Section II
MODULE ONE
If you’re like the average smoker, there’s
a side to you that says that you would like to stop smoking and there’s a side
that says, “What? Stop smoking? Are you out of your mind?”
In fact, 70% of North American smokers
report that they would love to stop smoking – if it wasn’t so difficult
for them to live a smoke-free life.
A typical smoker has made serious attempts
to stop in the past, only to end up smoking again. It happens all the time. Of the 70% that report they want to quit, half of them will make a
serious attempt again this year - and fully 97% of all the cold-turkey attempts
will ultimately end in failure.
A three percent success rate isn’t very
high, is it? So why is it so hard to stop
- and to stay stopped for good?
For starters, stopping smoking is a
multi-layered, complex task - and unfortunately none of us were born with the
knowledge and experience necessary to successfully deal with every intricate
facet. Like any complex task, it can be
greatly simplified through education and practice.
Stopping smoking
is an ongoing, life-enriching process - not a one-time event to be feared and
dreaded. It involves a change in thinking
and a change of lifestyle and the quickest, surest way to get there is through
education.
This first Module
expands on the motives behind stopping smoking, which will help you to build
and strengthen your motivation, and maintain your focus. Acquiring this new general knowledge will
also get you started on a change in the way you think about smoking.
With a little
“de-glamorizing” and “de-normalizing” of the addiction, you’ll begin to see it
from an entirely new perspective – closer to that of an educated professional,
rather than from a purely amateur stance.
The obvious
advantage to this education is that a “trained professional” stands a much
better chance for success than an amateur. For example, suppose we randomly
selected someone from an audience and put them up on a stage and asked them to
perform in front of an auditorium full of people - without any rehearsal or
formal training.
Chances are, the
person we’ve selected wouldn’t put on much of a presentation. As a matter of fact, failure is almost
assured. (We could maybe expect a
success rate of around 3%.) But with a
little proper, formal training, that same person stands a far better chance of
putting on a decent performance first time out.
There is
certainly no substitute for knowledge and understanding. It’s been said that, “Knowledge is Power”.
With education
and practice, even the most strident smoker can kick the habit – and with very
little self-sacrifice or willpower. Because when you think
about it, isn't the main difference between a smoker that wants to stop and an
ex-smoker, just that the ex-smoker learned how to stop? And yet, the average person who is trying to
quit smoking, usually substitutes willpower for education.
We are about to
challenge the way you have been thinking about smoking – and how you think
about quitting smoking.
Throughout the
program, you’ll be presented with a combination of in-depth health and
statistical information, along with some completely new ideas to help you take
advantage of it. Combining that new
knowledge with the featured techniques and strategies will ensure you are among
the most educated smokers in the country.
It’s very likely
that the high failure rate of “Cold Turkey” attempts can often be attributed to
lack of education and training. Without
it, few succeed over the long term.
For many people
just like you, it's one thing to quit smoking but it’s the, “staying quit” that
seems to be the tricky part. As it
turns out, 97% of the time, willpower just isn’t enough and the average smoker
requires 5 - 7 serious attempts before learning everything they need to know to
stop smoking for good.
This program
presents a head-on, common sense, educated approach to nicotine addiction, so
that the process of stopping smoking can actually be an enjoyable, positive
experience, rather than a negative, painful one – and minus the 5 - 7 failed
attempts. If you’ve ever tried to stop smoking in the past, you will likely
understand what a pleasantly fresh concept this is.
“The only thing
more expensive than education is ignorance.” - Benjamin Franklin
Most people that
smoke have gone from experimenting with smoking, to living with it full-time.
For the majority
of smokers, the prospect of quitting is a very stressful one. The habit is with them every waking hour of
every day. Many people come to consider
this constant companion as their trusted friend.
By the very
nature of the addiction, whenever smoking cessation is suggested, most smokers
feel that something they love and depend on is being threatened.
Resistance comes
naturally – an almost knee-jerk reaction to protect something of great,
personal value and held in high esteem. In fact, for the average smoker, just the suggestion of quitting is
enough to trigger a light up!
