Bulan: Agustus 2007

“A stitch in time, saves nine,”–what are those nine savings I do not know. But, I know one thing for certain that right things done at the right time, save you lots of trouble. Any problem of the human beings needs to be treated at three levels. Physical level, mental level and intellectual level. Intelligent counseling targets the intellectual levels of an individual. If done at the appropriate time, it will give results. Anti smoking counseling, is one of the surest medical services, that has capacity to chisel a new man, out of the nicotine addict.

The preventive methods, unfortunately do not reach the entire targeted audience Which means, the profit rate of counseling is as not much as it is expected to be. “These gaps in care should be closed for the benefit of everyone,” said Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which sponsored the study. The study is published in the July issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

When you are stressed in life,cigarettes pose as if they are your friends. But are they really? Are they capable of de -stressing you permanently? The answer is in the negative. Nicotine addiction temporarily sedates you. Stress pounces on you with vendetta again. The funniest part of the smoking process, is that even when you smoke, you know that you are not happy to smoke.

Openly declare your intention to quit smoking with your close friends, both smokers and non-smokers,and your family members. You are sure get support from your family members.

The gentlemen smoker friends will stop offering you the cigarettes. If you drink alcohol, try to give it up. At times, it may be counter productive. It may weaken your resolve to quit smoking. The carvings for the cigarette intensify. But this is one of those situations which you have to undergo and sort out with resolute will power.

In the process to quit smoking, do not hesitate to make your best smoker friends, your temporary best enemies. You are undergoing one of the crisis period in your life. Some of them will understand, as not all of them are happy smokers. They too wish to give up, but they do not know, how to give it up. If you are successful, you will have to do the act of counseling to many many others.

Addiction to tobacco has assumed alarming propositions today in the world. So health advice, and anti smoking counseling are the items of priority, before any health authority.

The need to give anti-tobacco advise at the formative stage of life of the younger generation is bound to give highly beneficial results.

Copyright 2006 Danna Schneider

There are a lot of reasons to quit smoking. We all know the life threatening reasons, but we don’t necessarily understand the the full impact that smoking has on our bodies and minds, and possibly even on others around us.

Women especially are susceptible to some of the more hidden dangers of smoking, and may actually benefit in different ways than men when it comes to smoking cessation.

For example, many women probably do not even know this, but lung cancer is now killing more women every year than breast cancer. That’s right, lung cancer is actually more deadly to a woman than breast cancer, which is by far more talked about in women’s health than lung cancer.

Smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer since nearly 90% of all cases are traced directly to smoking, so it’s important that women really understand the health benefits of quitting smoking.

There are actually a lot more health issues that a woman needs to think about if she is a smoker as well. For example, most contraceptive pills carry warnings on them that the patient should not take the contraceptive birth control pill if she is a smoker.

Her risk of developing heart problems is greatly increased if she is smoking while on the pill, since smoking increases blood pressure, and the pill is known to also increase blood pressure. This creates a double hazard for heart issues.

Another concern may be for a woman’s children. Children many times can develop asthma and other types of breathing problems if the child is exposed to cigarette smoke at a young age. This is also a concern for men, since they are not exempt from this rule either!

There are also a myriad of other health problems, inconveniences and even just “cosmetic” reasons that a woman may want to consider smoking cessation in order that she may be her “best self”.

These don’t necessarily fall into the category of life threatening or imminent dangers, but they certainly can affect your quality of life, as well as your appearance, which is held in high regard in today’s aesthetically concerned society. These additional health and well being benefits to smoking cessation are as follows :

1.) Your skin is greatly affected by smoking, and not in a good way as you can probably imagine. As we age, our skin cell turnover tends to slow down. Smoking actually speeds the process of this slower turnover up, making us essentially age faster.

Add to this the fact that smoking essentially robs our body of oxygen and creates more free radicals, which are skin’s number one enemy and aging’s number one comrade, and you have a recipe for accelerated aging, and sagging, colorless skin.

Most women see a marked improvement in the tone, clarity and firmness of their skin just a few weeks after they quit smoking, especially if they were a heavy smoker.

2.) Your teeth and mouth will thank you. Smoking not only gives you bad breath, but it also turns your teeth yellow, or sometimes even brown from nicotine residue and tabacco staining.

