Smoking Herbs

Have you ever gotten yourself in a situation where you have quitted smoking for perhaps 1, 2 or 3 weeks, sometimes even months or years only to find yourself crawling back to square one as it if it was a snake and ladder board game?

You find yourself picking up the cigarette and lighting it away again? I have to admit. I did. That is because I was lacking of something, of which I had to learn the hard way. And maybe this is perhaps why I am sharing my experience with you so you could avoid this mistake in the future.

I’m sure you would know that most of time, smokers use the excuse of “releasing stress” to smoke. For some reason, this “release stress” has become a reality which in fact is not. The only reason you feel relaxed are due to the soothing of the nicotine addiction. The fact is... you do not need cigarettes in your life!

The problem: Many have associated cigarettes can actually release stress that it became the truth.

So after awhile, when a person which is going through the process on quitting smoking is incapable of handling stress, guess what he turns to? Cigarettes!

The solution for this is, not only must you quit smoking, you must also:

Find The Alternatives For Relaxation And To Release Stress!

When you have established this simple concept, you are more capable of handling stress from other methods rather than turning back to the dark side of the road.

Among the ways of alternatives for relaxation and releasing stress are:

•    Exercise

Somehow people get turn off this word alone. By nature, did you know that our human body needs exercise regularly at least twice a week? But somehow in this modernize world, exercise is deemed uncommon. My personal favorite is swimming. It really relaxes me to the full potential and enables me to get a good night sleep without disturbance.

•    Meditation

Meditation techniques such as Tai Chi and Yoga has been proven for hundreds of years to have positive effect and to boost one’s energy

•    Take A Hot Bath

Pamper yourself by taking a hot bath with light music at the background at dim lights.

•    Reading

A good way to “escape from reality” for a moment and to entertain yourself.

•    Listen To Comedies

Have you not known by now that laughter is the best medicine?

•    Massage And Spa

Splendid way of relaxing and releasing decades of stress accumulated.

I’m sure you get the picture by now. Whatever it is, make sure you have an alternative to relax and release stress instead of finding “the” excuse of turning back to cigarettes. It may sound simple, but very effective. Try it and you’ll be surprised how all those can help you on the journey to be smoke-free forever.

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With so many tips and suggestions on how to stop smoking it is really easy to see why so many people really do not quit.  The vast majority of people are completely confused by the entire process!  What of the conflicting messages passed around?  The fact is that with so much information passed around that is confusing to people it is often much easier to just continue smoking and hoping for a simple solution.  Actually taking the necessary steps to really quit smoking is not easy.  It means coming to terms with the fact that stopping smoking really is best for you, as well as your health.

Most people are readily aware that stopping smoking can improve their health, but learning how to really conquer the urges to smoke is not easy.  With so many temptations circulating around, as well as the stresses of daily life it is easy to see why jumping into a pack of cigarettes seems like a good idea. 

Tip #1 You need a good reason to quit.  Simply deciding to quit because the sky is blue is not a sufficient reason.  The need to quit smoking is obvious, but the desire to quit needs to come from inside in order for the process to be successful.

Tip #2  Look for small rewards that you can give yourself as you make progress.  You are not likely to just quit cold turkey with no complications.  Set up small rewards that will help you to want to make progress towards ultimately quitting.  This can be a great motivation to keep you on target.

Tip #3  Plan out your quitting strategy.  Decide how you want to try to quit and stick to it.  Set a specific amount of time for your plan.  If after a time, say six weeks you have not quit, work on a new plan.  This will allow ample time to try each method, while still giving yourself flexibility to try something else.

Tip #4  Work to overcome your struggles.  If you are smoking due to stressful things in your life, you need to deal with the stress before you can successfully quit.  Regardless of the reason why you are smoking, it needs to be dealt with in able to quit for good.

Tip #5  Set up a punishment for yourself.  For example, if you generally stop at Starbucks each day for a coffee you might consider skipping that on days when you have fallen short of your goals for smoking.  Whatever punishment you select, make sure it is something that you care about.

Tip #6  Seek out help from your friends and family.  You need support as you are trying to quit, and this will help you to ensure that you are not alone in the entire process.