"It's easy
to cease smoking - I should know, I've done it thousands of times." - Mark Twain
A complete new
understanding of our addiction to nicotine can help us to make an informed,
rational decision of whether to smoke or not.
“But, wait a
minute”, you may say. “Smoking is not
an “informed, rational decision” type of habit”. And you’d be right. It’s actually more of a spontaneous and
satisfying-a-need type of habit, isn’t it?
Most smokers often
don’t give the decision to light up very much thought at all. Education can change that.
When you truly recognize
the value of not smoking, deciding to smoke or not to smoke will take on a new
importance for you. And as you learn to take control of cravings, your need to
smoke will fade.
"New habits can be launched . . . on condition of there being new stimuli and new excitements." - William James
Just as there are
a multitude of benefits enjoyed when you stop smoking, there are huge costs
attached to smoking – and this makes the decision to light up or not, a very
big decision.
Yet as we have
just established, we haven’t been treating the habit that way. We want one – we light one.
In your life, now
that you are presumably a responsible adult, whenever you face a big decision,
it almost always warrants a certain amount of information gathering. Isn’t that correct?
For example,
suppose you’ve been given an unlimited budget with which to purchase a new home
theatre system. What is your best,
first move? (That is after thanking
rich Uncle Harry for the gift) Probably gather a little information about your
choices, right? Some
comparison-shopping should yield better results than just going out and buying
the first system that you come across. Most adults know this and operate this way.
Shopping around
enables you to gather information on features from a number of different
systems, until you find the one you like the most. And then, upon completion of your information gathering, you can
successfully complete your goal, through an informed, rational decision, based
on facts.
That’s the way
good decisions are made.
Isn’t that the
type of decision you would like to make on matters that concern your immediate
and long-term health and the health of those around you?
We’re betting it
is!
Wouldn’t you
agree that an important decision like whether to smoke or not, warrants a
little information gathering? With so
much at stake, isn’t that the type of decision you would like to make?
Sure it is! You deserve the best in life. That’s why you’re reading this book,
right? Congratulations. Good choice.
Let’s begin our
information gathering by looking at some of the benefits you’ll experience in
your life when you stop smoking for good.
Most long-time
smokers require that the reasons not to smoke far outweigh the reasons to
smoke – before it makes sense to even begin to consider facing the
discomfort associated with not lighting up during a bout of craving.
We understand. We’ve been there.
For most of us,
it starts with the question: “What’s in it for me?”
That’s the bottom
line, really, isn’t it? Is all this truly worth the effort?
Stopping smoking
is the quickest and surest way to guarantee yourself the longest list of
life-improvements possible - with the absolute least amount of effort. You’ll see - it’s worth your bother, and
then some.
Many of the
life-improvements you will enjoy are quite substantial. For instance, when you stop smoking your
sense of taste and smell improves - almost immediately.
That means you’ll
enjoy your favorite foods more, within 48 hours, as your sense of taste improves.
Think about that
for a moment. What are some of your favorite
foods? What is improved taste
worth? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everything
that you now love to eat, tasted even better?
That’s worth
quite a lot to you, wouldn’t you agree? And that’s only one improvement!
What is it worth,
to you personally, to experience an almost-immediate improvement in your
breathing? What about a big spike in
your energy levels while requiring less sleep each night? What’s that worth to you?
You can see where
we’re going with this, can’t you? And
it just gets better and better.
Within a month of
cessation, your lung function will improve and your blood pressure will return
to a non-smoking level. After about
three months, your lungs may have even regained their capacity to clean
themselves properly, providing no irreparable lung damage has occurred. No more coughing up “yucky” stuff every
morning. Wouldn’t that be a relief?
Blood flow to
your limbs will have improved by this time as well, giving your entire body a
wonderful, rejuvenated feeling. All
within 3 months! Quick improvement,
isn’t it?
And that’s only a
small sample of some of the fabulous short-term benefits of stopping
smoking. We’ll get into them in greater
detail, as we progress.
You also have
many long-term benefits to look forward to.
