One of the habits that most people including youngsters take up is that of smoking. Such a smoking addiction is very injurious to one’s health and as such it causes a variety of harmful health conditions such as cancer and breathing problems among others. There are a variety of reasons that one might take up this habit such as the need for nicotine or simply being pushed into it. A recently conducted study showed that the main reason that boys as young as 13 years took up this dangerous habit was because they wanted to look “cool” in front of their peers.
However, while getting addicted to nicotine is very easy to accomplish, when one tries to rid themselves of the habit, they find that it is not as easy as they have a hard time letting go of their addiction. Although the success rate of an individual being able to overcome his previous addiction to tobacco is quite low, it is not impossible. All that is required is a bit of patience, perseverance and the will power to be able to resist the urge to pick up a cigarette again.
One of the methods that are used by most people when it comes to quit smoking is to simply stop. However, this is the wrong approach as to simply give up the habit all of a sudden will not work. One reason why this does not work is because of the weight gain that is associated with the after effects of kicking the butt and the twitching finger syndrome resulting from the lack of nicotine. It has been suggested that one should consume a variety of green leafy vegetables to overcome the need to smoke.
As the above method failed to help in giving up smoking, many people have turned toward hypnosis to stop smoking. This technique of using hypnosis to quit smoking is more successful than any other methods previously used. Briefly put, the main reason why hypnosis works is due to the impact that it has on ‘suggestible’ parts of the brain. In other words, hypnotic suggestions leave a lasting impression on the minds of the people.
To understand smoking cessation hypnosis, one really needs to understand the three major facets of smoking. Two of these facets are related to the emotional and mental aspects while the other is related to the physical aspect.
Smoking is used to invoke feelings of relaxation and pleasure
If a small child were to get upset and start crying, the mother would simply put something in his mouth which would cause him to get distracted, resulting in his getting pacified. Since this process was repeated so many times, it eventually led to the sucking of the thumb at the age of 3 years. In other words, the need for something in the mouth usually leads to our feeling relaxed and pleased. Nicotine that is present in cigarettes helps in giving relief to the body and as such results in the release of those hormones in the body that lead to bodily satisfaction.
Smoking is at times a pre-programmed response to result in a particular trigger action
Research has shown that there are a variety of activities that trigger the urge to have a smoke. Such a craving to light up depends upon the situation. For instance, if one were to go to the movies and in the middle of the film, should he light a cigarette, he would continue to do so every time he went to the movies. Similarly, if one were to see someone else smoking, he too would automatically feel the urge to start smoking himself.
So how exactly do such triggers get built up in the mind? It is simply due to the fact that the subconscious part of the brain links a cigarette to whatever was being done at that point in time. If one were in a coffee shop having a cup of coffee and at the same time decided to start smoking a cigarette, his mind links up the cigarette with the coffee, so that every time he decided to have a cup of coffee, the brain unconsciously fills in the missing picture piece and inserts the image of a cigarette.
Nicotine helps create a physical longing and addiction
The most negligible part of cigarette addiction is the physical aspect. While nicotine does create a physical longing, it is much weaker as compared to the mental and emotional addictions created by smoking a cigarette. 90% of the addiction is created due to the above mentioned two factors while the physical aspect of nicotine addiction only consists of 10%.
Keeping the above three facets of smoking in mind, how can hypnosis to stop smoking help? Hypnosis can help to effectively vanquish the first two parts of smoking viz. the emotional and mental facets of nicotine. Most people smoke because of the relaxation and pleasure that it gives them. At the same time, smoking helps to create happy and positive brain waves that are used to effectively combat the regular more negative brain waves created by the mind. Smoking cessation hypnosis can be used to program a person’s subconscious so that instead of producing the regular negative and worrisome mental images, the brain instead can immediately create and focus on newer, more positive and more relaxing mental associated images that are normally attained when one picks up a cigarette. In other words, such positive brain waves help to obliterate the tensions that usually result in triggering negative emotions.
By using hypnosis to quit smoking, there is no resulting feeling or obligation for the smoker who is quitting, to smoke again as the mental images produced by his brain are so strong and positive that he does not need to ever smoke again to produce these images.
Another benefit of using hypnosis to quit smoking is that it helps the user to overcome the conditional response of the brain into taking a smoke. The need to smoke is normally associated by the brain to different environmental elements such as locations or even various activities. Hypnosis can help to get over the subconscious cravings of the mind to fill in any incomplete picture with the need to use a cigarette. Hypnosis to stop smoking can effectively help in extinguishing these conditional responses of the mind so that it will result in the user losing the urge, compulsion and craving for a cigarette
So what exactly happen during such a ‘hypnosis to quit smoking’ session? It is effectively the hypnotist using various verbal suggestions so as to implant in the subconscious of the participant such happy and positive imagery. These implanted suggestions usually coincide with the desires of the patient to give up the unhealthy habit of smoking resulting in them having more respect for their bodies.
Even thought there have been many studies conducted on the benefits of using hypnosis to quit smoking, it should be noted that some people have claimed to have had no effect at all from such programs. Once of the reasons as to why hypnosis is so effective for a few people and not for others is that subconsciously, these people have already chosen to block out the smoking by using hypnosis to quit smoking while others do not really wish to rid themselves of the habit. Hence, it is easier for the hypnotist to instill such conditioning into the sub consciousness of a willing patient during any ‘smoking cessation hypnosis’ sessions. Another reason as to why hypnosis to stop smoking therapy might not be effective is because the participant is not relaxed during the session and as a result, all the suggestions of the hypnotist did not embed deeply into the subconscious of the patient. It is vital that in order to effectively use hypnosis to quit smoking, the patient has to be very relaxed and willing to accept all the statements of the hypnotherapist so that they can penetrate deep into the brain and reach those parts that subconsciously affect user actions.
The greatest advantage of using hypnosis to stop smoking is that it helps one to lead a much healthier lifestyle. One can make use of the internet to find the best self hypnosis methods and actions to give up this addiction. What one needs to remember is that there is a major disparity between a smoker who has quit and a non-smoker. A smoker who has quit would still have the occasional craving for nicotine whereas a non-smoker would not even consider picking up a cigarette again. Hypnosis to quit smoking has resulted in many people becoming non-smokers, in turn giving up their nicotine habits forever. However, when undergoing any such smoking cessation hypnosis sessions, it is vital to remember that one needs to concentrate completely on the hypnotist to have any favorable outcomes. The greatest benefit of going in for such smoking cessation hypnosis is that it helps in clearing up the lungs over time and also lowers the chances of suffering cancer or any other such terminal illnesses. Smoking cessation hypnosis will help one to finally get their life back on track in a healthy way. When using hypnosis to stop smoking, one is able to fight all the demons in his or her life without ever having to become dependent on nicotine again.