Tip #7  Look for someone to quit with you.  If you are entirely on your own, you are going to be much more likely to slip back into smoking.  If someone is working with you and holding you accountable, you are more likely to struggle to succeed.  Working to quit smoking is not easy, but hard tasks are much easier to accomplish with a partner.

Tip #8  Ensure you are getting plenty of sleep.  The job of quitting smoking is quite difficult.  If you are not getting the rest you need, you are much more likely to be cranky, upset and angry with the world.  This is very counterproductive to your goal of quitting smoking for good.

Tip #9  Aim to quit for good.  This might seem a bit strange, but if you are just planning to quit for a weekend you are not going to put much effort into the process.  If you are planning to quit for good, a lot more time and effort is going to go into the process as well as your plan to quit.

Tip #10  Look for ways to take your mind off cigarettes.  If you are always thinking about cigarettes, you may find that you are much more tempted to smoke.  Reading a book, exercising, talking on the phone, surfing the internet and even cooking are all great ways to occupy your mind and keep from thinking about when your last cigarette was.

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Powerful Hints to Stop Smoking. Whether you are using Nicotine Replacement Therapy, Hypnosis or just Cold Turkey, these strategies and hints are for aiding you to stop smoking and are sure to assist you in helping your neurology change and thus enable you to stop smoking with ease. It is up to you to ensure that you do these things to really enhance what you are doing, the more effort you put into these exercises, the easier it is to stop smoking for good.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 1.

Being a smoker is like cycling with stabilisers attached to the wheels, you can find it hard to be balanced without smoking. Now, when you cycle freely again, the natural balance returns.

When people smoke, more than half of what they breathe is fresh air - pulled through the cigarette right down into the lungs. So if you feel any cravings you can instantly overcome them by taking three deeper breaths. Imagine breathing from that space just below your belly button. Whenever you do this you put more oxygen into your bloodstream. This means you can use deep breaths to change the way you feel instantly and give you power over the way you feel and help you let go of those old cravings and thus making it easier to stop smoking.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 2

Next, think now of all the reasons you don't like smoking, the reasons that it's bad and the reasons you want to stop smoking. Write down the key words on a piece of paper. For example, you experience breathlessness, it's dirty, filthy and your clothes smell, your friends and family are concerned and it's expensive, unsociable and so on. Then, on the other side of the paper, write down all the reasons why you'll feel good when you've succeeded in stopping. You'll feel healthier, you’ll feel in control of your self, your senses are enhanced, your hair and clothes will smell fresher and so on. Whenever you need to, look at that piece of paper.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 3

Next, we are going to programme your mind to feel disgusted by cigarettes. I want you recall 4 times when you thought to yourself "I've gotta quit", or that you felt disgusted about smoking. Maybe you just felt really unhealthy, or your doctor told you in a particular tone of voice 'You've got to quit' or somebody you know was badly affected by smoking. Take a moment now to come up with 4 different times that you felt that you have to quit or were disgusted by smoking.

Remember each of those times, one after another, as though they are happening now. I want you to keep going through those memories and make them as vivid as possible. The more vivid you make those memories, the easier it will be to stop smoking. See what you saw, hear what you heard and feel how you felt. I want you to take a few minutes now to keep going through those memories again and again, overlap each memory with the next until you are totally and utterly disgusted by cigarettes.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 4

Have a think to yourself about the consequences of you not stopping smoking now, if you just carry on and on. Imagine it, what will happen if you carry on smoking. What are the consequences? Imagine yourself in 6 months time, a years time, even 5 years time if you do not stop smoking now. Think of all the detrimental effects of not stopping right now and how a simple decision you make today can make such an impact on your future.