For instance, ten
years after stopping smoking, your risk of developing lung cancer will have
declined to between 30-50% of the risk in continuing smokers. Your risk continues to decline with
continued abstinence. What a load off
your back that will be!
Stopping smoking
also lowers the risk of laryngeal cancer, and reduces the extent and severity
of pre-malignant cellular changes in the lining of the larynx and the lungs.
Stopping smoking halves the risk of mouth and esophageal cancers after just
five years of quitting. The risk of
pancreatic cancer is also reduced measurably after ten years of abstinence.
This is part of
the program that is purely educational – and could certainly not be confused
with entertainment. But fact after
fact, you are building motivation – and we’ve agreed that’s important,
right?
You are also
building a foundation of truth and an up-to-date knowledge base.
“Why”, you may
ask, “is that important?”
Let’s put it this
way: Do you know many people, knowledgeable on the subject of smoking
cessation, that are practicing smokers? We can’t think of any. So let’s
continue.
Smoking cessation
greatly reduces the risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD).
Risk of heart
attack drops 50% and mortality is also reduced by about 50% just one year after
cessation, then continues to decline gradually. After around 15 years of abstinence, the risk of CHD is similar
to that of people that have never smoked.
For those smokers
with diagnosed CHD, stopping smoking appears to reduce the risk of recurrent
infarction and cardiovascular death by half or more. Smoking cessation substantially
reduces the risk of developing peripheral vascular disease, and will improve
management of the existing condition. Smoking cessation also substantially
reduces the risk of ischaemic stroke and subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Stopping smoking
reduces rates of respiratory symptoms such as cough and wheezing, sputum
production, and respiratory infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia.
Smokers with established chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) will
experience improved pulmonary function by about 5% within a few months of
cessation. With sustained abstinence,
the mortality rates from COPD among former smokers decline in comparison to
continuing smokers.
The accelerated
decline in lung function experienced by smokers stops with smoking cessation,
returning to the far slower rates of decline that naturally occur with ageing.
Our first step
toward making this an enjoyable, positive experience is to address some of the
fears that surround the idea of stopping smoking and to get them out of the
way. We all must eventually face them,
so let’s get a couple of them out in the open right now.
There’s a lot of
fear surrounding smoking. For instance,
we’ve all been in the situation where we really want a smoke, but are
not allowed to light up for an extended period of time. You know how it feels. It can be a very scary, uncomfortable
experience. We’ve learned to avoid situations like that, to plan ahead and be
aware of when our next smoke is coming.
By putting your
fears aside long enough you will learn about the
habit and what it is really doing to you. We’ll show you how to develop long-term strategies to use every time
craving strikes. You will be able to
control the habit instead of it controlling you.
We’ll also expose
the habit’s vulnerabilities and show you how to capitalize on them.
But this program
is also about making a smooth transition from smoker to ex-smoker - when you feel ready to make that change. When
you’re ready - and on your terms.
One common,
powerful fear surrounding smoking, concerns health issues. That’s a big one for
most smokers and it often concerns our close friends and family members, as
well.
The good news is,
by participating in this smoking cessation program, you are taking a positive,
constructive step toward the overall health issue. Keep up the good work. You couldn’t make a better choice when it comes to your personal
improvement.
Health can also
be used to your advantage as a powerful positive motive for you to stop. Health issues are discussed extensively,
throughout the program.
Another strong
fear is fear of failure - very common, especially among male smokers. This is
understandable. With the cold-turkey
success rate down around 3%, failure is commonly associated with stopping
smoking.
Any attempt you
make to improve your life is something to feel good about. Failure is part of learning – they always go
hand-in-hand. So if you’ve tried to
stop smoking and went back to it, that’s not a bad thing. At least you tried.
“I have not failed. I've just found 10000 ways that won't
work.” - Thomas Edison regarding the light bulb
Using a program like this one can make all the difference. You’ll be prepared like never before, so that when the time comes, you’ll know exactly what to do and how to react.
“Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.” “Every strike gets me closer to a home run” - Babe Ruth, baseball player
The problem most
people have with cold turkey is that, without any background and support,
long-term abstinence is just too difficult. Even the strongest resolve and willpower usually shrivels in time.
