Addiction and self healing

[Julius]

I have been told that meditation is a good way to get over any addiction, I have also heard of hypnosis to stop craving's.  I didn't start smoking very long ago, but already hate it.  I started for the wrong reason's and now I can never astral project and meditation itself is hard.  Since I practiced so long with pushing myself forward in the spiritual seance smoking has made a mental block.  The stimulant hurts as do the withdraws.  I can't seem to go either way. Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

[Bex]

Julius --

I commend you.  Wanting to end this (as I view it, bad) habit is a good thing.  But quitting is different for everyone.  If you're tired of hearing that, I'm sorry, but that's how it goes.  For me, I could not stop until I loved myself.  I was a smoker of three years, and while some consider that not very long, for me, it was.  I remember having similar problems, though none so intense as a loss of astral projection.  If you care anything about yourself, meditation and further steps will only help if you simply STOP.  I did it cold turkey, for my boyfriend (he hates smokers) and for me.  There should really be no other reason than yourself.  In the meantime, try to be more active.  Get foods like mints, lots of spices for your meals, flavoured water, and lollipops (candies like that, that last a while) and continue meditation.  But just stop.  It may be hard at first, but it's a lot easier than "working yourself off slowly."  Doing that is like a murderer saying, "OKay, today I'll simply torture my victims rather than killing them."

I guess.

[You]

The best way is to force yourself to do it. Not the best advice, but I think all the processes make up just confuse you and give you something to blame when you fail, something you can use as an excuse that you 'tried but can't' to hide your weakness.

Meditation is good for identifying all the reasons, clearing your mind about what you have to do, and deciding what to do, but actually DOING it isn't meditative at all, that would just be another process.

You just do it. Get psyched, get dulled, and do it.

[Selski]

Julius

It's terribly easy to stop smoking.

Simply become a non-smoker overnight.  Why on earth would you want a cigarette if you are a non-smoker?  Why would you be thinking about smoking as a non-smoker?

Don't use any form of substitutes - they don't break the addiction.

I stopped smoking in 1998, after being a smoker for well over 10 years, using the above method.

It works.  

Sarah

[karnautrahl]

The above responses are true. The only way I gave up was agreeing to deal with the pain afterwards. I did my homework, learnt I might suffer something like flu for 2 weeks, each day of which i never wished to repeat (like a time investment?) and I quit.
I was right, I got tonsilitis! 2 weeks of crying and sleepless nights until I took antibiotics-I hadn't realised it was more than a sore throat.
Never had a smoke since. Never will.

[Bex]

The smoker's body cells have become addicted to nicotine, and to quit smoking won't be easy, since withdrawal symptoms can be expected. Here are some helpful tips that might ease the quitting process:

If you're a light smoker, you should quit immediately, only moderately shocking your system.

The heavy smoker should allow two weeks for cutting down, then quit completely. An extended cutting-down period only prolongs the pain. Prepare for an agonizing month or two, though you might get off easily. The close family must give up, too, at least in your presence. It'd of course be best if the whole family quit at once. The pain and agony you'll suffer can be relieved completely in most persons by taking vitamin C to bowel tolerance. That means to take as little as one gram or as many as fifty grams (50,000 milligrams) every day until you reach the point of liquid diarrhea, then decrease the amount until your stools are normal. But "normal", for many smokers, means frequent constipation. Stools must always be soft, never, ever, necessitating any straining.

If anti-smoking drugs help (Nikoban, Bantron, Pronicotyl), good, but be prepared to find they won't. Vitamins C and B1 and tranquilizers often help to decrease irritability and other withdrawal symptoms.

After eating don't sit down. Take a walk instead. Try to avoid situations that you associate with smoking, such as sitting in your favorite chair, particularly after dinner. Try to avoid situations that are conducive to smoking, such as bars, meetings, and boredom. Don't invite smoking friends over during the critical first few months. Never, anytime, let them smoke in your soon-to-be smell-free home. In fact, after you've quit for a few months, you'll notice how your clothes still have a strong residual smell of an ashtray. It may be necessary to clean or clear away every source of that smell, usually from carpets and clothes. Then get ready for a new life of clean lungs and great health. Your non-smoking friends won't avoid you anymore now that you no longer smell like an ashtray.

When you get that urge to smoke (and you will), drink some water. If that doesn't work, suck a prune and keep the pit in your mouth for an hour. Try the buddy system: phone a friend who's also trying to quit. Think of the satisfaction of not having given in to that filthy urge. Think how bad you'll feel if you do give in. Think about how your cigarette money helps support those hypocritical tobacco companies whose income is derived at the expense of the health, wealth, happiness, efficiency, and resources of the addicted smoker.

Try to avoid calories, but if you find that substituting food for cigarettes helps you give up smoking, then by all means have an apple, gum, beef jerky, or a prune. If at all possible, exercise a bit every day, especially when you get the urge to smoke. It's a good substitute, and you'll find that exercising comes much easier as a non-smoker.

After giving up, that filthy urge may remain for several years, so don't start again. Some people are lucky in that after a few months the thought of smoking makes them sick. But don't bank on being lucky.

Cigarette displays, cigarette ads, cigarette machines, anything having to do with smoking, must be looked upon in your mind as existing only for those poor unfortunates who are addicted to that filthy habit.

Life's too good and too short to waste on that filthy habit.