Next, imagine how much better is your life going to be when you stop smoking. Really imagine it's months from now and you successfully stopped. Smoking is a thing of the past, something you used to do. Keep that feeling with you and imagine having it tomorrow, and for the rest of next week. In your mind, imagine stepping in to that non-smoking version of you and feel how it feels to be a non-smoker.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 5

Also, your mind is very sensitive to associations, so it's very important that you have a clear out and remove all tobacco products from your environment. Move some of the furniture in your house and at work. Smokers are accustomed to smoking in certain situations. So, for example, if you used to smoke on the telephone at work move the phone to the other side of the desk. Throw away ashtrays, old lighters and anything that you used to associate with smoking. Make your environment conducive to stopping smoking.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 6

Smokers sometimes use their habit to give themselves little breaks during the day. Taking a break is good for you, so carry on taking that time off - but do something different. Walk round the block, have a cup of tea or drink of water, or do some of the techniques on this programme. In fact, if possible drink a lot of fruit juice. When you stop smoking the body goes through a big change. The blood sugar levels tend to fall, the digestion is slowed down and your body starts to eject the tar and poisons that have accumulated. Fresh fruit juice contains fructose which restores your blood sugar levels, vitamin C which helps clear out impurities and high levels of water and fibre to keep your digestion going. Also try to eat fruit every day for at least two weeks after you have stopped.

Also when you stop, cut your caffeine intake by half. Nicotine breaks down caffeine so without nicotine a little coffee will have a big effect. Drink 8-10 glasses of water (ideally bottled) to help wash out your system.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 7

You were used to using cigarettes to signal to your body to release happy chemicals, so next we are going to programme some good feelings into your future. Allow yourself to fully remember now a time when you felt very deep ecstasy, pleasure or bliss, right now. Take a moment to recall it as vividly as possible. Remember that time - see what you saw, hear what you heard and feel how good you felt. Where abouts in your body were those feelings, imagine turning them up and spreading them through your body to make them more intense.

Keep going through the memory, as soon as it finishes, go through it again and again, all the time squeezing your thumb and finger together. In your mind, make those images big and bright, sounds loud and harmonious and feelings strong and intensified. We are making an associational link between the squeeze of your fingers and that good feeling.

Okay, stop and relax. Now if you have done that correctly when you squeeze your thumb and finger together you should feel that good feeling again. Go ahead do that now, squeeze thumb and finger and remember that good feeling.

Now we're going to programme good feelings to happen automatically whenever you are in a situation where you used to smoke but now you stop smoking.

So, next I'd like you to squeeze your thumb and finger together, get that good feeling going and now imagine being in several situations where you would have smoked, but being there feeling great without a cigarette. See what you'll see hear and take that good feeling into those situations without a need for a cigarette.

Imagine being in a situation where someone offers you a cigarette and you confidently say 'No thanks, I don't smoke'. And feel fantastic about it!

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 8

Get social support. Your commitment to stopping smoking for the rest of your life can be made much easier by talking about it to friends and family and letting them support you. They will congratulate you on doing so well too! You really did stop smoking.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 9

Be aware of making excuses for yourself. Some people talk themselves into smoking, especially if they encounter a stressful situation and in the past they used to deal with it by smoking. If those old thoughts pop into your head, shout the word “STOP” in your head, to stop the thoughts from progressing. Nicotine just stresses your body more and is like that itch that can never be properly scratched; the more you smoke, the more you have to. So say “STOP” and steer clear of old slippery slopes.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 10

Reward yourself. Congratulate yourself. Feel how good it feels to stop smoking and be a non-smoker. Treat yourself each time you get past a certain milestone; the first week or first month, the six month target. Let yourself know that you did something really special here.

Keep on using your brain, stretching it and helping your self, by running through these exercises time after time; you are sure to be able to make it easier and easier and successfully stop smoking for good.

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If you are currently a smoker, quitting the habit could be one of the most important things you will ever do in the next part of your life. In fact, if you quit now, you will most likely be adding seven years to your life.

While many people try to quit and fail, it is not an impossible task. Thousands of people, just like you, have decided to quit and have succeeded. You too can be among the successful former-smokers. Here are six tips that will help you to quit smoking once and for all:

1. Make a vow that you are going to quit smoking from today onwards

Success in all spheres of life begins with firm determination. If you are wishy-washy you can never do anything. However, if you make up your mind, once and for all, that you are giving up the habit, whenever a craving comes, you will remember your vow and not give in.