Keep in mind that
this program will be with you, to turn to, when the going gets tough. You might want to carry your Smoke-Free Key
with you wherever you go, for the first while. When you need help, it will be at your side, ready and willing to help.
You’ll have access to fantastic methods of dealing with craving and behavior
change - and all you have to do is follow our lead. So please give it a chance to work for you - and keep the fear of
failure out of your mind, for now. This
time it’s going to work – and with your new knowledge, it’s going to be easier
than you’ve ever imagined!
“Fears are nothing more than a state of mind” - Napoleon Hill
“We can't solve
problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” -
Albert Einstein
Now, let’s talk
about the touchy subject of making some changes in your life.
Yuck! When it comes right down to it, most people
don’t like change. You could say that
many even fear change. The cold turkey
success rate is extremely low at around 3%. The NRT success rate is just double
that. Without some changes in the way
we think, feel about and deal with our “old friend”, smoking, we really don’t
have much chance of doing anything permanent about it - at least not without
several failed attempts.
The popular old
saying: “You keep doing what you’ve been doing and you’ll keep getting what
you’ve been getting.” illustrates a simple but very important philosophy: In
order to stop smoking we must make some changes.
Think about it.
In order to move into the life of a non-smoker, there will be changes that take
place in your life - simple, but profound in many ways.
Please consider
this idea of “changes” coming in your life. Your openness, acceptance and willingness to welcome change will make
the transformation that much easier for you.
By becoming aware
of the changes - and dealing head-on with the conflicts they create - both in
the body and in the mind, you will be able to assume control of the habit - instead
of the habit controlling you.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” - Charles Darwin, biologist
Our look at the
changes we will be making begins by first examining:
Why we smoke (when and how we took up “the
habit”) and why we keep smoking.
This is important
information for us, because going from a person that smokes to a person that
does not smoke is really about changing the way we think about smoking and how
we react to craving. Once you
understand why you started and what keeps you smoking, you’ve got something to
work with; then you can start to do something permanent about it.
When you
recognize and understand these aspects, your chances of long-term success skyrocket. When we closely examine the whole truth, and
not some manufactured image provided by the tobacco companies and the media, we
will begin to assume control of the smoking habit.
The truth reveals
the complete picture, including the real reasons behind our smoking and
how we really got started. For instance,
do you know many people that started smoking after school age years?
In fact, the
number of mature adults that freshly take up the smoking habit barely registers
a blip on the “start-scale”. It’s less
than 10%. Statistically, only children,
teens and a small percentage of young adults, begin smoking.
That’s right –
only young people. (Except of course, for the mature adults that re-start after
“quitting”.) And the tobacco companies
(A.K.A. “Big Tobacco”) knew this long before they got you hooked.
A 1971 internal
RJ Reynolds document declares that: "The lower age limit for
the profile of young smokers is to remain at 14".
With “Big
Tobacco’s” first-time customers being almost exclusively young people, their
advertising and promotions must be aimed that way. They got us hooked when we were young because they prey on our
youth.
Now that we’re
presumably mature adults, only a very insignificant number of us would start
smoking today – freshly take up the habit - if we hadn’t started when we were
younger.
And how many
children do you know that are equipped to make mature, intelligent,
life-changing decisions based on the facts that they have accumulated? Not too many, we bet.
In fact, as
children, we were carefully and professionally manipulated by “Big Tobacco”,
Hollywood and the media into believing that smoking is a normal and cool part
of life for a large portion of the population. It isn’t.
They’ve done such
a great job at portraying cigarettes as normal and widespread that studies show
that when a typical class of North American Grade 2 children is asked how many
adults out of 100 smoke, the average answer is 85 to 90. The actual number is in fact closer to 22%
today. The deception is very effective
right down to the youngest audience. This is an example of: beliefs based on lies.
Here’s the truth:
It is overwhelmingly in your favor to stop smoking for good – and this
information is extremely important to you when you are considering making some
changes in your life involving smoking.