3.) Quitting smoking can greatly help with your mental state. What do I mean? I mean that smoking may seem at first like it is a relaxant, since it tends to immediately feel like it is relieving tension and anxiety once the cigarette is in your mouth and you begin to inhale. Contrary to this belief that cigarettes “calm” you, studies have shown that in the long run smoking actually increases anxiety.

We all know that depression and anxiety tend to go hand in hand, so quitting smoking may also greatly benefit a woman’s psyche.

4.) No more coughing, weezing, and possibly even a reduction in allergies. If you quit smoking, chances are you will breathe a lot easier.

It takes a lot less time for your lungs to heal than you think. Studies have shown that even the most blackened smoker’s lungs have made full recoveries within just a few months after they have quit smoking.

Everyone knows the ill effects of smoking. From kids to adults, everyone is aware of the health hazards that smoking causes. Yet smokers find it hard to give up this habit. This is probably because of nicotine, the addictive substance found in cigarettes. The ill effects of smoking are numerous; thus, one must adopt a planned method to quit smoking. Here are some tips that can help you to quit:

1. First, make up your mind. Honor your commitment and get yourself registered in a smoke-quitting program or visit a counselor or hypnotherapist;

2. Make a list of the reasons why you want to quit smoking and go through it every time you crave a cigarette;

3. Write 10 good things about smoking and 10 bad things about smoking. You’ll notice the difference in the good and the bad. This helps a lot;

4. Buy yourself a nicotine inhaler or Zyban. This will make it a bit easier to give up smoking;

5. Get audiotapes and books related to quitting smoking. Read them and enlighten yourself about all the ill effects of smoking;

6. Consult your doctor if you face seizures or any other complications;

7. Get your friends and family to support you and help you give up smoking;

8. Try to eat fruits, chewing gum, lollipops, hard candy or cinnamon sticks if the urge to smoke arises. Try replacing nicotine with other non-addictive stuff like beer nuts or corn muffins;

9. Keep your mind occupied with creative activities such as knitting, embroidery or carpentry. Take a brisk walk, go for a swim or some other physical activity. This will help to keep your mind off smoking;

10. You may gain some weight while trying to quit smoking. This is because people tend to feel hungry initially when trying to give up smoking. However, this minor problem can be easily handled through regular exercise;

11. In the first few days after quitting, drink plenty of water. This washes away the nicotine and other harmful toxins from your body;

12. Give up coffee and other carbonated drinks when you quit smoking;

13. Ask people around you to stop inviting you to go out for a smoke. This will not only help you to deal with the craving for a cigarette, but give you somebody to talk to about how hard quitting is;

14. Take long deep breaths every time you feel like smoking. When you slowly inhale, feel the fresh air reach deep inside you. While exhaling, feel all the stress and tensions leave your body. Let your chin rest on your chest and relax;

15. Remember, all cravings last only five minutes. If you succeed in diverting your mind for five minutes, you can give up smoking.

You won’t die if you don’t smoke. So never give up when you badly feel like smoking. Make it happen, give up cigarettes and live a long and healthy life.

Smoking is one of those bad habits that are really hard to break and yet smoking can have a devastating impact on your health and your family life. If you are going to learn to break any habit stop smoking and fix your health and your marriage all in one go.

Bad habits are controlling and rule your life, how many times have you promised to give up smoking and yet here you are still throwing money down the drain in pursuit of death!

You may not care how long you live and you may not care that your clothes and your house stink of smoke but what about your partner and your family. Is it fair to make your children breath in the smoke that you throw in their direction even if it’s just off your clothes? What about your partner, there are many petty habits that I would agree your spouse may just have to learn to live with but smoking is in a completely different league. By continuing to smoke you are showing a lack of care towards your family by the shear fact that you are prepared to go to your grave years early, perhaps missing your children grow up and leaving your partner alone just because you are not prepared to take one little step and learn how to break the smoking habit.

I admit that giving up smoking isn’t easy but it can be done, with a little effort and determination you can break any habit.

The evidence against smoking is mounting and along side the evidence of the real harm smoking can cause is the increasing social disapproval of smoking.

You might believe it doesn’t matter that death is a long way off but the older you get the quicker life passes you by and all too soon you wish you had broken the smoking habit years before.

I lost my mother in law to lung cancer a few years back. She was an otherwise healthy individual who enjoyed life to the full. Smoking destroyed her final years and significantly cut short her life. Once she understood that there was more to life than smoking it was too late to for her to break the habit. She left behind an adoring husband and family and her husband now has to see out a good many of his final years alone.

