You don’t need hypnotherapy to stop smoking!
Let me tell you a secret. Only you and my clients know this: not one of those clients who came to see me for smoking-cessation ever needed to do so. Not one.*
The simple fact is that there are plenty of people out there who find it quite easy to stop smoking. Don’t we all know someone who simply decided to stop one day and just did it – stopping without ever looking back!? Don’t you wish that you could be that person?
Well, the aim of this blog-post is to convince you that you could be. At the very least I aim to convince you that it can be done, even if things are a little tricky at times. So, keep reading:
If you truly want to stop, you will!
If you truly want to stop then there’s really very little that can stop you. You have all the will-power 
you need. You really do. Just think about it, if you had no will-power you’d never have learned to walk, talk, drive or write. You achieved those goals because you wanted to achieve them badly enough.
You failed to stop smoking in the past because you didn’t truly want to. Perhaps you felt you should stop. Perhaps someone close to you was nagging you to quit. When you don’t want to do something your mind is divided, fighting against itself.
People who succeed in stopping and staying stopped will want nothing but to stop. They won’t be indulging in internal conversations about how they might be able to have a cigarette next year or after a few months of stopping. They won’t be telling themselves how difficult its going to be or what a shame it all is.
People who want to stop and succeed in stopping are fixed on one goal – stopping now and forever.
They realise, of course, that it’s a terrible habit which does absolutely nothing good for anybody at all, ever.
They just don;t have that little negative and nagging voice in their head.
That little voice in your head….
Think back to the last time you tried to give up smoking: you had that little voice in your head which told you to have ‘just the one’, ‘start again tomorrow’, ‘now isn’t the right time’. Your mind was fighting itself and the effort to give up smoking was doomed from the start. Everybody knows that the inside of their own head can become like a battleground, with urges, intentions and desires competing for supremacy. It’s this conflict which creates cravings and it’s this conflict which has brought you to failure before.
This time is different!
You have probably tried to give up smoking a good few times and because your mind was divided against itself you failed. You now expect to fail. This is why my clients call me, because they feel as if they need someone to give them will-power, thinking that this time would be just like the last time without another person’s help.
It could all be so different this time. Here’s why…
This time is different because you truly do 100% want to stop. You’re not ‘giving up’ any more because stopping smoking isn’t a sacrifice. There’s nothing positive to ‘give up’ anymore.
Most of your friends have probably stopped, you can’t smoke inside and that’s going to be a problem when winter hits. Your partner quite possibly dislikes it and your children are learning bad-habits. Your habit is killing you and is therefore doing your family indirect harm.
There is nothing positive about smoking which you couldn’t get without it. After all, do you see non-smokers moping about because their life is somehow lacking something?
Smoking increases stress levels. Read more here!
If you can’t read this and then tell yourself ‘I truly wish to stop this time’ then the time probably isn’t right for you.
Perhaps there’s still a part of you which thinks it leaves you looking cool. Perhaps there’s a part of you still rebelling against the idea that others can tell you what’s good for you and what is bad for you.
Perhaps there’s a part of you wishing your family would leave you alone to enjoy your habit as you will.
If so then keep thinking about it and come back when you truly want to stop.
If you do truly wish to stop, however, then you can forget about the other times you failed in stopping. This time is different.
So many people are happier and healthier because hypnotherapy has helped them to stop smoking. You could be next!
Only if you still worry about success do you need to come and see me. Your determination and hypnotherapy will combine to ensure that you’re far more likely to succeed. You don’t need hypnotherapy but if you’d like that extra bit of help then I’m happy to help. Call me on 07786 123736 / 01865 600970 / 01183 280284 and we can discuss how. Alternatively you could email me at paul@www.resolvedhypnotherapy.co.uk. Dozens of people in Reading, Oxford, London, Thame and Wallingford are living healthily and longer thanks to Resolved! Hypnotherapy
Stopping smoking is a psychological task. Cravings will be less likely if you get the psychology right.
Years ago I was going on holiday and knew that I only had enough nicotine pills to last a few days. There would be no hope of buying any there and I had no time to buy a supply before leaving. I decided to just stop taking them once they ran out. I didn’t need them anymore.