Strengthen your
conviction by keeping this program with you and referring to this material,
often. And get to know your “Insist on
the List” folder – another great source of motives.
Having a solid
understanding of how you started smoking and the benefits you will personally
experience once you’ve stopped smoking is the first step toward long-term
success. And you’ve just taken it.
So again, just to
make sure we’re clear on this one, if you were given the choice again, is there
any chance that you would make the decision to start smoking today? If you could go back in time and change
things would you choose to ever begin smoking?
Doubtful. It’s just not worth it. The costs are too high for the benefit.
We now know that
smoking increases the risk of at least 50 different medical problems, from
cancer and heart disease to dementia and digestive problems.
Some of these
conditions may prove fatal, while others could cause immense chronic damage to
a person's health. Stop smoking now and you'll live a longer and healthier
life.
Please be clear
on this very important truth: It’s a universally accepted fact that smoking is
dangerous to your health and the health of everyone around you. That’s even posted on the tobacco company’s
web site that sell you your cigarettes.
Smoking is the
world’s #1 public health problem - nothing kills and harms more people than
smoking.
When it comes to
making decisions about our lives, the danger aspect associated with smoking
assures us that whether we smoke or not is an important personal
decision - and certainly worthy of further study and our careful
consideration.
You may also be
getting to the point in your life where you’re beginning to see that smoking
doesn’t quite “fit” for you anymore; given the choice again, it’s not something
you’d choose for yourself.
That’s a good
point to reach. It’s really the first
step: Desire. If you’ve reached that
point in your life, that’s fantastic! You’re about to find out how to turn that desire into success!
This concludes
the information portion of Module One.
Many people that participate in this program
are not in the practice of doing an assign-ment or performing an exercise of
any kind. If you’re one of those
people, please bear with us.
Exercises that we do for our bodies build body strength. These exercises have been selected for their
powerful and proven, mind strengthening abilities.
Building mental
strength now will ensure it’s available to draw from, when you need it.
Before we get
started, you should schedule a time and place for tomorrow’s Module.
Consistency can play an important role here – and ultimately affect your
overall success.
It’s to your advantage to set aside time each day that you can use to read each
Module – say thirty minutes. You will
also want time for these exercises – maybe 10 to 20 minutes before bed and 5 to
10 minutes right when you get up. Remember, there are supplied exercises at the end of the first 4 Modules
only, but please continue using them as long as they’re working for you.
If you’re
currently smoking, remember to keep a record of your smoking activity, by
attaching a pack-wrapper secured to your cigarette pack with an elastic band,
beginning tomorrow. (Please feel free
to make electronic copies, so that you’ll always have enough on hand.)
By making it
impossible to access your cigarettes without removing your “log”, you’ll be
more likely to jot down the particulars surrounding that craving. Obviously you’ll need to carry a pen or
pencil for a few days while you are using the pack wrappers.
If you want, you can begin to use the wrappers right now. There’s nothing to
it. Before lighting up another cigarette,
fill in the appropriate space on the chart. It only takes a minute and you can use this information to keep track of
what’s pushing your light-up buttons.
You’ll also
eliminate lighting up “mindlessly”. The
costs of this habit are too high to treat smoking mindlessly.
Along with pack
wrappers, you should also begin the purposeful interrupting of your daily
smoking habits and rituals.
This is a great
way to prepare your subconscious for a change in “the routine” and ultimately
assures a smoother transition from smoker to non-smoker. It makes the job much easier when you are
accustomed to small changes associated with smoking.
All you have to do is change the details of how you smoke and try to not smoke
in the same way tomorrow, as you did today. Simple as that.
For example, if
you normally use your right hand and the first two fingers to hold the
cigarette, try switching to you left hand with your thumb and first
finger. If you usually stand in a
certain spot, change spots. Start to
change your patterns and routines so that smoking each cigarette is less
comfortable than usual.
