As we saw from our previous article, studies have shown that among the most common New Year’s Resolutions made are ‘Eat Healthier and Diet’, ‘Lose Weight and Get Fit’, and ‘Quit Smoking’ (1). Unfortunately, only 8% of people are always successful in achieving their resolutions.

In our previous two articles we discussed ways to succeed with healthy eating and getting fit. Our focus in this article is to help you, if required, to kick the smoking habit. It is estimated that 15,500 Australians die every year from a smoke-related illness. You can decide right now to avoid being one of those 15,500 and we can provide you with the tools to possibly quit for good!

Prior to starting your journey to give up smoking, it’s best to look at the options available to you. We are able to provide four valuable options and they are: acupuncture, hypnosis CDs, Chinese Herbs, and Massage. Our friendly staff are also about to provide plenty of positive encouragement! We will discuss how our treatments and tools may help below:

Valuable Option #1: Acupuncture – Our acupuncturist is qualified to perform acupuncture to possibly help you give up smoking. It is recommended that you have at least three acupuncture sessions in a 10 day period. For our clients that are not local, please don’t dismiss the idea of acupuncture.

We once had a gentleman come in for acupuncture to quit smoking. He lived approximately 10 hours from Hervey Bay, and could only visit our Centre once a year, so he had a session per year over a three year period and was successful in his quest to quit! What’s amazing about this gentleman is he was smoking about 70 cigarettes per day prior to having acupuncture and he was 70 years old.

Valuable Option #2: Hypnosis CDs - We stock a CD titled “Quit Smoking”, which is professionally guided by Rick Collingwood ‘Click Here’. Rick Collingwood is Australia’s leading international clinical hypnotherapist, subconscious mind clinician and hypnosis trainer. His CD “Quite Smoking” has a proven 80% success rate for the serious quitter. Please be aware though, that there are plenty of cheap and ineffective imitation CD’s out there, so it’s best to use something that has a proven success rate! ‘Click Here’

Valuable Option #3: Chinese Herbs – If stress is a trigger for your smoking habit, our Naturopath is able to help you reduce stress through the use of Chinese herbs. One of our clients just recently had stopped her 35 cigarette a day smoking habit and these Chinese herbs give her the inner strength to kick her smoking habit.

Surround yourself by supportive people throughout your giving up smoking journey. Influence has a major impact on your success.

Valuable Option #4: Massage - Massage is also a great tool for managing stress and relieving tension. Our Nadi massage uses herbalized steam that is directed to specific parts of the body and the oils applied are propelled deep into the tissue. The heat and oil combination is deeply relaxing but reaches deep seated toxins which are mobilized and loosened and brought into your organs of elimination.

• Exercise – participating in regular physical activity helps to improve blood circulation and release good endorphins. This helps reduce stress and tension, which is generally associated with smoking.
• Nutrition – Eating small, regular and healthy meals throughout the day helps to stabilize blood sugar levels, which often change when giving up smoking.
• Replace the habit with something healthy – Consciously choosing a healthier alternative to smoking whenever a craving hits will benefit your healvth and your body will appreciate it. Try drinking a glass of water instead of lighting up.
• Spend the time doing an enjoyable activity – Replace the time spent smoking with an activity you enjoy, such as reading, painting, spending more time playing with your children or grandchildren, or gardening. It really is amazing how much more time you have to do the things you enjoy after you give up smoking!
• Remove “saboteurs” from your life wherever possible (even if only temporarily!) – It is sad to know, but you will have people in your life that will sabotage your efforts to quit smoking. This is simply because they themselves do not wish to grow into healthier people, and feel scared that they will be “left behind” if you grow without them. Identifying these people and removing them from your life for the duration of giving up will increase your chances of success! Instead, surround yourself by plenty of loving and supportive people that will provide with praise and encouragement.
• Work out what the trigger is and avoid it! – Whether its stress, boredom, social situations, hunger, etc, find out when it is that you feel like having a cigarette and try to limit your exposure to the triggers. If you cannot limit your exposure, try some different coping techniques, such as deep breathing and meditation if stress is the trigger. Please ask our friendly staff about the meditation tools we have available for purchase.

Whatever treatment or tool you decide to use to give up smoking, the best way to increase your chances of success is to have a plan of action. Book in necessary appointments and invest in the appropriate tools prior to the New Year. That way you will be set to commence your New Year’s Resolution straight away. The DECISION to quit smoking is often the most difficult part, especially if you don’t have access to the right tools and have plenty of encouragement!

Now go and kick “butt” and we look forward to seeing you achieving your goals in the New Year! For those of you who are interested in learning some simple goal setting strategies, keep an eye out for our next article which will cover this.

Wishing you success in the New Year!!

Have a Wonderful Week and Be Well,

From the Team at Hervey Bay Wellbeing, Anti- Aging & Longevity Centre

References:

1. Time Specials. Top 10 Commonly Broken New Year’s Resolutions. [Online] Available at: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2040218,00.html [Accessed 25 November 2011].

2. http://www.thinkquit.com.au/world_wide_smoking_statistics.shtml