Stopping smoking
Acupuncture is one of the most effective supports for helping to stop smoking. With the fairly recent law change in the UK with regards smoking regulations, and also your own health, which let's face it can only improve when you start to breath without the hindrance of smoke in your lungs, now is a great time to give up cigarettes!
Are you ready to stop smoking?
When a person comes to see me for acupuncture saying that they want to stop smoking, this is the first question I ask them. When I ask if they are ready to stop smoking and their eyes glaze over, they look away, or they start fidgeting nervously it doesn't look as if they are really ready to stop! Acupuncture is very useful as a support in the process of getting off cigarettes, however it really makes sense that the person has to be ready and willing to take some responsibility and involvement in the process.
What stops you from stopping smoking?
Every time you put a cigarette out you "stop smoking" - at least for some time. What is it that prevents the continuation of this, in other words what makes you want to light up the next one? There are different ways that people get addicted to cigarettes;
Physical aspects of stopping smoking:
The most commonly referred to is the physical addiction. The body craves the drug nicotine which it gets immediate relief from as you take a drag on the next cigarette. The author Allen Carr wrote the book "Easy way to stop smoking" and has some very interesting information about this subject. He states that each nicotine craving is actually over in a very short space of time, he gives useful guidance on how to get into a positive mentality and reality with stopping smoking and suggests a particular method.
Along side developing a positive mental attitude, acupuncture can subdue some of the actual physical craving. Various acupuncture points can be stimulated, sometimes addiction points on the ears are used to calm the nervous system, and points on the body are used to support the lungs and chest, helping breathing and clearing phlegm. Acupuncture studies have also indicated that acupuncture trials have indicated the release of endorphins (biochemicals produced by the pituitary gland) which are analgesic; pain-relieving, and mood-enhancing. (I once treated a couple who came in after having not smoked for a few days and they were "climbing the walls" with craving and anxiety and desperate for immediate help. When they left the clinic they were relaxed, happy and both new advocates of acupuncture!) So yes, acupuncture can definitely make the experience easier and more relaxing.
Psychological aspects of stopping smoking:
Of course intending to be more positive and having a support structure will help the psychological aspect of stopping smoking. Sometimes though there may be a lack of willpower. This may seem purely psychological/metal to our Western minds, however in Chinese medicine by strengthening the energy and health of the kidneys, we can influence a stronger sense of willpower, helping the fulfillment of intention. As an adjunct to that, the central chest area is home to the heart organ. In Chinese understanding the heart "houses" the spirit and is associated with the emotion of joy. If this area is blocked and stagnant due to cigarette smoking, the subtle energies cannot circulate harmoniously here and can lead to a dull relationship with joy and emotional expression.
Author and speaker Deepak Chopra, an Ayurvedic practitioner, has some interesting views on a positive mental attitude to stopping addictive habits. He suggests breaking the habitual unconscious way that a habit plays out often in response to social "triggers". An example is when the phone rings we light a cigarette to take the phone call. He says, wait, don't unconsciously smoke the cigarette at that time. Instead take the call, then go out side and smoke the cigarette with you full conscious attention, asking the body if that's what it really wants. The premise is sooner or later if we start to really listen to the body we will hear that the cigarette is not wanted by the body.
It is really useful with tackling addiction to think about what you are "gaining", rather than what you are 'loossing". Often the focus can be on stopping; that can feel like a sacrifice and also a misery. Focus your mind to think in the other direction, how will you life benefit, how will your health improve? So, don't let the addiction speak, put it in the context it really is; craving/addiction. Let the focus be on what you want: to feel better, healthier, happier.
If not now then when?
Often we postpone in life, yet "tomorrow" never comes. If being a non-smoker is preferable to you then why not take action now? Aside from being a positive action for your health, it is more friendly socially (come on, smoking is passe!) you will look and smell better, and you're bound to have more vitality and better self esteem. Whatever where on the "plus" side of smoking??? Have a logical think about the pros and cons, make a clear desicion and then get some support... acupuncture? So, enhance you life, do it now!
