Hypnotherapy is therapy that is undertaken with a subject in hypnosis. Quit Smoking Hypnotherapy London Courses is a blog talking about courses on how to stop smoking through hypnotherapy by licensed hypnotherapists in London.
LONDON, June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Have you recently quit smoking and want to let everyone know about your achievement, or do you need an extra incentive to give up the cigarettes for good? Then why not enter the European Smoke Free Awards 2009?
Held for the first time in 2008, the awards are a chance to win a share of 7,000 Euros in holiday vouchers, with the Quitter of the Year scooping 5,000 holiday Euros and the runner up winning 2,000 holiday Euros.
A range of countries across Europe are participating in the awards, with each country putting forward one finalist who will win a trip to the awards ceremony in Barcelona in February 2010. You can also nominate a healthcare professional who has helped smokers quit and a public figure who has made an impact on smoking policy.
To enter or nominate, please contact your national Quitline:
Last year's European Quitter of the Year was Milos Hlohovsky from the Czech Republic. Milos' story of how he stopped smoking up to 25 cigarettes a day to improve his health and free himself from the slavery of cigarettes, inspired the judges to award him top prize. Milos, who smoked for 48 years before quitting, said: "My life has been much better since. I have fresh breath and I do not smell of smoke. My wife is really pleased I have quit smoking too and I have encouraged several of my friends to stop or reduce their smoking. My doctor is also glad as my blood pressure is now like a young man!"
Steve Crone, chairman of the European Network of Quitlines, said: "Last year's first European Awards were a great success, and we are hoping for even more inspirational stories this year from people across Europe. We are looking for Europeans who have already quit or who are prepared to register and quit. There has never been a better time to quit with so many clinically proven treatments available and excellent support from a range of health care professionals including Quitline counsellors and GPs."
Smokers and ex-smokers must have quit on or since January 1, 2008 and have until December 31, 2009 to register or enter. They must have been smoke-free for at least six months to enter the competition. Only the most inspirational stories will be contacted to go through to the next stage.
All the winners will be announced after the award ceremony (February 2010) on each country's website. Rules of entry are also on the websites.
Notes to Editors:
Photographs and case studies are available on request
The European Smoke Free Awards 2009 are supported by Pfizer, which has provided financial assistance for the awards programme.
The European Network of Quitlines has full editorial control of all materials relating to the European Smoke Free Awards and full control over the selection criteria and selection of finalists and winners.
RULES OF ENTRY
Nominees must have stopped smoking on or after January 1, 2008 and must have been smoke free for six months before entering. The deadline for entries is December 31, 2009. Entries must include a recent photograph. Nominees must be aged above the legal age for smoking in their country of residence. Entrants from the 2008 Awards (excluding individual country winners) may enter if they meet the above criteria. No liability will be accepted for lost, damaged or delayed entries. Proof of posting cannot be accepted as proof of delivery. No cash prize available. Final choice of the awards is at the Selection Panel's discretion. The Selection Panel's decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into. Entrants must be prepared to co-operate in any media coverage. Entrants must agree to the use of their name and photograph in any materials produced by the European Network of Quitlines and/or Pfizer in relation to the awards. All nominees must consent to their country's Quitline contacting their doctor and agree to take part in a saliva test to confirm they are an ex-smoker. The contest is not open to employees and families of anyone connected with the organisation of the competition.
This is a very great contest for those who want to Stop and Quit Smoking with Hypnotherapy Courses, methods and aids with the help of hypnotherapists in London.
SAVE YOUR LIFE NOW! GRAB YOUR HOW TO QUIT SMOKING IN A WEEK FLAT BOOK NOW!
Most smokers who have tried to kick the habit will agree to one thing — it is quite easy to get into the habit, but when it comes to quitting, it is not that simple to tell oneself to stop reaching for that pack on the store counter. For a lot of people who have successfully stopped smoking for good, it was most probably not a one-shot deal. It is common to try to start quitting and fail, once, twice or any number of times, before finally being able to quit.