2. Exercise more and get your body in shape

If you sit idle there is more chance that you will light up your cigarette and relax. Fill your spare time with sports and vigorous activity. Try to feel how good it is to get your blood circulating and breathing the air deeply. If you are not the athletic type, then brisk walking will have the same benefit as other kinds of sports.

3. Avoid places and pastimes that put you within reach of cigarettes

If going to a bar or pub means that you are going to have a drink and then light up, maybe it is better to avoid that place for the time being. Once you have truly stopped smoking and you feel how good it is, you can go anywhere and not be tempted. But while you are in the transition phase it is better to carefully choose where you will spend your recreational time.

4. If you have to put something in your mouth, drink water or eat healthy snacks

Whenever you get a desire to put a cigarette in your mouth, replace it with something that will help you rather than harm you. Drinking small amounts of water throughout the day is not only a good way to help you quit smoking, but it is also a great way to stay healthy. You should drink 4 litres (quarts) of water per day, if you can. If you need to put something solid in your mouth, then eat a piece of fruit.

5. Get support from your friends and family

Tell them that you are giving up smoking for health reasons. Your true friends will support you and not offer you cigarettes. Your family and loved ones will similarly support your efforts and help you to avoid situations where you may feel obliged to smoke out of social pressure.

6. Strengthen your will power with yoga and meditation

Very few people are born with perfect will-power. Like anything else, practice makes perfect. If you want to strengthen a physical muscle you may work out with weights. If you want to strengthen your “mental muscle” you need exercise as well. Yoga and meditation are disciplines that enable even complete beginners to build up their capacity to concentrate and firmly accomplish whatever they set out to do. Try it out and see for yourself.

Follow these six tips and you will be well on your way to quitting smoking.

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Many people trying to quit smoking find themselves failed. They wonder why. Their will is strong. Their commitment seems to be beyond limit. But, they fail anyway.

Actually, there are several simple steps that they forget to take. And, those steps are:

1. Get yourself prepared

Before you actually attempt to stop smoking, try and make as many changes to your smoking habits as possible. Change your brand of cigarettes, it would be better if you change them into something you dislike. Change the time of your smoking. If you do it mostly in the evening, change it into morning.

Basically, mess up anything related to smoking. Make it as uncomfortable as possible. Much of the addiction to smoking has to do with routines and habits, so even small changes can make a big difference when trying to break the habit.

2. Start a Mind Management

In this second step, you need to set your mind.

Think of yourself as a non-smoker. Erase all the memory related to your smoking habit. Keep in mind that you have never been smoking; that you don’t even know how it tastes; that you don’t have a clue whatsoever what makes a person wants to smoke.

This is an important mental step to take if you’ve made a decision to quit smoking. It’s hard to do, but it might be the key to your success in the quit-smoking attempt.

3. Spread the Words

Tell to people dealing with you daily that you’ve quitted smoking.
By letting the people around you know that you've quit smoking, you will be creating an instant support group that will be there if you find yourself having trouble.

4. Keep Getting Back on Track

This is a must-know information. Most ex-smokers had to try multiple times before they ultimately quit.

But, those who finally failed were the ones who left the track when they slipped up. They decided that it was impossible and ended up smoking again.

Well, they were wrong. Many out there who were successful enough.

So, if you happen to slip up, even more than a couple of times, keep getting back on track. Trust me, one day, you’ll successfully stop smoking.

5. Change Your Lifestyle

This is the ultimate step yet the most important. There’s no way you can totally stop smoking if most of the time you hang out with a group of smokers.

I’m not telling you to leave your friends, no. Just lessen the frequency. Find a healthier group of friends that will entirely lead you to end your smoking habit for good.

If you’re certain about wanting to be a healthier person, make the decision now. Follow the steps above. Enjoy the beauty of being healthy.

Remember, never take health for granted!

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Rise above the cravings

Imagine the cigarettes as crutches. You’ve always had these crutches to lean on and soon, it becomes impossible to walk without them. The important thing to learn is that as soon as you walk on your feet again, they’ll quickly regain strength. It may be a little known fact, but about half of what a smoker inhales from his cigarette is pure air. The next time you’re hit with a craving, take some deep breaths and relax. You will soon be able to rise above the craving, feel refreshed, and move on.

