Stop Smoking!, techniques ect Options

Hey, sorry for having to create a thread but I was just wondering whether anybody here may know of some effective technique or method in which I can employ to quit smoking. One thing I tried when I needed to quit gambling was very simply to put a wristband/bracelet on me so when I go to put my money in the machine I will remember to stop myself which I must say worked well, instantly infact, although the desire to gamble was still present and still is, I can now seem to be able to prevent myself, just.
I feel the bracelet on most of my day when doing general things, which reminds me of my intention and this just solidifies my intent as it grows stronger. Thing is, I thought that I could use the bracelet as a reminder to quit smoking aswell and its just not working, the tendency to light up a cigarrete is just to strong a force to use the method I vainly employ.
This is why I am reaching out to someone who might have a trick or two up their sleeve to offer some means of attaining my goal, which is obviously to quit smoking.
I'm not interested in taking nicotine patches, I tryed them once a long time ago and they made me feel sick in my stomach.
Thanks ya'll
Peace
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/wizard.gif)

This post has been edited by al_zaine: Mar 31 2008, 06:45 PM

This is only my personal opinion and I would give it to anyone in the same manner regardless of whether or not they are a magician.

It may be the case that you cannot keep yourself from wanting to smoke. This is perfectly understandable, no matter what the reason. The same thing applies to other addictions.

It may be futile to attempt to stop wanting to do whatever it is that has you addicted. That is just too bad. You are going to want to do whatever it is you are trying to quit.

Fortunately, you can still quit. Just quit. How? It's easy, and it involves only two things:

1. Do not buy cigarettes.
2. Do not ask people for cigarettes.

Now you may not be able to control the urge to smoke, but you can always control what you buy, and you can control what you ask others to do for you.

If you do not buy cigarettes, and do not ask for them, they will not leap into your mouth and ignite.

I understand completely what you are saying and agree with you, this is the most basic method. I try to enforce this on myself and have managed from smoking atleast a tenbox a day down to two half-cigs a day, and there will be days where I will not have any only ever lasting longest 2-3 days. I smoke one spliff a night and have been doing so ritually for a very long time and which impresses me because every single night I have a spliff and its become almost as an accomplishment against hard times, which I used to suffer in my early days, bear in my i've only been smoking 9 years...... actually that kinda sounds alot (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused012.gif) but basically I feel as though i'm on the brink of reaching my goal its just these little tokes here and there that are bugging me because it's almost as though it's happening deliberatly to spite me. Maybe I have to quit weed too but I just love the flavour and one spliff a night can possibly have positive effects on me as I only smoke at like gone 11pm when all I do is relax giving more flexibilty in mental endeavors.

This post has been edited by al_zaine: Mar 31 2008, 07:17 PM

C'mon guys, any meditational methods or daily rituals that will increase my intention. Obviously if I was able to just not smoke then I wouldn't be asking for your help and whats the point in magick.....I thought it was the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/bye.gif)

C'mon guys, any meditational methods or daily rituals that will increase my intention. Obviously if I was able to just not smoke then I wouldn't be asking for your help and whats the point in magick.....I thought it was the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/bye.gif)

"Feareth not the Ox the Goad of the Ploughman?" - Liber III vel Jugorum

I can understand being unable to keep yourself from wanting to do something.
I can also understand being unable to avoid unintended consequences of your actions, as with gambling, hookers, street drugs, or other addictions.
But I cannot understand how you would be unable to keep yourself from doing something. Cigarettes will not magically appear in your mouth unless you choose to put them there.

You want to meditate when you feel compelled to smoke? OK. Uri Geller has a tape where you can chant "I will stop smoking!" with him as he plays happy music.
You want to slash your arm with a razor every time the thought of tobacco crosses your mind?
You have every option in between given by hundreds of Self-Help books.

Let's say you pick one and try it, and lo and behold a few months later you are still smoking. What is at fault, the ineffective "remedy" or simply your obstinacy in refusing to quit? If you actually want to quit smoking, just do it. Magic isn't going to make it easier.