An interesting feature on WebMD’s Stop Smoking Support and Tips by Gina Shaw, however, shares a few relaxation techniques that might help those who would like to quit smoking kick the habit for good. The article does mention that there are no hard-hitting scientific facts and observations – not yet, anyway – to back up how effective these techniques are in helping people stop smoking, but the American Cancer Society’s Vice Ppresident for Epidemiology and Surveillance Research, Michael Thun, M.D., concurs that these approaches might be of help.
yogaThese techniques are held together by a common factor: all involve deep breathing. The reason why these might help is that smokers are generally used to breathing deeply while puffing into a cigarette, and this might be a practice that they no longer do once they try to quit. Forgetting to practice deep breathing may lead to an increase in tension levels, which leads to that “fuzzy”, “grumpy” and “out of sorts” feeling that smokers who try to quit sometimes get.
Here are techniques that experts on quitting smoking as well as counselors on the American Cancer Society Quitline recommend.
Practice deep breathing. Whether one is trying to quit smoking or not, this is a good exercise to calm you down. It involves taking in a deep breath, filling your lungs with air as the stomach expands. Once the lungs are full, pause for a minute before exhaling, repeating this process with the eyes closed until one feels calm and relaxed.
Guided imagery. This technique was recommended by Trina Ita, a counseling supervisor for Quitline. It involves imagining how one would address difficult situations without resorting to smoking.
T’ai chi. This martial art looks more like dance than what most people perceive a martial art is, with its fluid movements and postures. There are researchers in the University of Miami who are reportedly studying its effectiveness for a smoking-cessation program.
Other recommended techniques are meditation and yoga. The concluding advice given by Shaw to those who would like to explore this technique is to choose a technique that suits one’s lifestyle and that one would enjoy.
This is a flare diary for Kossacks who are interested in quitting smoking. Within a comments thread in Rosebuddear's recent diary Not smoking, day 2 came the idea to form a Kos quit-smoking challenge, or support group. One commenter posted a pre-intention to quit on Monday, July 15. Another came up with the acronym GUS (Gave Up Smoking).
And, will you look at that? From the fledgling seeds of a comment thread comes GUS (Gave Up Smoking), and the target date for quitting smoking is this Monday, June 15. Contact information for those who are interested can be found at the tail end of this diary.
"This time... it's personal" is a phrase that is commonly associated with sequels to Hollywood blockbuster action flicks. GUS is not a sequel, though Gus is the name of a bark-happy beagle, the first family pet that I remember. This is an example of making it personal, with more to follow.
Why make quitting smoking a personal matter? For chrissakes, where have you been the last fifty years? Health risks? (coff-coff) Is it not enough for you to simply decide "I don't want to die," and just put the coffin nails down? Anecdotally, some doctors and psychologists view smoking as a form of "covert suicide."
I mean, it's not like we haven't been informed, unlike those poor souls who were subject to some really examples of advertising-as-high-absurdity through much of the 20th century.
Gone are the days when cigarette brands lured a relatively more diverse cross-section of endorsees:
Actors
Professional sports figures
... feminists?
... doctors?
... puppies?
... babies??
... Santa Claus???
Fast forward to the present day, and what have we got?
We've come a long way, baby. A cartoon character. I won't rant over the aspect of Joe Camel, phallic nose and all, as subliminal drug pusher to youth culture (this can include 43 year-old Peter Pans like myself, as well). So here we go, into the heart of my current motivation to quit smoking.
I hate being lied to. Or, more pointedly, my level of disdain over being lied to is inversely proportionate to the creative effort being used to bullshit me. Those ads of the previous century? Having been born after most of them found print, I can't offer an accurate reaction, had I come across one while flipping through the pages of Life magazine. Like many, I see these ads, chuckle, and shrug my shoulders in ironic reaction to this display of kitsch, while secretly admiring the guts of these former marketing efforts. Santa Claus???
Now the cat is out of the bag. Smoking kills. On the side of what will hopefully be my last pack of cigarettes going into GUS day comes the following Surgeon General's Warning:
Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May Complicate Pregnancy.
