How I Became Smoke Free

I HAVE DRAFTED THIS POST OVER AND OVER TRYING TO FIND THE RIGHT WAY TO EXPLAIN HOW I FINALLY BEAT MY 26 YEAR ADDICTION TO CIGARETTES AND TOBACCO. I HAVE TRIED QUITTING COLD TURKEY MANY MANY TIMES IN MY LIFE ONLY TO FAIL. I HAVE TRIED THE PATCH, PILLS, THE GUM, YOU NAME IT, I'VE TRIED IT (EXCEPT THE ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES) BUT THIS TIME I DECIDED THAT IF I AM GOING TO QUIT I DO NOT WANT A REPLACEMENT BUT A WAY TO FINALLY QUIT FOR GOOD!

NOW, MY QUIT IS STILL VERY NEW SO I AM BEING DILIGENT IN KEEPING AN EYE ON MY TRIGGERS WHICH ARE NORMALLY STRESS RELATED OR EMOTIONAL RELATED. I DID HAVE SOME HABITS LIKE MY FIRST MORNING CIGARETTE WITH COFFEE (BIG ONE!) BUT THROUGH THIS PROCESS, I REALIZED THAT I SMOKED OUT OF BOREDOM..A LOT!

I WOULD HEM AND HAW ABOUT QUITTING AS I STATED IN THE BEGINNING OF 2011 THAT THIS WAS GOING TO BE THE YEAR I QUIT AND STARTED OFF VERY STRONG ONLY TO GO RIGHT BACK WITHIN A FEW WEEKS. ABOUT THREE WEEKS AGO I WAS SEARCHING YET AGAIN TO FIND A WAY FOR ME TO 'COMFORTABLY' QUIT SMOKING. LET ME SAY THIS...COMFORTABLE WAS HUGE FOR ME BECAUSE ANYONE WHO HAS GONE THROUGH THIS KNOWS THAT THIS IS NOT EASY NOR IS IT COMFORTABLE WHICH IS WHY GOING COLD TURKEY NEVER WORKED FOR ME.

THE WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS I PERSONALLY WENT THROUGH WERE HORRIBLE AND AS I POSTED ON MY OTHER BLOG THE RAW GODDESS, SMOKING IS AN ADDICTION AND THAT IS THE WAY I TREATED THIS ALL ALONG WITH WHAT I WILL EXPLAIN FURTHER. FOR ME, I NEEDED TO FIGURE OUT HOW THE MIND WORKED IN ACCORDANCE TO NICOTINE ADDICTION SO I WENT ABOUT RESEARCHING THIS AND ON MY WEB TRAVELS I LANDED ON THE WEBSITE OF DR. ANDREW WEIL AND ON HIS WEBSITE HE RECOMMENDED DR. GURGEVICH'S HYPNOTIC TONIC AND FOR 25 I ORDER IT. IT'S A SELF-HYPNOSIS 2 DISC CD SET.

AFTER RECEIVING THIS CD SET AND LISTENING TO IT THOROUGHLY AND WRITING NOTES THIS IS WHAT I DEVISED THAT GOT ME TO QUIT. MIND YOU, THE WHOLE TIME I WAS SMOKING AS THIS PROGRAM HAD ME WEAN OFF CIGARETTES AT THE PACE THAT WORKED FOR ME. HERE IS WHAT I DID:

1) EVERY MORNING I WOULD LISTEN TO A GUIDED MEDITATION DESIGNED TO RELEASE THE HABIT OF SMOKING AND AFTER THAT I WOULD THEN LISTEN TO DISC ONE OF THE SELF-HYPNOSIS SET I BOUGHT. IT WAS A TOTAL OF ONE HOUR OF MEDITATION AND SELF-HYPNOSIS

2) I UPPED MY WATER INTAKE TO DRINKING ABOUT 8-10 CUPS OF WATER A DAY AS WELL AS DRINKING 2-3 CUPS OF ORANGE JUICE A DAY. I CONTINUED TO SMOKE NORMALLY WHILE DOING THIS BUT WITHIN A FEW DAYS I BEGAN TO NOTICE MY CRAVINGS SLOWLY DIMINISHING.