If you think of yourself as a magician (anyone, not necessarily you personally Al Zaine), how can you presume to choose the course of your destiny, or that of the world as a whole, if you cannot overcome peer pressure, advertising, or plain bad habits? I don't mean to harp on you about this, really you can smoke if it pleases you and I wouldn't think any less of you, but it's a sad day when a magician must complain that he cannot decide for himself what he puts in his own mouth.

The problem with wearing the bracelet is that it can back fire. Rather than help you quit instead it makes you constantly obsess over smoking. It acts as a mental trigger and so evertime you see it, even though it reminds you to not smoke, its still making you think about smoking. You can quit. Going cold turkey is possible, probably about the hardest route but possible. Personally I subscribe to the notion that if you want to cure any addiction you do it by getting whatever drug you need (for heroin addicts its methadone, for smokers its the patch, most commonly) and you get into therapy to not only get over the craving, but the cognitive habit to smoke. Addiction is not just a physical or mental need to do something, its a habit. One that you've practiced getting good at for a very long time probably. And doing the opposite, not smoking, is the hardest part because you mentally and physically desire to smoke.

I wish there was a magick bullet for this. But in my opinion the best magick you can do is admit you need to quit - go get help - and surrender yourself to a higher power. By putting yourself in the hands of "God" as you percieve him or her you are allowing the healing process to begin. But even then, this force only helps those who help themselves. You pretty much have to convince yourself to hate cigarettes. hate thinking about them, hate smelling them, hate seeing them on tv, hate being around them all together. But furthermore - get the professional help along with the patch because it'll help you figure out why you turned to cigarettes in the first place and help you get past the physical withdrawl symptoms.

Things you should avoid:
Don't Cut corners - don't try to skip any steps!
Don't avoid it - don't just simply say you will do it later. Do it NOW! And don't avoid the patch because "it causes cancer" - smoking causes cancer.
Don't minimize the situation - don't think to yourself well "I'll just limit myself to smoking only twice a day" and don't tell yoruself that your habit isn't a problem. If it wasn't you wouldn't be trying to quit.
Don't just agree and say you need to do this stuff and then put it off either.
Don't mad and blame someone or something else for your problem.

There are lots of ways to quit smoking and I don't have nor tried any of them, but, one thing I know that will work for sure starts from within the core yourself, you belief system. Your main programming sets of beliefs that associated smoking with pleasure.

As long as you find smoking as an enjoyable activity, then, anything you'll ever try will be short lived. Find ways to dissasociate pleasure from smoking, find traumatic ways to get yourself to hate the taste of cigarette on your mouth. Willingness, burning desires and commitment are crucial keys to any success. If you're "that" serious to quit, why not literally eat the whole cigarette everytime you cave in to lid one? Make the commitment. My father made a rock solid decision to quit smoking in one day after he got a stroke from it and it has been more than 3 years and he never once lid one even though around 75% of men here smokes. Make it a must, burn your bridges, make it no way for you to turn back from your commitment and you'll definately succeed. Good luck (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Every time you feel the urge to smoke, banish mars with the LBRH. (tobacco is a mars plant)

Works like a charm. Which it kind of is.

You do actually have to be able to do the LBRH effectively.

Don't worry about banishing all of your mars energy, you'll get it back when you sleep.

peace

you could always have to stab yourself (prick your finger, etc) whenever you decide to give in and light up - like your battle sword unsheathed having to taste blood (even if its yours!), make a rule that you have to shed your own blood (just a little drop hehehe) before lighting the cigarette - do you want it bad enough to endure the pain? - be sure to keep your 'spliff' enjoyment very different from the tobacco addiction

tobacco is very useful if you live outside all the time, or in poor sanitary conditions, which is why it was sacred - keeps the bugs off, the lungs and sinuses working, and runs the worms out - it is an herb, and constant use is abuse - and not this crappy cigarette tobacco of today either, with all its coal-tar addictive additives (like aspirin and cocaine-like stimulants) and modern processing, but the ancient nicotine-oozing wads wrapped in yards of silk (because they were more valuable than silk - ha!) - egyptian mummies have tested positive for tobacco, and it was considered a purgative for spirits

magic is powered by will and determination, and if you have not enough will to combat a physical urge, how would magic help? - it amases me, folks always running to outside, rather than inside

