Have you ever gotten angry and reached for a cigarette or felt anxious and wanted to smoke? Have you been bored and found yourself lighting one cigarette after another? Have you started and finished tasks with a cigarette? Do you smoke when you’re on the phone, at the computer, or driving? How long after you’ve put out a cigarette do you feel the need to light another?
Many of the cigarettes you light in a day are tied to situations and experiences that have nothing to do with a sagging nicotine level. The common elements are physical cues or, body cues. These typically include changes in breathing and muscle tension. Smoking became a very effective response to observable body cues regardless of their source - anger, boredom, fatigue, etc or nicotine withdrawal. Understanding this connection between the physical experience of life and a smoking response is the key to creating new non-smoking responses.
