How to QUIT SMOKING - Slow And Natural

November 15, 2007 was the 30th anniversary of the Great American Smoke Out! Every year when I saw the advertisements on TV, I’d get a sick feeling in my stomach, my fear whispering that I would never quit. I was afraid there was no hope for me. Smiling…….. Yippppppppppeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!! ………. I was WRONG! Here's how I did it more than 5 years ago! My methods are easy but kicking the addiction is the challenging part! I wish for you the power and determination to accomplish your goals!

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Fresh air and smokeless rooms
• Oranges, orange juice, and vitamin C.
• NO nico gum and NO nico patches
• Learn self-hypo & visualization techniques and deep breathing
• Lots of fresh water to flush out your system

1. The following are the basics. Except for this step, all the others are in whatever order you choose to add them to your attempt to quit. First of all, try to cut down the number of cigarettes you smoke a day before you actually quit. I had gotten down to 5 cigarettes a day for about a week. Then I caught a nasty cold and was coughing and sneezing a great deal. After spending one whole day in bed without smoking at all, I decided it was a great time to quit. (Use ANY excuse to quit!)
2. One of the biggest helps is to drink a lot of orange juice. It speeds up the leeching out of nicotine from your system. It takes only 3 weeks to get rid of the addictive chemicals - the rest of your addiction is psychological! Drink lots of water, too, because the more fluids you drink - non-alcoholic is better - the quicker you flush all the bad chemicals out of your body.
3. Every time a craving gets almost too strong to bear, take a huge inhalation of air and hold it as long as you can! Do this two or three times in a row but until you’ve tried it a few times, try to be sitting down. Some people get very light headed from this. Part of the brain’s addiction to smoking is the jolt of air it gets every time you inhale deeply. If you’ve gone hours without a cig, you probably noticed an almost light-headed rush when you take that first drag from a lit cigarette. That first cigarette of the day always seems ... so incredible. You are dragging in air - straight to the brain. And that's what your brain loves!
4. Every night as you fall asleep, visualize clean fresh air going through your clean pink lungs. Start doing this well before you quit if you can. I've listed a wonderful, incredible tape that is especially soothing and helps promote healing below. Use it to help see yourself healing while your lungs are clearing the tar and nicotine from your system. I'll be doing a follow-up article about self-hypnosis and visualization soon.
5. Stop smoking in a place or room that you normally used to smoke in. I started with my garden. That’s right - I picked an outside place full of fresh air for my first place to not smoke. I told myself that I had to finish weeding or watering a row or area of the garden before I could go in to have a smoke. I would end up finishing a bit more because it was a long walk back to the house, and at times the motivation to finish was stronger than the cigarette need. Sometimes an extra hour would pass and there’s nothing wrong with that!
6. Don’t let what others think effect your resolve! I made the mistake of telling my then-landlord that I had quit smoking! I was so revved on the idea of finally being free that I had to tell someone. She said, “That’s great! How long since you quit?” I crowed, “Three days!”, Ermmmm.... then I saw her frown. It was obvious that she didn’t think much of my achievement. Heck - it sounded lame to me when I thought about it being ONLY 3 days! I hadn’t mentioned my not smoking to any one else. Later, when people around me started noticing, I was able to say, ”Yes! I quit 2 weeks ago!!!” or a month ago or whatever amount of time it was. During past attempts, I had gotten really tired of people asking me how it was going when I had announced that I was going to try to quit - that and the 10 thousands suggestions from non-smokers and the grimaces from smokers. Once you quit, you will see how happy non-smokers are for you and how begrudgingly smokers give you a nod for your achievement. Hehehehehe.....
7. Eventually have only one place that you allow yourself to smoke in but do not make it the place you always used to smoke! I used to smoke mainly while watching TV, reading or working on my computer. I quit smoking while watching TV first. I’d get up and smoke in my “designated” room - the kitchen. I stopped smoking in my bedroom well before I quit because I wanted to sleep in a smoke-free room. I have always been a voracious reader so I couldn't stop entirely so I started getting unabridged audio books from the library - which helped with the keeping my hands busy part of quitting.
8. One of many made! Keep your hands and mind busy………. I started crocheting Full & Queen size afghans. Everyone I loved got them the year I quit! Smiling!!! I listened to varied subjects, including the History Of Botany Bay. This was an odd co-incidence concerning my future since I had no serious interest in Australia except for adding to my knowledge of history. My adorable husband is from New South Wales and I never dreamed that I would ever know anyone from Australia, much less marry someone from there! I also listened to Patent Law, Steven King books, and some pretty forgettable stuff but it all helped me keep my mind off lighting up! Find your own busy combo for both hands and mind - just keeping the hands busy is not enough.

Tips & Warnings

• Every time you try to quit and fail, you are actually getting closer to quitting. Remind yourself of this and repeatedly.
• The first time I actually got past three days without smoking, I knew I had it beat! You will know the moment you have overcome the worst and once you arm yourself with that knowledge, it all gets easier!
• Remind yourself that it takes 3 weeks to get rid of the nicotine and after that it's only you fighting with your mind.
• Be reassured that all the hours you go without smoking allows your body to start getting rid of the tars and nicotine in your lungs and it enjoys every moment of it!
• Every time you try, your body kicks into hyper-help mode because it does not want you to smoke. It's your brain fighting it!
• In truth, you are getting rid of an addiction and won't be isn’t easy!
• Food will taste crappy for a while.
• You will have headaches and the sweats here and there.
• Your brain is going to scream and fight you as though you have another being in there.
• You will feel tired, even exhausted at times because the nicotine stimulant is gone.
• You will feel irritable and be hard to live with for a while - unless you work hard at understanding it is your brain’s way to get it’s way back into the addition.
• You might have trouble sleeping and feel restless a lot of the time. Your concentration may suffer for a while.
• There may be an increase in appetite even though things taste bad at first!
• You will definitely be coughing and spitting up disgusting brown stuff but … IT'S ALL WORTH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• You must motivate yourself into quitting and commit to never smoking again ever - not even one cigarette and yes - just one Christmas cigar or cig could suck you right back into the habit!
• DO NOT smoke cigars instead, thinking they are not as bad as cigarettes. Cigars contain the same addictive, toxic and carcinogenic compounds found in cigarettes. In fact, a single large cigar can contain as much tobacco as an entire pack of cigarettes!