good luck, you could always keep your cigarettes in the cat's litter box,

es

This post has been edited by esoterica: Apr 3 2008, 08:16 AM

So the main advice is basically don't put a cig in your mouth. Maybe I could find a replacement (IMG:style_emoticons/default/baby.gif) lol, I heard just chewing gum can help quite well. This highlights the mental side of things. I agree that alot of it is pyschological and I thank you all for your techniques and understanding. Acid, you have brought sometning to my attention which never crossed my mind and now dwelling on it it makes me think that I have been reinforcing my desire to smoke on a subconsious level while applying the use of the bracelet. My bad and thanks for pointing it out (IMG:style_emoticons/default/fool.gif) .
I like the idea of finding ways of hating smoking, and with cigs it's quite easy because the con's outway the pro's, bad taste, bad smell, bad breath, dutty fingers and also disrespectful for the people that don't smoke when I walk past them on street. I personally can't stand it when someone who is walking infront of me is smoking because all the smoke blows back towards me and it chokes the breath out of me, yet I do it too, (IMG:style_emoticons/default/hmm.gif)
Burn my bridges is the only way, and the first thing I can do is admit that I am weak when it comes to cigarettes, yes I am weak. I'm not a great magician i'm well aware of that, i'm still a newb dancing round the theory, never taking practical steps that will affirm my Will.
pricking myself with a pin is a better option than slashing my arms lol but still I don't want to get my mind confused about pain and pleasure, because lets say I got the desire for a cigarette and so pricked my finger causing a little bit of pain and some bloodshed, then still get the cigarette out and smoke it, it might implant the idea that I can only attain what I want through pain. Best way so far is really just to confirm and accept that I want to quit smoking and then reinforce this with good reasons as to why, which have been mentioned and some good ol' elbow grease.
Just the thought of fresh air is exhilarating.
Thanks again and Peace.
Al
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/wizard.gif)

Smoke myself and have been trying to quit for a while, don't smoke that much at all but will go out to a pub and find that I've smoked close to ten and don't start on the spliff at night ''ritual'' bet you mix it with cigarette tobacco like me which means that its not the weed you're after but the raw cigarette, gross, started using herbal 'tobacco' to stop that one. .lol.

Not sure why people are reccomending ''boring'' ways of ridding yourself of your addiction... personally think that if you can use magic to further yourself spiritually, rather than for some mundane material goal for example you should... haven't done it myself but I was intending to do an I.O.B ritual a few times perhaps. Addiction is a complex thing a demon in of itself so why not banish it? Demonize your tobacco habit and rid yourself of it, the Hebrews used to say that man is surrounded by billions of demons (bacteria) and I'd definitely consider carbon dioxide and what ever nasties they put in cigarettes to be ''demons'' so why not lump them together in one form and get rid of them? Would have to Objectify what it is you want to get rid of (properly) of course, the addicted aspect of yourself or what makes you addicted to cigarettes themselves, would spend some time considering that perhaps but here it is;

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=5nmAt7x...hl=en#PPA126,M1

Page 124 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/book.gif)

Notice I'm not speaking from experience here as I haven't done the ritual myself .lol. Please read the text before practicing it, Kraig gives a warning, banishing an aspect of your psyche will effect other aspects of your personality which is why demonizing cigarettes themselves may be an easier option but there you go.

Peace
M

I forgot to mention to not substitute - don't switch from smoking to doing something else. You mentioned gambling and actually compulsive gambling is fairly common in people trying to quit smoking. But on top of that don't switch to doing a different drug or behavior that can be just as destructive if not more so.

Acid, you have brought sometning to my attention which never crossed my mind and now dwelling on it it makes me think that I have been reinforcing my desire to smoke on a subconsious level while applying the use of the bracelet. My bad and thanks for pointing it out

Addicts can and often DO wear bracelets, but they do so for different reasons. Rather than wearing them as a reminder to not do drugs, addicts wear them to celebrate their sobriety. With harder drugs, the bracelet reinforces the mentallity to maintain a healthy life away from drugs because it symbolizes one's triumph over addiction. But wearing it if you are not being away from the substance, only causes you to dwell on it and desire it even more. The trick is to get clean from cigarettes and wear a bracelet not to remind yourself to STOP smoking but to remind you and reinforce the fact that you DID stop smoking.

