Have you tried everything to stop smoking and still struggle to kick the habit? Well, don’t beat yourself up. There just might be a stubborn subconscious part of you that really doesn’t want to let it go. Your creative, masterful mind can come up with all sorts of excuses to support that part of you, making that part of you more influential and powerful than the part that desires to stop.
Since smoking has been banned from many public places, and some people find cigarette smoke quite offensive and socially unacceptable, and let’s not forget what it’s doing to your wallet, it may be getting more and more uncomfortable to be a smoker. However, some people will continue to smoke no matter how it’s affecting them or the people around them because they really don’t want to give it up, but yet, a part of them really believes they should.
You see, if you really don’t want to stop smoking, but you know in your heart that you are jeopardizing your health and maybe the health of your loved ones, your rationalizing mind will over power any decision to stop smoking by making excuses why you can’t give it up. You may say things like “I can quit any time I want”, “I’ll quit as soon as I’m done with this project”, “I will gain too much weight” or “I’m under a lot of stress these days”. It doesn’t matter how you rationalize it, if you really wanted to quit, you could, but it may take some dedication on your part.
Hypnosis has helped many people kick the habit, but why not all people? It’s this simple: if you want to stop smoking but there is a controlling part of you that wants to continue to smoke, then most likely you will be unsuccessful no matter how hard you try. You may have even tried using hypnosis to stop smoking but with no success. Some people have actually stopped smoking with the help of hypnosis only to return to the habit a few months later, usually under the excuse that it’s helping them through a stressful time. If you are using hypnosis to persuade your dominant thoughts that keep justifying your need to smoke, then you might be fighting a tough battle. Some habits are hard to break, especially when a part of you wants to hold on.
Let me see if I can help you think more from your heart and not your head so you can finally kick the habit. Get a sheet of paper and a pen and create two columns. In the left-hand column write the heading “How Smoking Benefits Me” and in the right-hand column write the heading “How Stop Smoking Benefits Me.” You may say “there is no benefit in smoking”, however, smoking is bringing a benefit to you somehow or you would not be struggling to stop. Just be honest with your list, maybe you just really enjoy smoking. After you have made the columns with each heading, create a list of benefits in each corresponding column.
After both columns are complete, read them every time you decide to light up. However, when you read the list of benefits in each column, focus on your heart area by directing your breath towards the heart. This takes the focus off your analytical, reasoning and rationalizing mind. Most likely you gain more benefits if you stop smoking than if you continue to smoke. Let the discrepancy in the benefits help you understand, from the heart, what benefits you are giving up when you continue to smoke. By weighing the benefits, you may be able to convince that stubborn part of you that smoking is indeed doing you harm when you realize the benefits that are lost should you choose to continue smoking. If you decide that you are ready to stop smoking, give hypnosis a try along with weighing the benefits.
Hypnosis may be able to help you kick the habit for good if you could understand why it’s a struggle to quit? I believe that if you can just get out of your head which is justifying your decision to smoke, and you surrender your consciousness into your heart area, you may have a whole different view on what’s more important, smoking or receiving the benefits you listed in the right hand column. You can’t have the benefits of both columns, so one list of benefits has to outweigh receiving the benefits of the other. When you are in that relaxed state of mind and fully engaged with the heart, where you feel more deeply about the gift of life, and you start weighing the benefits in your list, you will probably find that the benefits of stop smoking are just way too important for you to ignore.
I can write pages and pages of reasons why you should stop smoking today. I can also remind you how your hard-earned money is being burned away each time you light up. I can easily give you tons of research on how smoking takes years off your life. However, if a part of your subconscious mind is fighting with your conscious desire to stop smoking, you may have an inner conflict. Sometimes, shifting your focus to your heart area, you can resolve your inner conflicts and make your choices with more clarity and understanding. When you make decisions from the heart, you are making them with a higher consciousness as opposed to a programmed judgmental mind.
According to the American Cancer Society, nicotine is the known addictive substance in tobacco. Cigarette makers know that nicotine addiction helps to sell their products and the younger you start, the easier you become addicted. Let’s face it, we all know that smoking can cause serious harm, the warning label on the box states it quite clearly. However, sometimes we need a little help letting go. If you are serious about your health and you want to rid yourself of a smoking habit, try the benefits exercise along with hypnosis. You’ll feel better and your loved ones will thank you for it.
Please share this article with anyone who is struggling to kick the habit.
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Be well and breathe free,
Kelly Tallaksen, Board Certified Hypnotist
www.heartsinharmonyhypnosis.com
www.heartsinharmonyhealing.com
References for this Article
The Art of Hypnotherapy by Roy Hunter
Crown Publishing, 2010
Hypnosis for Inner Conflict Resolution by Roy Hunter
Crown Publishing, 2005
Heart Math Solutions by Doc Childre and Howard Martin with Donna Beech
Harper Collins Publishers, 1999