Become more aware of the exact movements you make every time you smoke and
begin to change them. Try different
ways of puffing and blowing the smoke out while recognizing how you are no
longer comfortable with your role as a smoker. Get used to the idea that you are about to be doing things differently
soon. Where you can, change your
smoking “times”,
Starting this
preconditioning and new awareness now is crucial in assuring an easier
transition by the end of Module 5. Get
used to the idea of being in control.
You are sure to
find this little inconvenience is well worth the effort it takes until your
scheduled “stop day”. You'll be
grateful in the long run, with a lifetime of smoke-free living.
Another way to
look at this is: Do it right once and you'll never need to do it again.
One of the
aspects of smoking that we become very attached to, is the “break” ritual. “Taking a smoke-break” becomes a well-used
phrase, 16 times a day for the average smoker. Over time, a strong positive association develops. We need to switch that positive association
off of smoking and onto a special time that we control, each day. A “special time” devoted to pampering
ourselves. We use relaxation and
visualization.
This exercise
will help you to systematically relax your whole body, one step at a time,
until your entire being is in a very relaxed and comfortable state. Use this exercise daily for a wonderful
mini-holiday and to assure optimum results from Visualization.
We are rarely
more open to suggestion than when we are in a super-relaxed state and using
this exercise to prepare for Visualization takes advantage of that.
This exercise
will help make a “just-for-you special time” a little more special. It will give you something to look forward
to and ultimately will make your transition to ex-smoker smoother and easier.
“Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.” - William S. Burroughs
When you are
ready to start, begin by getting yourself into a comfortable position - in a
space where you will not be unnecessarily disturbed, for about twenty minutes.
As you sit back
or lie back comfortably, be sure your arms and legs are in a relaxed, uncrossed
position. Let your shoulders release tension and let your neck begin to relax
by letting your head just sink comfortably into the cushion or chair.
Take control of
your breathing by resting your hand lightly on your chest and feel it rise and
fall as you fill and release your lungs to capacity with fresh, clean air.
Breathing is
normally something we leave up to our reflexes and consequently our lungs are
rarely filled to capacity. Don’t be
afraid to fill them up. You’re in
control.
Close your eyes
and begin to empty your mind as you take three slow, deep diaphragmatic
breaths, feeling your belly rise as your lower lungs fill completely with
sweet, clean oxygen...pausing after you inhale, and then exhaling fully and
completely.
You may imagine,
upon exhaling, that you are beginning to release thoughts, tensions and even
discomforts with the warm breath that you breathe out and away. As you inhale again feel good about yourself
and what you are doing for yourself at this exact moment.
Feel pampered.
Feel that there is no other place you would rather be. On exhaling, visualize
all of your burdens and negatives leaving with the air.
After these first
three slow breaths, continue to breathe slowly, but naturally. Perhaps you can feel yourself taking another
step deeper into relaxation and comfort with every exhalation.
Don’t try to go
through this process too quickly. Without any effort you will be able to drift as deeply into relaxation
as you wish to go, by just letting go of stress, thoughts, and physical
tensions.
As you continue
to breathe slowly and gently you might begin to become aware of relaxation
starting down into your legs and feet. You may become aware of a slight difference, where one of your legs
feels a bit heavier than the other. One
leg could feel slightly more relaxed, as if the muscles were more loose or
flexible than in the other.
Or perhaps, you
may find that one leg feels slightly warmer, where the blood and energy can
flow more freely and easily.
Feel it flow down
into the very tips of your toes.
Flex the muscles
in your toes and hold them for a seven count. One … two … three … four … five …
six … seven.
Good. Relax your toes and feel all tension leaving
them as you do. Now on to the rest of
the foot. Tense it up as tight as comfortably
possible – again holding for a seven count … and then release. Great. Your foot should now be completely relaxed.
Think of nothing else but your relaxation and how great it feels. Move on to the toes on your other foot. Again, flex your toes and hold them like
that for a seven count. One … two …
three … four … five … six … seven. Release. Great. Feel all the tension leaving them as they
relax. Now hold the tension in the rest
of the foot for a seven count. Now both
feet are totally relaxed.
Repeat the
process with your left ankle and calf. Maintain tension in your ankle and lower leg for a seven count. One … two … three … four … five … six …
seven. And release. Be sure to feel all tension leaving them as
you allow the muscles to relax.