I like the idea of finding ways of hating smoking, and with cigs it's quite easy because the con's outway the pro's, bad taste, bad smell, bad breath, dutty fingers and also disrespectful for the people that don't smoke when I walk past them on street. I personally can't stand it when someone who is walking infront of me is smoking because all the smoke blows back towards me and it chokes the breath out of me, yet I do it too,

Don't forget the impact in your wallet and the affect it might have on your overall health (bet I could outrun you in a mile (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) )

Burn my bridges is the only way, and the first thing I can do is admit that I am weak when it comes to cigarettes, yes I am weak. I'm not a great magician i'm well aware of that, i'm still a newb dancing round the theory, never taking practical steps that will affirm my Will.

Burn your bridges so to speak, yes. But don't put yourself down. Councellors reffer to this as "stinking thinking" and it can make you revert right back to whatever behavior you're trying to overcome. Don't tell yourself that you are weak or not a great anything (other than a$%*#!* or something). Instead focus on trying to think more positively. I don't mean pink bunnies and rainbows positive, I mean objective and productive thinking. Telling yoruself you are weak is not productive and is really counter intiutive to trying to break the habit in the first place. When you think things like this instead ask yourself "why am I think thing this" and instead try to rethink it in a positive way - "I'm not weak, I am strong, but I need help in beating this problem with smoking". Don't tell yourself you are not a great magician instead say something like "I am a great magician who has yet to realize or manifest his true inner potential." - Think realistically and objectively.

In fact thoughts like these are things you should be looking at. Maybe you put yourself down more than you realize? Hence why the vast majority of addicts highly benefit from professional councelling of some kind. Getting yourself on a 12 step program is also a very useful tool. And you've already made it past the first step - wanting to change and admiting you have a problem. And while it is important that you treat this issue very seriously, at the same time you don't have to think you're in the same boat as other addicts - rock bottom, with nowhere to go, a crimminal record and so forth.

pricking myself with a pin is a better option than slashing my arms lol but still I don't want to get my mind confused about pain and pleasure, because lets say I got the desire for a cigarette and so pricked my finger causing a little bit of pain and some bloodshed, then still get the cigarette out and smoke it, it might implant the idea that I can only attain what I want through pain.

The reason I would contend you shouldn't turn to inflicting pain is because it falls under the "don't substitute your habit for something else" theory. Believe it or not when you inflict pain on yourself you release adrenaline and endorphines (just like with the cigarettes) and this can actually lead to a quasi-feeling of pleasure. Its more of a mental thing than physical. But if you cut yourself you're basically doing the same thing as smoking a cigarette. And personally I think smoking is a much more sanitary habit than hurting yourself. Esoterica's suggestion has merit to an extent. Pain is an excellent tool for behavioral modification - but not treating addiction. Self harming can be a pathology itself.

Best way so far is really just to confirm and accept that I want to quit smoking and then reinforce this with good reasons as to why, which have been mentioned and some good ol' elbow grease.
Just the thought of fresh air is exhilarating.

I still just have to reiterate - getting help, starting on a program and possibly use the patch to releive physical withdrawl symptoms. Deffinately work on your thinking patterns too.

Also Mchawi has a point. You can incorperate magick to this process. You don't have to exclude it and if done properly will be beneficial. Working with the element air is probably to route I would take in dealing with smoking. And certainly treating a smoking addiction like a demon would be affective too. But don't think all you need to do is say few hail marrys and all is well. This thing has a grip on you - which is why you give yourself up to the will of a higher power. You do not have the power to beat this thing alone - therefore you seek aid through the power of something beyond you (prefferably something positive).

i agree with acid...

using pain to stop an addiction is not a good idea. smoking cigarettes is often used as a form of self destructive behavior, and cutting or hurting yourself is ALSO self destructive behavior...why would you want to train yourself to want that?