So while Mickey Mantle, Ronald Reagan, and the Super Feminist may have been served some cloudy data as regards cigarette smoking, well... in the current day, we're now crystal clear on this information. That any such advertising exists for a known killer of 440,000 Americans per year, much less a goddamned cartoon character, is an insult to my intelligence.
Isn't this screwed up... on my part? To repeat: the logical consequences of smoking do not factor into my decision to quit as much as a vain perception that Big Tobacco is out to hump me. But then again, and I think I speak for many smokers, if common sense applied to this life style, then most of us would have given this shit up years ago.
Jacquelyn Rogers is the author of the book You Can Stop Smoking (Powell's Books link here), and the founder of the Smokenders program. In this book, she emphasizes the importance of coming up with highly personal, even selfish reasons to quit smoking, as a means of postive motivation:
Establish a positive attitude for your reasons to quit--not as a form of self-denial or sacrifice, but as an exchange for something that is of greater value. That's an interesting twist, particularly when most smokers are used to thinking of quitting as giving up something they consider worthwhile. (p.160)
Here is my own list of very personal reasons to quit smoking.
Physical benefits (it's not just lung cancer...)
*Eyes are bright and clear; no longer blood-shot or puffy. *It's easy to ride my bike now--even up hills. *No longer have to accommodate pocket space for a pack of smokes. *No more late afternoon headaches. *Better sex! *My apartment is cleaner, and smells better.
Social benefits (where being shamed fails, these ideas win!)
*Sat through a two-hour film without squirming past my friends to have a smoke. *The act of smoking is aesthetically silly. *I can concentrate on your side of a conversation without being distracted by my cigarette. *Doing my part to be a complete human being, and not some meaningless statistic on the data sheet of some Big Tobacco Exec.
Emotional benefits (... but what about the good feelings that I'll have when I quit?)
*I am able to get things done, without being stalled by a cigarette. *No more "where did I leave my smokes?" *I love the support from family and friends. *Feeling more emotionally connected helps to greater facilitate my art work. *I feel good about giving myself an annual $2400 raise.
In wrapping this up: my big flip-off at the tobacco companies is the booster fuel I am using as motivation. But to sustain my recovery from nicotine, I invite more postive and highly-personal things I stand to gain, once the tar starts to clear my system.
SallyCat will be heading up Monday's launching of GUS. Through this week, there will be diaries from fellow Kossacks (GUSsacks?) who will be documenting their attempts to quit smoking journeys into smoke-free living. Also, bgblcklab1 is in the GUS on-deck circle, slated to post a diary tomorrow. Your encouragement and participation is much appreciated.
Also, I couldn't resist this:
Airplane: The Movie!
***** ***** *****
UPDATE X1: While manning the comments section of this diary, I had been listening to the Nick Digilio show on WGN radio (AM 720, Chicago). At the top of the hour (9PM CST), Nick broached the subject of recent cigarette taxes that have driven the cost of a pack to $8 a pack, in these parts. I phoned in, and actually got on the air! While Nick focused on the sub-topic of taxes and the cost of smoking, I gracefully managed to ease into the conversation a mention of the Daily Kos smoke-out this Monday. I will update this diary with a podcast, as soon as it is available (if you're still here at that point, I am listener "Chris from Ukranian Village").
The downside of all this: while I've been geeking out on my laptop tonight, Nick gave mention to the World Naked Bike Ride, currently happening. In Chicago. This very moment. Folks... time for me to go out and get some fresh air!
***** ***** *****
UPDATE X2: Within some comments, the issue of physical discomfort from nicotine withdrawal is mentioned. I concede to having neglected this issue in my initial post.
As happens with alcohol and heroin withdrawal, be prepared for varying levels of discomfort when you put down the smokes. There are many products available to help you do this, nicotine substitute products (gums, patches) being the most popular.
