Tips on Stopping Smoking

Continuing on with more tips on Stopping Smoking. (Click to go to Tips on Stopping Smoking Part 1.

Discovering and developing a replacement process

By this time you should have a good idea of your triggers and patterns. For each type of trigger, develop a replacement strategy for stopping.

Smoking can be a timing pattern. Like when you first wake up, tell yourself, that you will not smoke now, but you can smoke in 1 hour. You can last for one hour. (or a half hour if that's all you can make at first). Giving yourself permission to smoke LATER helps to reduce the anxiousness and sense of depravation.

Do the same thing for those after meal cigarettes. Delay that smoke. When you can handle that delay without too much craving, delay it longer. Wait 2 hours before smoking. Then move it to 3 hours. Then to 4 hours.

If it's an occasion thing, do something different than smoking. If you smoke while watching TV, try sewing or paying bills or playing cat's cradle or drawing. Learn how to use chop sticks or knitting. Something to occupy your hands. Or better yet, don't watch TV, do a hobby (painting, woodworking, creating crossword puzzles...) or read a book. Tell me what tricks you come up with and I'll pass them along.

Try putting a $1 in a special fund for every cigarette you DON'T light. Watch your savings for a trip or a special purchase grow as your effort in stopping smoking grows.

If you smoke while driving, try chewing gum or a toothpick. Or sing at the top of your lungs.

Do you smoke when you're upset? Stressed out? Find something to help you cope with the stress. Take a walk. Do some exercise, 10 pushups, 20 sit ups, 5 deep knee bends, 20 jumping jacks.
Take deep breaths. Learn to meditate. Observe your body carefully for it's reactions. What is tense? Your stomach? Do you purse your lips? Clench your jaw? Improve your Emotional Intelligence so you can get to the root of what's bothering you and resolve it. This is needed especially if you think you need to smoke to relieve stress or to help you think. (I'll be doing articles on Emotional Intelligence to help you improve your life in all it's aspects. Look for them)

Enlist your family and friends for help and support. They can be critical to stopping smoking. Who can you call to help keep you from lighting that cigarette?

After getting this far it is helpful to return the first 4 steps and expand on them to help in stopping smoking .

Performing the replacements

Now that you have this arsenal of defenses and alternatives, do them. Keep your rewards and goals in mind.

If you haven't started to use these strategies to reduce your smoking and adjust your habits, do so now. You don't need to stop 'cold turkey". Stopping smoking can be done gradually. Use some of these strategies to reduce the amount of smoking you do. Then, set a date to stop completely. It should be 2-4 weeks after you have started with these steps. If you have kept your positive, inspirational reasons in mind you should feel a powerful incentive to quit.

Are powerful cravings keeping you from stopping smoking? When you get them, step back and analyze what is happening. What is happening in your body? Is your stomach twisting? Are your lungs constricting? Is your heart racing? Your fingers twitching? Try to be a detached observer and let the craving go without resistance. You know how sometimes knowing we can't have something makes us want it more. So just sit back and watch the craving without trying to suppress it. Most times it will disappear on it's own if it has nothing to keep it going.

If you find one strategy isn't working, change it. Keep changing until you find what works for you.

Remember the physical discomfort in stopping smoking is temporary. Most of the withdrawal symptoms will be gone in 1-2 weeks.

Congratulations you are a non-smoker. Keep the vision of yourself as a non-smoker in your mind. Keep a card in your pocket with 'I am a Non-Smoker' written on it. You are bound to feel like smoking again on occasion. Resist the urge and re-affirm you are a non-smoker.

When you get a craving, think about what your are doing. Who you are with. What you are thinking. How you are feeling. re-visit the above steps to find ways to cope.

A new nonsmoker in a tense situation may think, "I'll just have one cigarette to calm myself down." If thoughts like this pop into your head, stop and think again! You know better ways to relax - nonsmokers' ways, such as taking a walk or doing breathing exercises. Having to go through the process of stopping smoking again is not worth the short term relief of that one cigarette.

If you slip and have a cigarette or 2, IMEDIATLEY stop. Recommit to being a nonsmoker and back away from those cigarettes. Don't give in to being a smoker.

Give yourself a pat on the back. It took a lot of puffs to make you a smoker, undoing that was not an easy task. You deserve a reward for stopping smoking. The best reward is a good healthy life.

Let me know what you think about this article by submitting a Comment. I'll post appropriate comments. Maybe your comment will help someone else.