And i think that putting yourself on the edge like that...just makes you want to jump. Why would you tempt yourself like that? inflicting a small measure of pain can become habit too...you could get used to it...after all, habits come easy don't they?
What?...you think that people who inject, think about that big ass needle they're using? no. they are thinking about the relief they'll get from using it...
i wouldn't call it a practical method for dissociating from the pleasure...it'll just make that release so much more valuable. I would not deliberately associate pain with anything you do. period.

another thing? if we're talking about addiction, don't get too cocky. Don't trust that you won't do it. Cuz you will. however, when you mess up...start over immediately. you have to live day by day, no exceptions. You can count the days you've been free of it...but don't stare up that hill you have to climb! its discouraging. just do it.

in this day by day approach, mantras and daily affirmations work wonders. keep them positive...do not use neutral words...or "no" or "not" the subconscious does not register these words. keep it short, positive, and too the point!

Heres a bad example: I will not smoke today. (you are really saying...i will smoke today (IMG:style_emoticons/default/doh.gif) )
heres a GOOD example: I will maintain a healthy lifestyle today! (which leaves room for other positive habits AND reinforces the beneficial habit you are already practicing! (which is NOT smoking rather than 'quitting')
Do not use the line "trying to quit"...' i am trying to quit smoking" implies that you are still practicing it on and off. You do not want to reinforce that idea. Trying is a passive activity. Instead say...I HAVE quit smoking. I stopped smoking...sounds better doesn't it? even tastes better in your mouth??? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

heres a tip: if you find you buy a pack of cigarettes...and that one little faggot is calling your name...pour water on it immediately! just drown the damn thing.

Some great feedback, definately alot to work with here and i'd just like to say that they were all equally as delighful to read and none being 'boring'.
I can say that I definately will not be incorporating any form of pain infliction with how I subdue my addiction. I like the idea of demonising my addiction and banishing from my presence and it's kind of like Vagrant Dreamers advice about banishing mars using the LBRP which I don't actually know how to do but will look into learning, nay, WILL learn, then I can do it every morning and whenever I get the urge to smoke.
Acid I thinki I will take what you said on board and will put a new bracelet on when I have succeeded. I know exactly what you mean about substitution, and I was thinking I might substitute it with food because i'm looking to put more weight on so i'd be killing 2 birds with 1 stone lol.
Your post and valkyrie's speak the same thing near enough, and it all tie's in with what I am working on progessively which is the art of self discipline. I've been reading an ebook I got from SMFlibrary called Self Discipline in 10 days by Theordore Bryant and at the same time i'm listening to this audio book called The Psychology Of Achievement.
One thing to remember most for affirmations is the three P's- Positive, Present and Personal for example, I like myself.
All of this incorporates habits, attitudes, and will power. The mind is like a deep ocean with many crevices.
I need to dwell on some of this and come back with more information because right now i'm abit tired from walking around all day (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
Peace
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/wizard.gif)

This post has been edited by al_zaine: Apr 4 2008, 08:46 PM

but pain inducement is so much more fun than smoking!

ok, ok, i get the significance of changing one thing for another, and pain could be a bad substitute for some folks

i quit for about 5 years once, but started again - now i go off cigarettes for a few days every now and then, just for the sicko thrill of it - you can clean a good sized house in about 2 hours when you are deep into nicotine withdrawal - great way to get things done, and the reward of a cigarette later is ecstatic

one thing, though, the nicotine is a external chemical addiction, not an internal one - it is far harder to kick than an addiction to pain, and never really stops once you are aware of it - they don't call it "hooked" for nothing

mmmm...think of the energy you'd have coming off an addiction to pain

i wish i had an emo twin to abuse

I know exactly what you mean about substitution, and I was thinking I might substitute it with food because i'm looking to put more weight on so i'd be killing 2 birds with 1 stone lol.

