Despite the ghastly packaging and constant health warnings, many people continue to puff away on cigarettes. Come rain or shine, pub doorways, beer gardens, and other public areas will often be crammed with people shivering as they disappear into a haze of thick smoke.
Whatever the reason, smoking remains popular. However, if you are a smoker, you should really be looking to kick the unhealthy habit as we head into 2019.
One way to do this is via a hypnotherapist. Fiona Lamb, who is based on London’s Harley Street, helps her clients navigate anxiety, emotional eating, and addictions, by
using a variety of bespoke hypnotherapeutic treatments. With that in mind, she has shared five reasons you shouldn’t smoke and what you can do to quit:
1. It doesn’t calm you down
Despite what many smokers claim, there is zero evidence to suggest that smoking calms you down. In fact, having a cigarette is like injecting yourself with a load of adrenaline. Smoking increases your heart rate and that’s why smokers require another cigarette; because they’re stressed!
2. It’s slowly killing you
While there’s no stopping us from getting hit by a bus tomorrow, choosing to refrain from smoking cigarettes does help preserve your life. Lung cancer is the kindest out of all the smoke related illnesses, with the majority of them being distressing and degenerative. Why put your body and your loved ones through a pain that is so easily avoided?
3. It’s unattractive
Not only is smoking bad for your health, but it’s doing absolutely nothing for your image and appearance. Smoker’s breath is a real thing and the unappealing smell of cigarettes will often linger on your clothes for days. Cigarettes also cause gum damage, discoloured teeth and dry out your skin, all of which aren’t desirable characteristics to say the least.
4. There’s no need
We all have a natural built in stress relief system – our breath. Many of us would find relief in stopping and taking a deep breath, but so few of us actually do! People think it’s a cigarette they want but it’s really just a desire to feel calm which can be achieved by taking deep breaths. Powerful relaxation techniques can become embedded in our subconscious and prevent us from needing cigarettes.
5. Think of the children
While you may not be someone who cares too much about their own health, it’s important to think about the future and our own children. Children who are brought up in smoking households are three times more likely to smoke themselves.
Giving up cigarettes is far easier than people are led to believe. You need to be assertive and say ‘no’ to yourself and others if they offer you a cigarette. It’s good to notice the urge but be careful not to end up fighting an internal battle – remind yourself you always have a choice and giving up may make you feel agitated for a few days (caused by your heart rate decreasing and the toxins being released) but it’s nothing you can’t deal with.
If you are struggling to stop on your own, hypnotherapy is the most successful therapy – using hypnotherapy, and mindfulness can teach you the skills that are required. Most importantly, however, you need to motivated and willing to change your life for the better.
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