Now tense up the
right ankle and calf – again for a seven count … and then totally relax. Now up to your left knee and thigh. Flex and
hold for seven: One … two … three …
four … five … six … seven. And relax.
Feel how heavy
that leg feels as you move on to the upper leg. Flex and hold it for
seven: One … two … three … four … five
… six … seven. And relax.
On to the other
thigh. : One … two … three … four … five … six … seven. Ahh… both legs are completely at rest and
feel very, very heavy.
Move on to your
torso. Flex and hold your “gluts”,
pelvic region and lower stomach muscles for the seven count … and relax.
Feel the muscles
in your lower back begin to relax too, now. You may feel them begin to
soften or loosen as you slowly breathe away any unwanted tensions.
Now focus on your
breathing and tense-up your shoulders and upper arms. Hold them… One … two … three … four … five … six … seven. Exhale fully as you feel all your upper body
tension leaving.
Let your
shoulders drop down into a more comfortable position. You may feel the control
growing stronger as you can begin to feel your head just sinking back, completely
supported by the pillow or the chair, as your neck begins to relax even more.
Now onto the left
hand and fingers. Flex and hold. One … two … three … four … five … six …
seven. And release. Then flex the right hand and fingers to the
count of seven. Relax.
You might notice
a slight difference, where one of your arms is just a bit more relaxed than the
other or feels slightly heavier, as if the muscles in that arm were looser or
more flexible.
Perhaps, one arm
feels slightly warmer, as if blood and energy could flow more freely and easily
all the way down that arm... as if it were flowing down through wide open blood
vessels and slowly pulsing down into the hand and fingers.
Maybe both of
your arms are equally relaxed, and that would be perfect as well. The only thing that matters is that you continue
to breathe slowly and naturally, and now you can begin to feel yourself
drifting deeper into a dreamlike state where you can feel calmness and comfort,
where you begin to develop even greater awareness and control.
The muscles of
your head and face can relax more now as the tensions just begin to melt
away. Enjoy the dreamlike state of
calmness and comfort as you relax your scalp and the muscles around your mouth,
your jaw and even your tongue and especially those around your eyes and
eyebrows.
Now feel your
head become even heavier – definitely too heavy for your neck to hold up. Let it sink further into the cushion on your
chair or bed, as you now feel so completely relaxed.
You should now be totally relaxed and ready to experience optimum benefits from
your Visualization exercises. For maximum results, use this relaxation exercise
every day.
Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop. – Ovid
To maximize the
benefits of this exercise, use the Relaxation Exercise. Once you are in your super-relaxed state,
picture yourself wonderfully content in a favorite nature setting, such as
walking along a beach or on a path winding through a forest. Maybe you can imagine it’s a beautiful
morning and you are perfectly at ease, healthy and happy. Marvel at how wonderful you feel as your
lungs fill with the beautiful, pure, clean oxygen provided by this beautiful
setting and appreciate it as one of life’s true joys.
Perhaps you will
find yourself sitting next to a small pond. The water has a perfectly flat surface and the only sound you hear are
the birds chirping happily in the background. Picture yourself tossing in a pebble and as the rings radiate on the
surface of the water, feel your body relax even more. Feel pampered.
Spend time just
enjoying yourself in your favorite imaginary Shangri-la, as each wonderful
breath you take becomes part of you, saturating your entire being with
goodness. Every breath that comes in
fills you with energizing strength and each breath that leaves, washes away any
negative energy.
You’ll actually
be pampering yourself while you exercise your brain. It’s a cerebral work out
that makes you feel great! It
will also help boost your confidence level – an integral element in maintaining
a positive outlook.
When you reach
the point where you are at total peace, squeeze your middle fingertip together
with your thumb to form an “O”. Maintain this gentle pressure for about 30 seconds, as you feel
completely content and satisfied.
This finger-thumb
pressure will create a conditioned response for the feeling you are
experiencing right now. After several
sessions, firmly touching the thumb and finger together will remind you of this
beautiful, enjoyable feeling. This simple
little exercise will really pay big dividends when you use it to your advantage
in the very near future.