Eating more is actually another thing thats common for people to do who are trying to quit smoking. I honestly doubt you'll need to eat more to gain weight. I know when my dad finally stopped he gained 35 lbs within a short period of time, didn't change his diet any either. But on the other hand say 6 months after you've quit smoking and you still haven't gained any weight then there's no problem in altering your diet. Or you could just start drinking beer!..... jk... alcoholism is probably right up there next to being a heroin addict.

but pain inducement is so much more fun than smoking!

lol! Don't encourage him! I have to admit though sometimes feeling pain can be enjoyable. I like to spar with some of my friends and yeah its pretty intense.

i quit for about 5 years once, but started again - now i go off cigarettes for a few days every now and then, just for the sicko thrill of it - you can clean a good sized house in about 2 hours when you are deep into nicotine withdrawal - great way to get things done, and the reward of a cigarette later is ecstatic

Like kinjo pointed out if you want to kick the habit you have to get over the association of pleasure with smoking. And yes if you do quit for a period of time and you relapse the high from doing it again will be intense. Its actually how many addicts end up dying from an overdose. They quit for so long then fall off the band wagon and slam the same amount they did before they quit and their bodies just can't handle that same level of dose. Of course with cigarettes ODing is not very likely (you never know though, stranger things have happened).

one thing, though, the nicotine is a external chemical addiction, not an internal one - it is far harder to kick than an addiction to pain, and never really stops once you are aware of it - they don't call it "hooked" for nothing

IMHO, smoking is more an internal addiction. We are responsible for it and our excuses to get "hooked" on it are reinforcements of our own belief system, which we can change if we are willing. We've seen people quit smoking in just one day and not suffer the physical need to lid a cigarette once they make up their mind and burn their mental bridges. I've done a full 24 hour fasting, not eating drinking or smoking and during those times, I clearly see how my mind works, the repetitive PATTERNS of my subconscious HABIT to reach for a cigarette. With disciplined focus (the same thought discipline you apply when you quite your mind in a void meditation), I simply make myself forget about the "need" to smoke. Acted, as if, I've already smoked, move on to forget about it and immediately focus on something else. And I kept doing it, keep readjusting the focus to where I want to go, continuosly interrupting my pattern as it emerged. What I did is simply introducing a new more positive pattern. Creating a new HABIT of thinking. The "easiest and simplest" method to quit smoking or creating any success is to elicit someone else's strategies. Learn how non-smoker thinks. Successfull people thinks differently than the less successfull. Learn how they think, use their recipes as your own and simply elicit their strategies.

There is a whole book and hundreds of them written on this and I'd like to share a few very general ideas that currently came to mind which I hope may provide more clues and stimuli to the subject.

As I've posted, the only way to change anything in our life is to permanently change the core programming system of our how our brain thinks, how it process information, the core patterns of what things mean, how we "usually" reacts. We must reframe our perspective that involves taking the exact same situation, changing what it means, and anchoring the results we want. Reframing simple means, change the way we talk to ourselves. Choosing new, (and creating) more positive options of what things means to us.

There's the story of a famous army general who was known to have reframed his troops during a heavy enemy attack by saying, "We're not retreating, we're just advancing in another direction." When a person close to us dies, most people in our culture are sad. Why? Many reasons feelings of loss, for instance. Yet some people are joyous. Why? They reframe death to mean that the deceased is always with them, that nothing in the universe is ever destroyed, that things just change form. Some consider death as graduation to a higher level of existence, so they are joyous.

Let's go back to belief as it goes hand in hand with reframing. Belief is the feeling of certainly about what something means. A simple way of understanding a belief is to think about its basic building block: an idea. There are a lot of ideas you may think about but not really believe. For example, let's look at the idea that you're smoker. Stop for a second and say to yourself,"I'm a smoker." Now, whether "I'm a smoker" is an idea or a believe will come down to the amount of certainty you feel about this phrase as you say it. If you think," Well, I'm not really a smoker," what you're really saying is," I don't feel very certain that I'm a smoker."

How do we turn an idea into a belief? If you can think of an idea as a table with only one or two legs, you'll have a pretty good picture of why an idea doesn't feel as solid as a belief. Without it's legs, the table won't even stand up by itself. A belief, on the other hand, is a table with enough solid legs. If you really believe,"I'm a smoker," how do you know you are? Isn't it true that you have some references to support the idea? In other words, don't you have some experiences to back it up? Those are the "legs" that make your table solid - that make your belief certain. Once you understand how beliefs are like tables, you can begin to see how they are formed and get a hint of how you can change them, as well. It's important to note that we can develop beliefs about anything if we just find enough legs to support them. When you rid/dissassociate yourself of bad "legs" you no longer want to support, you must also "anchored" yourself to a new pleasure you found in the new patterns of belief; thought habit and not turn back to the old unwanted ones.