Take it from me, now is the time to stop smoking, not next week, next month or next year. Break the habit now, stop smoking today and if you can’t do it alone, and many people can’t, get help.

One of the presuppositions of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) is that there is a positive intention behind all behaviors. And based on that presupposition, when it comes to successfully eliminating negative behaviors, there is formula that we must always keep in mind. I’ll let you in on the secret in a minute. But first, I have a riddle for you to solve.

Riddle: A minister made his son drink lye, which burned out his vocal chords. What was the positive intention behind his behavior?

If you are like 99.9% of the clients who have come into my office since 1978, you’ll indignantly say something like: There’s no positive intention behind that behavior. But you would be 100% wrong. To answer this riddle, first you have to separate the behavior from the positive intention of the behavior.

The minister’s son was cursing. And the minister believes that if a person curses, his soul will be condemned to Hell. So the answer is that the minister was burning out his son’s voice box so that he couldn’t curse. So he was saving his son’s soul from being condemned to Hell.

The secret formula for success works as follows:
We must always respect the positive intent behind every behavior. If we have a compulsion to use a behavior that we don’t like, we can easily get rid of the compulsion to use that behavior providing we find another behavior to substitute in it’s place that is as effective and available at accomplishing the same outcome, but is more consciously acceptable to you. This is called a REFRAME.

When clients come into my office, one of the first things that I do is to take a through case history. Let’s say that they come in and ask me to help them overcome their appetite. Conventional wisdom tells us that the two main reasons that people eat excessively are:

(1) For relaxation and pleasure;

(2) Because eating can be a conditioned response. For instance, if a person eats while they are watching TV, they will develop a conditioned response, and thereafter, every time they sit down to watch TV, they’ll get cravings and an urge to eat.

However, the above answer only takes into consideration the possible positive intention behind the eating behavior. What if they also have another behavior that is involved in the equation? For example: What if being fat is also a behavior for this person? I can hear your mind grinding right now as you think, Being fat isn’t a behavior, what are you talking about?”

Sorry but you could be 100% wrong. Here is one simple classic text book example that will illustrate the fact that being fat can be a behavior. It can be a behavior because it can accomplish positive outcomes.

Example: A woman is deeply in love. Her boyfriend breaks up with her, and breaks her heart. Her unconscious mind wants to protect her emotionally and prevent her from having her heart broken again. So it motivates her to get fat to keep her out of relationships. That way she won’t get her heart broken again. The point is that everyone is totally different. And sometimes there are hidden elements at work causing compulsive behaviors. These are elements that are different for each person.

Here is another example: A woman comes into my office complaining of an uncontrollable urge to overeat at dinner time. During my case history, upon questioning, the woman explains how she was never been able to satisfy her father.

We did an age regression, and one of her earliest memories was of eating dinner with the family. And dad was insisting in a very loud voice that she clean her plate, even though she was full. So she cleaned her plate out of fear, and dad commended her for eating everything. It was one of the only times in her life that she could recall her dad telling her that he was happy with her.

Shoot forward to present day. Dad’s been dead for years, but the unconscious program he installed is still working. She still has a compulsion to clean her plate, even if she is feeling stuffed, because by cleaning the plate she is getting dad’s approval, and eliminating her fear!

So if you are having a problem making personal changes, keep in mind that there is a positive intention behind all behaviors. And keep in mind “The secret formula for success.”

© 2006 By Alan B. Densky.

It is now a fact that smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causing many diseases and reducing the health of smokers in general. It is also a fact that quitting smoking has immediate as well as long–term benefits. Smoking cigarettes with lower machine-measured yields of tar and nicotine provides no clear benefit to health.

Cigarette smoking causes lung cancer. In fact, smoking tobacco is the major risk factor for lung cancer. People who smoke are 10 to 20 times more likely to get lung cancer or die from lung cancer than people who do not smoke. The longer a person smokes and the more cigarettes smoked each day increases the risk for developing lung cancer.

People who quit smoking have a lower risk of lung cancer than if they had continued to smoke, but their risk is higher than people who never smoked.

You Can Quit Smoking! If you have tried to quit you know how hard it can be and the reason is that nicotine is a very addictive drug. Usually people make two or three tries before they successfully quit. Each time you try to quit and fail, you can learn what works for you and what situations are problematic. If you use proven cessation treatments it can double your chance of success.