Feel the
experience as totally positive, as you drift through your daydream, purposely
spending a few minutes on “you”. Put
all worries aside and pamper yourself. You deserve it.
Keep it going for
as long as you want (at least 5 or 10 minutes) and when you feel satisfied,
allow yourself to drift back down to reality.
At the end of
this exercise, along with feeling pampered, you should feel refreshed, renewed
and invigorated - and ready for another great day, tomorrow!
Daily affirmations are another important part of this program and are
different and separate from visualization exercises.
Affirmations are positive, self-talk; little snippets of information
that you absorb through repetition.
It can feel a little strange or foreign, at first, to purposefully talk
to yourself, to say nice things to yourself. But let us assure you: this exercise is truly worth the effort.
Affirmations are used successfully every day by some of the world’s top
athletes and business executives to affect behavior change.
Many of us were brought up to be modest about ourselves. We’ve been taught to
not praise ourselves for our accomplishments, but to leave that job to someone
else.
We all enjoy being recognized or praised for a job well done. It makes us feel good to get a “pat on the
back” and most people feel motivated to do even better after receiving a
special commendation or award.
Affirmations take advantage of this sensational motivator and they put you in the driver’s seat. You are in
charge of recognizing you. By not leaving the recognition to
chance, you can control the exact areas that require concentration.
Standing in front of a mirror in a washroom or just about anywhere works
fine for this 1 to 3 minute exercise.
Affirmations without the mirror will work too, but may not be as
effective. Ideally, find a quiet comfortable spot, free of distractions and
just start repeating the words.
Try to concentrate and keep your brain empty of everything other than
the words you are saying quietly out loud. You already know how well repetition works in your life, but now it will
be working for you instead of against you.
This exercise
makes good sense because you are trading negative in your life, for
positive. And the wonderful thing about
repetition is that our subconscious absorbs it and accepts it unquestionably.
Let’s begin
today’s Affirmation with whom this program is for: you. A short, positive phrase that you can never
hear too many times is: “I like me”. That’s an easy one to start with. We can actually handle a little more than
that so let’s add: “I am responsible for me.” That’s an important one.
If possible, look
at yourself in the mirror as you repeat quietly aloud:
“I
like me. I am responsible for me.”
That’s it. That’s
all there is to it. “I like me. I am responsible for me.” Isn’t that easy? This simple phrase can have a powerful impact on your life, if
you use it correctly.
Go ahead. It’s
easy. You can start right now. Just say: “I like me. I am responsible for
me.”
To really get the
most out of this exercise, spend 3 to 5 minutes in front of the mirror before
going to bed tonight and repeat the exercise tomorrow when you get up in the
morning. It’s a great way to start the
day – or end the day, with the bathroom providing privacy and a mirror for a
little more impact.
Use it all day.
Whenever you can, say it over and over to yourself. Tomorrow, when you’re sitting in traffic or waiting in line at
the bank – whenever you get a chance, repeat this phrase to yourself. “I like me. I am responsible for me.” You can’t repeat this phrase too many times.
For the average
person, stopping smoking is a totally negative experience. This exercise will help you to maintain a
positive focus throughout the day.
Be sure to recite
your affirmation when you find yourself thinking negatively. You can’t be both positive and negative at
the same time. Affirmations give you
the power to keep it positive - and with this power, comes control.
Daily
Affirmations can have such a positive effect on most people's lives that you
may choose to use them, long after you've stopped smoking, for other positive
changes in your life.
You can't repeat Daily Affirmation phrases too many times, but please at
least start and end your day with them.
If you feel uncomfortable, of if it just seems like a waste of time and
effort, please at least stick with it for the next few days. It wont take very long before you’ll start
to feel the effects of daily affirmations and feel comfortable saying them.
This is another exercise that is truly worth your effort.
You will find
your conviction strengthened and your confidence at an all-time high as you
progress through the program, gathering information and insight while
practicing the mind-strengthening exercises at the end of each day.