We all anchor regularly. In fact, it's impossible not to. All anchoring is a created association of thoughts, ideas, feelings,or states with a specific stimulus. Do you remember studying about Dr. Ivan Pavlov? Pavlov took hungry dogs and put meat where they could smell it and see it but not get to it. This meat became a powerful stimulus to the dogs' feelings of hunger. Soon they were salivating heavily. While they were in this intense state of salivation, Pavlov consistently rang a bell with a specific tone. Pretty soon he no longer needed the meat-he could just ring the bell and the dogs would salivate as if the meat itself were in front of them. He had created a neurological link between the sound of the bell and the state of hunger or salivation. From then on, all he had to do was ring the bell, and the dogs would literally go into a salivation state.

We, too, live in a stimulus response world, where much of human behavior consists of unconscious programmed responses. For example, many people under stress immediately reach for a cigarette, alcohol, or in some cases something to snort. They don't think about it. They're just like Pavlov's dogs. In fact, many of these people would like to change their behavior. They feel their behavior is unconscious and uncontrollable. The key is to become conscious of the process so that if anchors do not support you, you can eliminate them and replace them with new stimulusl response linkages that automatically put you into states you desire.

In reframming, we noted that the same stimuli can have different meanings, depending on the frame put around them. Anchoring goes on in both positive and negative ways. Hitler linked positive, strong, proud emotions to Nazi symbols for party members. He also linked them to states of fear in his opponents. Did the swastika have the same meaning for a member of the Jewish community as it did for a stormtrooper? Obviously not. Yet the Jewish community took this experience in history and created a powerful positive anchor that helped them build a nation and protect it under what would seem like impossible odds. The auditory anchor of "never again" that many Jewish people use puts them in a state of total commitment to do whatever it takes to protect their sovereign rights. Same principles at work here for anyone serious about quiting smoking.

I quit smoking over 3 years ago after having smoked for something like 27 years (Marlboro 100's - about a pack and a half a day) -- here's what I did.

#1. Acknowledge that in order to quit successfully, you have to be ready to quit. If you're not ready to quit, then give yourself permission to smoke until you're ready to quit. The way to tell if you're ready to quit is have you quit smoking yet? If not, you're not ready yet. (It's really that simple.) Until you get there, give yourself permission to smoke until you're ready to quit.

#2. Write down an "intention" list. ie: How you want to quit, what you want the experience to be like (easy, peacefully, etc.) Put energy into the things on your list, in what ever way works best for you -- visualization, ritual, candle lighting, talismans, etc., then LET IT GO, do not pressure yourself in any way.

#3. Acknowledge to yourself that this is the hardest addiction to quit, and be patient with yourself. If you try to quit, and only make it a couple of hours or a few days then you go back to smoking, do not beat yourself up, just remind yourself that every time you try to quit and don't make it, you are actually getting closer and closer to becoming a permanent non-smoker, and continue to put energy into your list however often you feel is necessary, then LET IT GO after every time you do it. Remember, You have total permission to smoke until you're ready to quit! No guilt, no shame, no self-loathing, no "I should be stronger than this" thinking, etc.

#4. When you're ready to quit, use some sort of quit smoking aid. Like gum or the patches, etc. I used the patches. I felt like chewing gum and getting a little nicotine from the gum might make me want to eat when I wanted a cig, so I used the patches exactly the way they tell you to on the box and for exactly as long as the directions say, too -- tapering down in the nicotine strength at the rate they suggest, too.

When you're ready to quit, you will, and when you're ready, it won't be that hard. That's how it happened for me, and again, I smoked for at least 27 years, and it's almost 3 1/2 years since I quit.

Hang in there, it'll happen in your own time. (And until then, give yourself permission to smoke until you're ready to quit!)

This post has been edited by SacredOak: May 21 2008, 06:02 PM