Studies have shown that these five steps will help you quit and quit for good. You have the best chances of quitting if you use them together.

First set a quit date and get rid of all cigarettes, ashtrays and lighters. Don´t let people smoke around you. When you quit, don´t smoke at all! Not one single puff or cigarette.

Second – get support from telling your family and friends. Tell your co-workers that you are going to quit and want their support. Ask them not to smoke around you or offer you cigarettes. Talk to your health care provider and get individual, group, or telephone counseling. The more help you have, the better your chances are of quitting.

Third – learn new skills and behaviors so you distract yourself from urges to smoke. Talk to someone, go for a walk, or get busy with a task. When you first try to quit, change your routines. Use a different route to work and drink tea instead of coffee. Eat breakfast in a different place. Drink a lot of water and other fluids.

Fourth – Medications can help you stop smoking and lessen the urge to smoke. The FDA has approved six medications to help you quit smoking and a couple of them, like Nicotine gum, are available over-the-counter. Your health care provider can advice and you should also carefully read the information on the package. These medications will double your chances of quitting and quitting for good.

Fifth – You shall be prepared for relapse and difficult situations. Most relapses occur within the first three months after quitting. Don’t be discouraged if you start smoking again. Remember, most people try several times before they finally quit. The following are some difficult situations you may encounter:

Avoid drinking alcohol. Drinking lowers your chances of success. Being around smoking can make you want to smoke. Many smokers will gain some weight when they quit, usually less than 10 pounds. Eat a healthy diet and stay active.

I smoked for at least 40 years. I really enjoyed it and had no intention of ever quitting, even though I had frequent bouts with pneumonia and related problems. I loved my Marlboros and kept them close to me through every personal crisis that hit me…death of friends & family, loss of jobs, financial problems, broken marriages, illnesses, dysfunctional relationships…normal things that usually happen to normal people.

I tried to quit three or four times and actually did for a week here and there before some perceived crack in my comfort zone drove me right back to my best friend, Marlboro cigarettes. I read all the steps to quit; even followed some of them for a few minutes or days. I even “worked down” from my beloved red pack to the light version.

I made a general announcement, “This is my last cigarette! I quit!” My belief was that I would chat myself into a public hole that would embarrass me enough to prevent relapse. Wrong!

I found things to keep in my mouth to distract me from smoking…hot cinnamon candies, mints, fake plastic cigarettes, nasty-tasting mouthwash. Wrong! Nothing tasted like my Marlboros and I was never distracted from the craving to smoke.

I read that after 3 days, the physical addiction was gone and the rest was emotional, Well, after 3 days my emotions were pounding a drum beat inside my head and I was sure I was going crazy. But I thought about that emotional thing for a while…while I was happily relapsing into nicotine heaven and working up to another bout with pneumonia.

One day, while taking a shower, it came to me that I was using cigarettes as my personal reward system…do the dishes and have a cigarette…take out the garbage and have a cigarette…wash clothes and have a cigarette…put them in the dryer and…you get the idea.

Being somewhat logical, I decided to try quitting smoking in a new way…one I designed myself. I gave myself permission to get some Marlboros anytime I wanted to, but I had to wait 30 minutes before I did it. This removed the “absolutely forbidden” component of trying to break this habit. While waiting for the 30 minutes to pass, I got busy doing something I enjoyed…like playing computer games, writing my genealogy, watching a really good video.

When I felt a need to smoke, I took notice of what task I had just finished…dishes, picking up dog poop on the lawn, etc. This brought the entire nicotine addiction problem down to something I could handle and could understand. Most times, when I got myself involved in some distracting activity while waiting for the 30 minutes to pass, an hour or two had actually gone by.

I have to admit that more than once I grabbed my keys and started out the door to buy some Marlboros. Once I analyzed my own need to smoke (reward system) I could say to myself, “You’ve got to wait 30 minutes,” and it worked. I haven’t smoked for over 10 years.

I still feel a twang of wanting a cigarette when I am stuck in traffic on Southern California freeways. I look around and people in most of the cars around me are smoking. But it is a momentary passing urge that disappears in a moment and no longer controls me. Hope this helps you.

When you decide to stop smoking, you’ll bring on other changes in your life as well. Smoking is a very addictive habit, meaning that it is very hard to quit. There are a lot of changes that take place, although exercise can be a big help to you when you decide to quit.

