Hypnotherapy Associates Blog

Mar 2012

• Thoughts on Stopping Smoking.....

  20
  Mar

  by on Tue 20 Mar 2012 14:34:05 GMT

  It was National No Smoking Day last week and it got me thinking about smoking.  I was wondering how some of the clients I had seen over the years had benefitted from their Stop Smoking Hypnotherapy session with me in their health, relationships and financial situation.

  The wonderful thing about stopping smoking is just how much you realise it had impacted your life in so many ways.  I speak first hand here!  I was a smoker myself from a young age, just like many of my clients, I started smoking at school to ‘fit in’.  I wasn’t particularly confident as a teenager so it seemed a good way to fit in!  The problems came later on in life when I realised I relied on it when I felt stressed, upset, nervous or out drinking socially. Though I didn’t smoke throughout the day, it was still a hard habit to give up, it was like my emotional ‘crutch’.  When I got a ‘sad feeling’ my mind would automatically turn to a cigarette, like an old friend, the problem is, the cigarette, unlike an old friend didn’t listen, give me a hug or make me feel refreshed, it just added to the problem because i then felt unhealthy and guilty that I’d had a cigarette but I was still left with the original, unresolved problem!  When I trained as a Hypnotherapist, so many things came to clear to me, about my perception of life and myself.  Many things I dismissed as trivial and I should ‘just get on with it’ which were actually important to acknowledge and give myself time to think and sometimes talk through, I realised I’d just ‘have a fag’ if something went wrong or I was treated badly, not think it through and make sense of what had happened.

  While I trained as a Hypnotherapist I chose to go through a process of therapy, which included hypnotherapy around my smoking habit.  We looked at my triggers to smoking, life in general and my future outlook on life as well as other aspects connected to smoking.  Through the hypnotherapy and the NLP all that time ago I stopped smoking, something that before I would never have thought possible.  I still feel relieved now all these years later that I don’t smoke, which by now would have had an even bigger impact on my health, finances and confidence.

  This is why I still love doing my ‘Stop Smoking Hypnotherapy’ with clients, I understand how ‘controlling’ the smoking habit can feel while you are smoking and I also understand how liberating it feels when you stop!  I have more energy, more money and a much deeper sense of balance and peace within myself.  I use a combination of Hypnotherapy, NLP and Cognitive Behavioral techniques to bring about change. Each session is tailored to each client, each one of you is unique and you all have your own individual story, so I will listen, try to understand your habit and utilise my big tool bag to allow you to stop smoking for good!

  I took a look at the NHS site connected to smoking and I noticed they have added a ten minute relaxation download.  The NHS are obviously understanding the benefits of self control and calm, something we, as Hypnotherapists have understood for years.  When you visit me at my Harley Street clinic for your Stop Smoking Hypnotherapy session you will also be provided with your own unique stop smoking hypnotherapy recording, combining relaxation and hypnotic suggestions to stop smoking for good!

  Here are a few other reasons to stop smoking on top of the other psychological gains of confidence, feeling in control, balance and calm….:

  Circulation:  Smoking causes your veins and arteries to get narrower, harder and coated with fatty deposits. This can cause problems like reduced energy and cold skin, but also much worse problems such as cramps, pains and blockages in your veins which cause strokes and heart attacks. Gangrene (resulting from an interruption in blood flow) leads to about 2000 amputations a year in the UK.
  
  Mouth and Throat:  Smoking causes unattractive problems like bad breath and stained teeth. It can also cause gum disease and damage to your sense of taste.  The most serious damage smoking causes in this area is an increased risk of cancer in your lips, tongue, throat, voicebox and oesophagus(gullet).
  
  Heart:  Because your veins and arteries become blocked and narrow you are at a greatly increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and aneurysms. Aneurysms are blockages which can burst or completely block up. This can lead to amputation or death.  Smokers are more than twice as likely as non-smokers to die from heart disease.
  
  Lungs:  Your lungs can be very badly affected by smoking. Coughs, colds, wheezing and asthma are just the start.  Smoking can cause fatal diseases such as pneumonia, emphysema and lung cancer. In fact 83% of deaths from lung cancer, bronchitis and emphysema are related to smoking.
  
  Stomach:  You have an increased chance of getting stomach cancer or ulcers. You are also at risk of developing cancers in your kidneys, pancreas and bladder.
  
  Skin and bones:  Smoking reduces the amount of oxygen to the skin. This means that skin ages more quickly and looks grey and dull. The toxins in your body also cause cellulite.  Smoking can cause bones to get weak and brittle. Women need to be especially careful as you are more likely to suffer from osteoporosis than non-smokers.
  
  Reproduction and Fertility:  For men, smoking can increase impotence, but did you know it can also damage sperm, reduce sperm count and cause testicular cancer?  For women, smoking can make you less fertile and increase the risk of having a miscarriage, a low birth weight baby or cot death. Smoking also increases your risk of cancer of the cervix.

  So if you are ready to stop smoking, do get in touch, if I can save your life it would be amazing for you and for me…!

  Bonita