3) EVERY NIGHT I WOULD DO THE SAME THING AS I DID EACH MORNING. ONE HOUR OF MEDITATION AND SELF-HYPNOSIS. I ALSO WOULD DRINK A NICE CUP OF HOT NIGHTY-NITE TEA TO HELP ME SLEEP. I WAS ALSO CONSCIOUSLY WORKING ON LEARNING TO SLEEP BETTER. DUE TO MY MAKING CHANGES, I HAVE DECREASED MY COFFEE INTAKE, UPPED MY WATER INTAKE AND NOW DRINK MORE HERBAL TEAS THAN ANYTHING ELSE.

4) I COMPLETELY CLEANED MY HOUSE, ALL MY CLOTHES AND MY CAR, GOT RID OF ALL ASHTRAYS AND TOLD MY HUSBAND AND 21 YEAR OLD SON TO NO LONGER SMOKE IN THE HOUSE. I NEEDED TO BE FREE OF ANY LINGERING RESIDUE OF CIGARETTE SMOKE AND THE AWFUL SCENT THAT CLOGGED THE FIBERS OF MY CLOTHES. I ALSO DISINFECTED MY HOUSE ABOUT THREE TIMES OVER.

5) I CHANGED TO A BRAND THAT I LOATHED WHICH IS MENTHOL AND BEGAN TO EXPAND THE TIME I WOULD LIGHT UP A CIGARETTE. WITHIN A WEEK I WENT FROM SMOKING A PACK AND A HALF A DAY DOWN TO 8 CIGARETTES. I ALSO KEPT MY CIGARETTES IN VERY INCONVENIENT PLACES MAKING SMOKING MORE OF A CHORE. THE POINT WAS TO 'DELIBERATELY SMOKE' INSTEAD OF HOW I HAVE BEEN LIVING MY LIFE THE LAST 26 YEARS WITH THIS ADDICTION. IT'S A MATTER OF RE-WIRING EVERYTHING I HAVE DONE WHEN IT CAME TO MY SMOKING.

I CONTINUED TO DO THIS UNTIL I GOT DOWN TO HAVING ONLY 3 CIGARETTES A DAY AND THEN FINALLY I JUST STOPPED! THAT'S IT! I NEEDED TO WORK WITH MY MIND AND "*TEACHING*" IT NEW MESSAGES, NEW IMAGES AND A NEW WAY OF LIVING.

I WILL SAY THIS, IT HAS NOT BEEN EASY AND THERE WERE DAYS THAT I JUST WANTED TO CRY BUT OVERALL I HAVE TO SAY THE WAY I DID THIS MADE THIS PROCESS LESS PAINFUL THAN GOING COLD TURKEY. I AM NOW FREE! I AM FREE TO DO ALL THE THINGS THAT I COULDN'T DUE TO MY SMOKING ADDICTION. I AM NOW FREE TO WORK MY BODY IN WAYS I COULDN'T AND LEARN TO LIVE A MUCH CLEANER LIFE!

I CAN NOW CONTINUE WITH CONFIDENCE THE SCHOOLING I HAVE BEEN DOING IN LEARNING CRYSTAL HEALING AND REIKI AND OTHER HOLISTIC PRACTICES KNOWING THAT I NO LONGER LIVE WITHIN A "SMOKE SCREEN" AND FOR MY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY I AM TREATING MYSELF TO A SPA RETREAT VACATION AS I AM SAVING UP ALL THE MONEY I WOULD HAVE SPENT ON CIGARETTES TO GO TOWARD THIS VACATION. I'M THINKING EITHER HAWAII OR SEDONA, AZ!

I'M VERY PROUD OF ME!