ourselves, is used together with hypnosis to bring about the changed behavior pattern making it possible to release resistance to achieving the success we desire.

What are the benefits of smoking cessation with hypnosis?

• No willpower is required ... only a strong sincere desire to quit.
• The fears associated with giving up smoking such as weight gain are addressed and alleviated.
• Relaxation and comfort are promoted.
• One may choose to quit in one two hour session or taper off gradually
• Hypnosis compliments other healing modalities such as acupuncture or medical treatment.
• Withdrawal symptoms are reduced or eliminated and the stress usually associated with smoking cessation is commonly alleviated.
• Healthy lifestyle habits are promoted to help cleanse smoking residues and help reverse smoking damage.

Gayle North  offers Personal Coaching for Positive Change using recently developed empowerment technologies to clear mental and emotional blocks that keep people stuck in unhealthy habits and prevent them from performing at their highest potential  in school, sports, relationships, work and finance. Call 406-837-1214 to learn how you can STOP SMOKING IN ONE HOUR and for coaching in person or by phone.

changeiseasy@montanasky.net                  www.PositiveChangeInstitute.com