How to use hypnosis to stop smoking.
Every year around 78,000 people in the UK die from smoking, with many more living with debilitating smoking-related illnesses. Smoking increases your risk of developing more than 50 serious health conditions. Some may be fatal, and others can cause irreversible long-term damage to your health.
The average smoker will spend around £3,300 a year on cigarettes!
Nicotine is highly addictive, and smokers will develop a level of physical dependence to their use of tobacco. Nicotine is thought to be as addictive as heroin and cocaine. The tobacco industry has designed and modified cigarettes, adding additional chemicals, to make them as addictive as possible, according to the British Lung Foundation.
Becoming a non-smoker may be one of the hardest things you ever do in your life, and I know, I was a smoker for 20 years!
What will I learn in this blog?
• How smoking is bad for your long term health
• How to stop smoking for good and forever
• Some basic tips to keep you healthy
• How hypnosis can really help you to quit
So, how did I quit?
“Giving up smoking is easy, I’ve done it hundreds of times!” That was my mantra for over 20 years as a smoker. I’d smoked since the age of 14, mostly I think to fit in with mates at school, and to feel ‘grown-up’ and a bit more ‘sophisticated’.
I had tried everything to stop, and towards my early 30s, it was becoming a problem; I felt breathless, hated the smell, annoyed ay my inability to stop, the list went on…..
A friend suggested going to see a hypnotherapist in London. I was sceptical, even though my degree study was in psychology, but I was desperate enough to give it a try. After the first session I didn’t feel radically different, I wasn’t even sure that something had happened whilst is was ‘under’, but I didn’t smoke for the rest of that day, or the rest of that week. I just didn’t think about it. I went back for a second session a few days later and that really helped to seal my new found status as a non-smoker. I haven’t smoked since and that was 26 years ago.
I was so fascinated by the process and the ease of what I had achieved, that I embarked on a course of study over the next 4 years and eventually qualified as a Clinical Hypnotherapist and a Master Hypnotist,
So, something that was designed to change my habit, changed my career, and my life too.
Since that day, I’ve helped many hundreds of people to stop smoking and live a better, healthier, longer life. That feels great too!
| – Two thirds (66%) of smokers have their first cigarette of the day within one hour of waking up. – Nearly 50 per cent of all smokers die prematurely due to smoking-related diseases. – The life expectancy of a smoker is about 10 years less than that of a non-smoker – In the UK, it is estimated only half of long-term smokers live past the age of 70. – It is estimated that globally 890,000 deaths a year are caused by secondhand smoke. – Smokers under 40 have a five times greater risk of a heart attack than non-smokers. |
(Courtesy of The Hypnotherapy Directory)
How can hypnosis help you to stop smoking?
It seems that hypnosis is among the most effective methods to stop smoking naturally. In 2007, an American study showed that hypnosis was 3 times as effective as patches to stop smoking.
At The Hypnosis Clinic, we have a 2-pronged approach to helping someone become a non-smoker.
First we look at the causes, the reasons why someone smokes. It may be the underlying stress of work or relationships, the need to feel more confident socially and fit in, or just simply the habit of smoking 20 cigarettes a day for 30 years!
You see, the reason for smoking is slightly different for everyone, and that’s why hypnotherapy works so well, it’s a targeted approach and unique to the individual. Before we even start therapeutic work, we have a long chat about your life and lifestyle, so the underlying causes can be tackled in the most effective way.
The second part of the approach is to help with the essential control elements you need to stop smoking; willpower, focus, determination, resistance and confidence.
This combination approach really helps people to become nonsmokers in the shortest possible time! Of course, there’s a degree of personal willpower involved, it’s hypnosis, not magic, but most people will achieve their goal in between 2-4 sessions.
After a couple of sessions, I can also make a special self-hypnosis recording for you, containing all the positive rewards about stopping smoking for good. The recording is individual to you, so it’s powerful and effective.
One of the ways to make hypnosis even more powerful is for you to build a set of rewards for being a non-smoker. These are very personal you too; maybe it’s the money – £3,300 a year will buy you a pretty decent family holiday, a new car, a new kitchen, just imagine! Maybe it’s health-related, want to live longer for your kids or grandchildren? One cigarette reduces your life by 11 minutes! Maybe it’s sport related, want to get fit again, enjoy swimming or running? Life is so much better as a nonsmoker.
It may seem like an impossible task now, because the cravings can be very strong, however, once you make the decision to embark on your journey, as good hypnotherapist will give you the help and support that you need to be able to keep going.
Now, I don’t ever think about cigarettes, I don’t mind if other people smoke, and don’t even really object to the smell. I guess it’s as if someone just took the ‘smoker’ chip out of my brain and replaced it with a blank. That’s a nice place to be!
What happens when you quit?
(Courtesy of NHS)
How to get ready to quit.
• List your reasons to quit, give yourself lot of rewards like good health and more money.
• Tell people you’re quitting – when you make a commitment in front of other people, it has more strength.
• If you have tried to quit before, remember what worked and use it again.
• Use stop smoking aids, like patches or a self-hypnosis recording.
• Have a plan if you are tempted to smoke.
• List your smoking triggers and how to avoid them.
• Keep cravings at bay by keeping busy.
• Exercise away the urge.
• Join the Facebook group for support and advice.
What did I learn here?
Becoming a non-smoker is just getting into a good habit and keeping that good stuff going. Hypnosis can really help you to do that. Generally you should expect to have 3 to 4 sessions and and have a custom-made recording to get that new habit established really quickly.
If you’d like to find out more about how hypnosis can help you to to become a non-smoker, have a look at our website, the hypnosisclinic.com. We offer a free initial consultation, either by a Telehealth video link or at our clinic right in the heart of London’s Regent Street.