Quit for Life looks at why people smoke, beyond the typical reasons such as addiction, habit and stress. It then introduces Mindfulness: a simple, easy to practise and highly effective tool to deal with any cravings or other uncomfortable sensations that may arise when you quit.
Understanding the true reason behind your smoking will help you successfully quit. Cravings are strongest in the first 24-48 hours after you stop smoking, with the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal all but disappearing after 10-14 days. We know that habits are easily broken. Cigarettes quite simply do not relieve stress. There is no way that the introduction of over 4,000 chemicals, at least 250 of which are harmful and over 50 carcinogenic (cancer causing), cannot cause anything other than an increase in stress levels, as your body goes into overdrive in an attempt to rid itself of all that poison (not to mention the impact of that poison on your body’s organs).
So if nicotine addiction is easy to overcome, a smoking habit easily broken (don’t smoke for a few weeks and you no longer have a habit) and cigarettes cause an increase in stress…why do people smoke?
There is an underlying cause to your smoking, something that sits deeper than addiction or habit. Unless you are able to address this, this cause will remain, and there will always be the possibility that you will start smoking again. In a moment of stress, anxiety or uncomfortableness, the cause has an opportunity to surface, and you reach for a cigarette. This is why so many smokers quit for months or even years, only to start smoking again. It has nothing to do with addiction!
Even if you do manage not to start smoking again, you may find it a constant stressful battle to remain a non-smoker. You risk becoming one of those unhappy ex-smokers who constantly wishes they could smoke. Not much fun.
By understanding the cause of your smoking, you are in a position to be able to either remove the cause entirely, or have an effective, stress-free method for dealing with the cause when it rears its ugly head (those moments that lead people to start smoking again months or years after they quit). You will never need to smoke again, and you will feel really good about it!
Quit for Life will give you that understanding, and introduce you to Mindfulness, a tool that will not only allow you to deal successfully and healthily with the cause of your smoking every time it arises, but in many cases allow you to remove that cause altogether. It looks in great depth at what Mindfulness is and how to practise it, exploring the scientific and anecdotal research that is showing the power that Mindfulness has not only to help change behaviour patterns and relieve stress, but also to actually change the physical nature.