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The Pay Off

You know that Nicotine is a drug and that it acts on your body. But what you may not realize is that you have two physical connections to nicotine. The first - physical addiction - is obvious. But the second – physical conditioning - is easily overlooked.
Nicotine stimulates the brain, relaxes muscles and suppresses hunger - an extremely useful drug. Ask yourself which is easier:

• Deep breathe to clear your head - or smoke?
• Stretch to relax tense muscles - or smoke?
• Eat properly - or smoke?

Because you 'like' how smoking takes care of your needs and simplifies your life, you form a strong emotional attachment to it. Why should you care how it works when all you need to know is that it does - fast and effectively? So the physical pay off gets hidden beneath an emotional pay off.

A cigarette:

· ~~Relaxes muscles~~ - Calms me

· ~~Fires synapses~~ - Wakes me up

· ~~Increases blood sugar~~ - Suppresses my hunger

When you decide the long term costs of smoking outweigh the short term benefits, you try to stop. But until you know exactly what this drug did, how can you identify the best way to quit?

The fastest and easiest way to find out, is to get back to the basics and begin with your body. Leave your emotional attachment aside. For example, you don't need to deal with a deep rooted source of anger, you just need to deal with the effect that it has on your body (tense muscles, rapid shallow breathing) which triggers a craving for relief (nicotine or stretching). As soon as you are aware of your body's basic needs and take care of them in a timely, appropriate and effective way, your craving for nicotine will dissipate.

Remind yourself that cravings are simply your body's signals - "I need and I need it now - I need food, comfort/relief, stimulation, relaxation, time out etc." Cravings are your body’s way of insisting that you take care of yourself but it’s always your choice how to do that, stretch and deep breathe or light up.

In the beginning quitting requires a certain amount of thoughtful preparation and practice. But a life without nicotine quickly becomes your new automatic behavior and only then is your quit/relapse cycle finally broken.

Cognitivequitting is a pragmatic, step-by-step program. It shows you how to:

§ Understand your nicotine cravings;

§ Separate nicotine from cravings;

§ Prepare and practice better responses to cravings

You can finally leave nicotine behind and move on with your life when you deal directly with cravings, rather than hang on and hope they'll go away before you relapse.

Cognitivequitting is predicated on the understanding that you are responsible for your personal change and growth. This is a experiential programme so a successful outcome depends on your active participation. It requires a degree of commitment, reflection and willingness to follow the necessary proscribed exercises.

To get started, click here to take your first step into the cognitivequitting program.

Disclaimer
The quit process will involve physiological and emotional changes. I strongly urge all quitters to ensure the involvement of appropriate health care professionals. I am NOT a doctor. Any information contained on my pages reflects my own experiences and is NOT to be taken as medical advice.