All the reasons to quit

Why do you want to quit? Do you have children? Do you want to live to see your grandchildren? Are you sick of the smell? Whatever your reasons are, write them down. Keep a daily journal of how you feel and in the very first entry list in bold letters every reason you have for quitting. List things like health reasons, expense, inconvenience, bad breath, or other reasons and make the list as long as possible. Also be sure to list how you WILL feel when you’ve kicked the habit.

The good, the bad and the ugly

After you complete your lists of reasons you want to quit smoking and how you’ll feel after you’ve quit smoking, make a list of the consequences of not quitting. Have other smokers in your family gotten cancer? Have they died? Do they have to speak through a hole in their neck? Will you be unable to pay off debt because you’re always buying cigarettes? Whatever you consequences, be sure to list all of them. As above, be sure to list the consequences (good consequences, of course) of quitting. Keep them to look forward to.

Break time!

Most smokers agree: a cigarette is a break. When quitting smoking, give yourself breaks, but do something. Go for walk, eat a piece of fruit or drink some juice. This is critical because the body will be going through changes expelling all the accumulated poisons. The fruit will aid this process in many ways.

Good luck!

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Most people can readily agree that the idea to quit smoking is rather terrifying.  Giving up the comfort that smoking can provide is not easy, nor can it be done instantly.  Struggling to quit requires a lot of honest talks, not only with yourself but also with your family.  There are three major struggles that you will encounter as you are working to quit smoking.  Being fully aware of these struggles will help you to create a plan to quit smoking for good that can help you to overcome these difficulties and emerge in better health as a non-smoker.

Struggle number one is going to find you looking temptation right in the eye.  There is simply no other way to put it.  Everywhere you look cigarettes and more cigarettes.  The number of people who smoke is astonishing, and when you are trying to stop smoking it seems like the number is quadrupling around you.  While it is nothing more than your mind playing tricks on you, it can still be rather difficult to overlook all of the temptation and still stick to your plan to quit smoking. 

Anytime you find yourself overwhelmed by temptation you need to walk away.  If you are at your job and cannot simply walk away, you need to develop a stress relieving strategy to fall back on which can help you to ignore the cigarettes that you see.  To really help you avoid temptation you need to work at finding a place where you can eat your lunch away from the smokers and other temptations.  Always be on the lookout because they are around, and if you slip up they will be there to lure you back into smoking rather quickly.

Your second struggle will be all of the questions that you are asked.  Your friends and family of course are happy for you that you are quitting smoking.  However, everyone is going to ask you why.  This simple question starts to look like a huge issue after the third time you are asked why.  Rather than allowing this tiny question to start eating at your resolve you need to ensure you are dedicated to quitting.  If you start second guessing your reason to quit each time someone asks you why you are quitting then you really need to sit down and have a long conversation with yourself.  Unless you are personally 100% behind your efforts, you will not succeed.  You have to believe in the reason you are quitting smoking.

Your family will be there for you no matter what reason you choose.  It is yourself that you have to convince, and this means that you need a good argument and reason.  Nobody will ever argue with you as much as you will argue with yourself.  When you are attempting something like quitting smoking the nagging side of yourself comes out strong as well. 

A final consideration is looking at all of the products on the market to help you quit smoking.  This might seem strange but this huge selection can be a big problem.  You need to determine why you smoke in order to select the best product for your desire to quit.  If you are a smoker because of stress, you need to resolve the stress.  If you smoke due to nicotine addiction then you should look into slowly pulling off of the nicotine using either a patch, or possibly the gum. 

Regardless of the reason you smoke, there is a product that is designed to help you.  Finding the best quit smoking product for your specific needs is not impossible, but it will force you to be brutally honest with yourself.  If you are just completely unable to find the exact reason why you smoke try to start finding something else to do with your hands and mouth anytime you have the urge to smoke.  For example, a stress ball and a piece of gum could be all you need.  If you are smoking because you are bored, giving yourself something to do, even just squeezing a stress ball might be the release that you need to walk away a successful non-smoker.

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