Almost 48 million Americans smoke cigarettes, and most of them are trying to quit, or want to quit smoking, according to the American Heart Association. In fact, since 1965, over 40 percent of adults who have ever smoked cigarettes have quit, and each year 1.3 million American smokers stop. Quitting smoking, according to the American Heart Association, greatly reduces the risk of heart disease and other health risks, adding years to your life.
If you have quit, congratulations, and read on!
You may have noticed, that while there are innumerable resources to help you quit smoking, there is not a whole lot of resources or support you after you succeed in quitting. Yet, it is during this vulnerable time that relapse can occur.
Be Wary of Common Situational Triggers
For many smokers, smoking is not just about the cigarette itself, but also the act of smoking. You may have come to associate drinking coffee with a cigarette, or may be used to smoking while driving, first thing in the morning, during work breaks, after eating, or right before bed. Along with overcoming the physical addiction for nicotine, then, smokers must also learn to overcome the situational addictions. According to an online survey, 87% of smokers who quit started again because of situational addictions, while another 80% believe they could quit successfully if they could control this need to smoke during certain situations.
“These survey findings are an important reminder that situational cravings can occur anytime and in any place a smoker associates with smoking,” said Dr. Raymond Niaura, professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown Medical School. “Situational cravings are triggered by events that the brain has associated with smoking and if left untreated, can cause a lapse to smoking in as quickly as 10-15 minutes.”
How to Overcome Your Smoking Cravings and Stay Smoke-Free
Each time you reach for a cigarette, there is an underlying feeling driving you to do so. Maybe you’re bored, tired, anxious, excited or a combination of emotions. The key to staying smoke-free after you quit is to learn to let go of these underlying emotions. Look at the emotion that is causing you to reach for the cigarette, and let it go, just drop it. Once you let go of the motivating emotions, the desire to smoke will drop away. One way to deal with these underlying emotional problems is with sound healing, and subliminal and self hypnosis MP3s.
Another part of ensuring you don’t begin smoking again is to identify the positive feelings you got from cigarettes, then get these positive emotions without cigarettes. Notice what you think you will get from smoking, and then give it to yourself directly. In other words, if you think the cigarette will help you to relax, take a deep breath, and allow yourself to relax without it. By breaking the association you have with smoking, and directly giving yourself whatever you think you will get from smoking, you weaken your impulse to smoke. We have the ability to generate whatever feeling state we want from the inside out.
After You Quit Smoking, How to STAY Quit
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