It’s easy to stop smoking. This may seem a bold statement and contrary to what we have been led to believe but there is considerable evidence to back this up. Back in the 1980’s every other person was a smoker and today that has now reduced to 1 in 5. 25 percent of the population are in fact ex-smokers. A total of 240,000 people a year in the UK give up smoking which equates to 660 per day stubbing out their last cigarette. I certainly don’t mean to demean their efforts, but it can’t be that difficult to quit if so many of us are capable of doing so.
Pharmaceutical companies have a vested interest in spreading the message that it’s difficult to quit. They want to sell more patches, gum and sprays to help with the addiction. Interestingly scientists now recognise that the physical addiction to nicotine comprises only around 10% of the smoking habit. The remaining 90% is down to psychological influences. The half life of nicotine lasts only around 45 minutes. This means that someone will experience the greatest physical withdrawal symptoms after 45 minutes and that is as bad as it will get.
"Hi Jason, I hope this email finds you well and enjoying your weekend. I don't smoke and I couldn't be happier thanks to you. Some of my friends do still smoke, but they have seen the change in me and I saw a spark of hope in their eyes. What you're doing works. Best regards Tim - Wells"
Most smokers have at some point in their lives been in a situation where they can’t smoke. In the workplace, in a restaurant, on a flight or maybe in the cinema. We manage to cope for hours without a cigarette and normally without any drama. We manage to get beyond the worst part of the withdrawal symptoms easily, simply because we’re not allowed to smoke. We have no choice. So why is it that in some situations it is easy not to smoke whilst in other situations we find it so difficult? To understand this, we need to understand a little about how the brain works.
The human brain can be subdivided up into the intellectual part and the original primitive part of the mind. When we operate from the intellectual part of the brain, we normally come up with answers based on a proper assessment. It is logical, rational, and well-reasoned. The intellectual mind would no doubt tell us that smoking is a ridiculous habit, bad for our health and is anti-social. Our primitive brain oversees the pro smoking lobby. It acts as a hard salesman. When companies sell washing powder, they don’t advertise the chemicals in the product or what the powder looks like, they paint a picture of happy families wearing pristinely clean clothes. The kids come home filthy and after a quick wash the clothes are back to their sparkling best. They want you to associate their product with happy situations and positivity. It’s the same with your primitive brain. It will tell you that smoking helps you to relax (false - cigarettes only contain stimulants) and will associate smoking with having a cold drink with friends, parties and sitting in the sun on holiday.
So how can we help ourselves to quit? There are two parts to the process. The first part is to recognise the propaganda that the primitive part of the brain is promoting. The second part is to treat the primitive mind like a small child and respond with a clear “No!”.
Through hypnosis and suggestion, we can help re-programme the primitive brain, providing the opportunity to rethink some of the misguided thoughts and behaviours associated with smoking and promote thoughts associated with how you want things to be. When we are in the relaxed state of hypnosis our primitive and intellectual minds come together to help facilitate meaningful change.
Solution focused hypnotherapy has a remarkably high success rate and only normally requires one 2 hour session.
Contact Jason for more information and to make 2022 a smoke free year. It really is easy!
Tel – 07470 805 041
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