They ran out and I was fine. I was fine for a whole twenty four hours. No cravings, no thoughts, no regrets.
Then something bad happened. A man walked past, smoking. I caught the whiff of smoke and liked it. I decided it might be nice to have one. Just the one. After all, I didn’t need them anymore. It would be a treat. However, my wife would be annoyed and so perhaps I’d better not.
At that moment the cravings began. I had caused my mind to divide against itself and the part which wanted to smoke used cravings as its weapon.
Most of my clients don’t report cravings. If they occur then they tend to be minimal.
When the psychology is right the cravings follows suit.
So, if you truly want to stop you can stop. You have the will-power, can forget about failed attempts and can look forward to far fewer cravings. Things are different now.
Preparing the ground.
You’re free to ignore my advice but if you’d like to try things a different way then I recommend the following steps:
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Set a date on which to stop. The day of your driving test or suchlike isn’t a good time so choose the best possible time and stick to it.
- The audio player above will play a mindfulness recording. Listen to it once per day (not whilst driving or operating heavy machinery and not if you suffer from epilepsy, psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, heart or breathing problems ). The purpose of this recording, for you, is to learn how to allow unwanted thoughts and feelings to merely float on by without your feeling as if you need to listen, be bothered or controlled. Listen to this recording for a week prior to your chosen ‘stopping’ date and do your best to learn how to use the same techniques without the recording.
- During this same pre-stopping week I’d like you to change to your least favourite brand of cigarettes. Smoking is largely a collection of routines and habits. Make smoking less easy and the habit will be weakened. If possible, change from straights to rollies or vice versa.
- Smoke in different places. If you smoke in the back garden, smoke in the front garden instead. If you smoke at work, go elsewhere for your break. You get the point. make it all as different as is possible.
- Tell your friends and family. You’ll need their support.
- I’d like you to list out the gains you’ll make from being a non-smoker. Picture how your life will be without cigarettes. Picture it as clearly as you can, seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting everything appropriate as you imagine how life will be when you’re free from tobacco. Imagine how proud and happy you’ll be and do your best to feel those feelings.
Stopping day. How to cope with the first few weeks.
For the first week you’ll need to change every single routine. Change the way you get up, the order in which you do those things such as dressing, cleaning teeth etc. Have a bath in the morning instead of the evening. Make all of those routines as different as reasonably possible. Do the same for bedtime routines, weekend routines, mealtime routines and every routine. Sit in a different chair. Eat in a different room, sleep on the ‘wrong’ side of the bed. As I said before, smoking depends on routines (plenty of smokers aren’t bothered if they have a long-haul flight, for example, because they have had their routine disrupted and the cues for smoking aren’t present). Disrupt the routines and you’ll weaken the habit.
2. Drink plenty of water.
3. Take exercise. It helps to disrupt routines, wards off anxiety and distracts from any cravings.
4. Continue with the mindfulness in case of cravings. Cravings fade with a little time. Wait them out, simply observing them rather than considering them to be awful.
5. Continue to visualise how life will be once cigarettes are a mere memory.
6. Praise yourself in the mirror each night before going to bed.
7. Build in little rewards for each day.
8. Don’t think about ‘forever’. Non smokers simply live one smoke-free day at a time. So will you.
9. It may be an idea to avoid the pub for a couple of weeks, if this is a big trigger for smoking. Your friends will understand and the time will pass quickly. An alternative is to go out to a different pub and to find a way of ensuring that you don’t drink so much that your judgement fails you.
Follow this advice and smoking should hopefullybe put to bed forever. If, however, you would like a little extra help then get in touch and we’ll work together to make if far more likely that you stop for good. Hypnotherapy is awesome!
Best wishes
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What about seeing me for hypnotherapy in Thame instead?
- Some of my clients, however, suffer from depression and anxiety and for these clients smoking can be a true crutch on which to lean. If this is the case with you then I would advise you to seek help in order to overcome those problems before thinking of stopping smoking.
If you have happened across this site and yet aren’t anywhere near any of my bases then perhaps you’d visit this site in order to find a therapist closer to you: http://www.stopsmokinguk.org