How to quit cigarettes and stop smoking using NLP and Hypnotherapy. Phone Abby Eagle on 07 5562 5718 or send an email to book a free 20 minute telephone or Skype consultation. NLP Hypnotherapy Gold Coast, Robina Australia... Neuro Linguistic Programming sessions - Cigarettes and sleep - Drug and Alcohol rehab program Gold Coast - online coaching available on Skype.
By Abby Eagle (2016)
If you want to quit smoking cigarettes then I invite you to think of it as a challenge. This immediately should get you thinking of how to move from the back seat into the drivers seat of your life.
You see, in general, people smoke cigarettes, marijuana, drink alcohol, eat chocolate and overeat because they are trying to suppress and medicate a negative emotion like boredom, loneliness, stress and anxiety. On the other hand they are trying to bring in a positive feeling like confidence and relaxation. In some cases they are trying to give themselves something like love or nurturance. So the bad habit has a positive intention, that is it serves them in some way. More often than not they are trying to quieten their internal dialogue – that is quieten their mind.
Some smokers will claim that they have an addiction to nicotine. On some level this could be true but then using the addiction model we could say that people could get addicted to any emotional state. For example, any activity which has a strong emotional component like surfing, dancing, sky diving and sex can be thought of as an addiction but is this useful?
If you think of yourself as having an addiction then does this put you in the back seat or the drivers seat of your mind? Using cigarettes as an example, the smoker has to know when to have a cigarette. The cigarettes don’t just light themselves and jump into the mouth. The smoker is the one doing the smoking. They have to know when to smoke. There will be some trigger – could be an external trigger like the sight of something or someone. Could be an internal trigger like a picture in the mind, a feeling or a thought. And this is where NLP excels. NLP gives us tools and techniques to help people get inside their mind and discover how it works such that you can change your mind and behaviour. NLP shows you how to get in to the drivers seat of your mind.
Continuing with our smoking example, there has to be a thought process. Either an image, internal dialogue or feeling arises. For example, the person thinks to themself. “I need a cigarette.” And because of the way the visual, auditory and kinaesthetic cortex’s are connected in the brain there is synaesthesia between the senses. What this means is that if you think the words to have a cigarette there will probably be an associated image and feeling. The body sensation, the feeling that is associated with the thought is commonly known as the craving.
By bringing awareness to the self talk and changing the sub distinctions like volume, tonality and tempo, and then directing the unconscious mind to access a resource state like playfulness and inserting a positive statement that is conducive to achieving a desired outcome the brain learns, “Not the thought for a cigarette but this other positive thought.” So we redirectionalise the brain by mobilising internal resources. This puts you squarely in the power seat of your mind and ultimately your life.
Since I am only able to physically work with a limited number of people I recorded a stop smoking mp3 that you can listen to. It is quite different to how I work with a client face to face but the mp3 does have a high degree of success. If you are interested you can download it from my website.
If you want to stop smoking cigarettes or marijuana - or deal with any addictive behaviour for that matter then contact me using the webform in the top right of this page. We can work face-to-face at my office on the Gold Coast or via Skype.