This update is not an endorsement of any particular method. I do endorse checking with your doctor. If you do not have a doctor, then by all means, give it your best shot, but be easy on yourself if is too much for you to handle at this time. As a friend of mine, a ten-year recovered smoker, told me after one of my relapses: "Every failure brings you one step closer to success, if you keep trying."
This is a very great article for those who want to Stop and Quit Smoking with Hypnotherapy Courses, methods and aids with the help of hypnotherapists.
Some 30 health care professionals will complete a clinical hypnosis course conducted by London College of Clinical Hypnosis in collaboration with Tan Tock Seng Hospital in October.
The whole session will take about 1.5 hours and according to therapist Mdm Karen Ong from the London College of Clinical Hypnosis, the therapy is very safe.
Sheila Menon, principal, London College of Clinical Hypnosis, said: "What happens is when a smoker decides to quit smoking, they can go into a relaxed state and focus acutely on what it is they want to achieve and they can break the habit. In addition to that, they can also imagine themselves as a non-smoker in the future."
But does this method work for teenagers who do not want to quit smoking?
Ms Menon said: "When a parent brings a teenager who really doesn't want to quit, we quite often say, 'Why not give it a shot? Try out being a non-smoker and you can choose to remain a non-smoker, or go back to smoking.'"
The hope is that they will benefit from the attempt. - CNA/vm/ls
SAVE YOUR LIFE NOW! GRAB YOUR HOW TO QUIT SMOKING IN A WEEK FLAT BOOK NOW!
(NaturalNews) We have all heard how bad tobacco products are for our health. Smoking is an addiction that is very difficult to quit, but there are proven techniques that help increase your chances of not only quitting smoking, but never smoking a cigarette again. One of the most effective treatments in helping people to finally stop smoking is the alternative method of hypnotherapy.
According to the American Heart Association, 47.1 million people smoke in the United States. Of men in the United States, 23.5% smoke and out of women in the United States, 18.1% smoke. The statistics are even higher when looking at the worldwide statistics of cigarette smokers.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are 4000 chemicals in cigarette smoke, 50 of which are known to cause cancer. According to WHO, half of the world's population of children (700 million children) are exposed to tobacco smoke. The International Labour Organization estimates that 200,000 people around the world die from second-hand smoke at work. These statistics show that not only is it important for an individual to quit smoking, but it is also important that they quit for the health of those around them as well.
Smoking is a physical and mental addiction. People become used to the feeling they get from a cigarette. They get used to having a cigarette in their hand and it occupies a great deal of time throughout their day; smokers become used to having an oral fixation with cigarettes. These are all physical aspects of their habit. The mental addiction can be more difficult to overcome. The actual addiction is mental and there is very little someone can do physically to help overcome the mental addiction to cigarettes.
Moses (1987) performed research on treating smoking with hypnotherapy. The researcher points out that smoking deals with habit, addiction, and willpower. All three of these aspects are difficult to treat alone, let alone all together, but hypnosis has shown to be effective in treating the habit, addiction, and one's willpower to quit. The suggestions used in this study were to get smokers to change the way they viewed smoking and also to become more aware of the negative health effects smoking was doing to their body and overall health. Hypnosis was used to target the smokers' habit, addiction, and willpower to effectively help them quit smoking. Results of the study showed that using hypnosis suggestions was very beneficial in helping people abstain from smoking tobacco.
Smoking has many negative effects on ones physical and mental health as well as the health of those around smokers. Quitting smoking has so many positive influences on one's health and a positive economic impact. It is important for people to look into alternative methods of quitting smoking. Hypnosis generally requires only a few sessions to help people quit smoking in the long-term having a huge positive impact on a person's life.
Moses, F. (1987). Treating smoking behavior by discussion and hypnosis: Destroying the myths of habit, addiction, and willpower. Psychology: A Quarterly Journal of Human Behavior, 24(1-2), 1-9.
"smoking statistics." American Heart Association. Retrieved June 1, 2009: http://www.americanheart.org/presen...
World Health Organization. Retrieved June 1, 2009: http://www.who.int/features/qa/60/e...