Try to set a new routine, such as working out or going to the gym. If that isn’t possible, you should try waking up earlier and going for a short walk. If you can turn that walk into a run or a
jog, it is going to be very stimulating and the best way that you can start your day.

Keep in mind that exercise doesn’t really mean pumping metal. If you don’t have the time to stop by the gym every day, then it isn’t really that big of a problem, as you can always choose to workout at home.

Whether you choose to workout at home or at a gym, you should always remember that regularity is the
key. It isn’t getting started that’s the difficult part, it’s sticking to a regular exercise program
that is difficult and proves to be stumbling block for most people.

Some people have a great start. They will buy track suits, gym wear, running shoes, and a lot of other gear, so their first day at the gym is almost like a celebration. As the days go by, they find it very difficult to meet the demands and their routine will slow down a lot and finally come to a complete exercise burnout.

One mistake that several people make is choosing the evenings to exercise. If evenings fit your lifestyle, then it’s fine. For most people however,the evening hours are when they are completely pooped. By the evening most of us are drained, and simply too tired for exercise. Therefore, it is always best to set some time aside for exercise in the morning.

In the morning, wake up a half an hour or so earlier, put on your shoes, and hit the road. Most roads are less crowded in the morning and less polluted as well, making it a wonderful and relaxing
way to start the day.

You should also steer clear from the coffee and try tea instead. If you are moving around in the house, try playing music. You can also redecorate your room by adding a few pictures around. When you redecorate, you should get rid of everything that reminds you of smoking.

Plan your day where you’ll have something fun to do at the end of the day. It doesn’t need to be something that involves money, as you don’t want to end up bankrupt. Spending time with family, playing games, or going for a walk with your family are all good activities.

Watching television doesn’t really fit into the list. The reason is because television isn’t something that demands a lot of attention. You can easily do something else while you are watching television.

You should also make a list of things that build up your stress and try to avoid them. If it isn’t possible, you should try to find out some some ways to bust stress and use them. Whatever you do, you shouldn’t use stress as an excuse to start smoking.

There are many other methods that you can use to beat stress. You can try breathing exercises, mediation, or even music. Another great way to beat stress is using the distressing ball. If you don’t have one or access to one, you can always wiggle your fingers and toes. This too is a great and natural method to beat stress.

The Chinese are known for their ancient healing techniques that make use of nothing but nature’s best. Once such technique is acupuncture which dates back 2,000 years.

Acupuncture is based on an ancient Chinese belief that the body is made up of mystical energy streams. This could be correlated with our knowledge of nerves today and that the nerves are all entwined with each other. The nerves for the shoulders may be next to the nerves for the toes. This means that by stimulating the nerves on the toes, you as well stimulate the nerves on the shoulders. Stimulating one nerve therefore will stimulate another.

Acupuncture does not promise to be a weight loss miracle. What it promises is to affect symptoms related to or that may contribute to weight gain to help being about weight control. Acupuncture therefore can help make weight loss easy and effective.

One example is stress. Stress has been identified as a key factor in certain people’s weight gain. Some people feel the need or urge to eat a lot when they are stressed and they find comfort in doing so. Acupuncture can help promote stress relief and relaxation.

Acupuncture for weight loss involves inserting needles in specific areas or points of the body through which endorphins are known to pass through, to promote calming and relaxing effects.

Endorphins are also known to affect the digestive system, especially metabolism. Therefore, by targeting these points in acupuncture, it is hoped that weight loss can be promoted.

A visit to an acupuncturist for weight loss begins with an assessment of one’s general health. Pulse points are checked, along with the stomach and tongue.

When used to support weight loss goals, acupuncture counts the mouth as an important point, especially for impulsive eaters and heavy smokers.

It also focuses on the stomach for people who continue eating even if they are already full, and the endocrine system for water retention that can cause bloating and weight gain.

Other points act on the spleen for sugar imbalances, the kidneys for hormonal and nervous imbalances as well as water retention and the thyroid for metabolism. Two or more points will be chosen from these depending upon the health and needs of the patient.

Modern technology has also helped the art and science of acupuncture. The acupuncturist may use electro-stimulation to promote the release of endorphins and increase the relaxing and calming effects.

The needles usually stay on for around 30-45 minutes and the number of repeat sessions will depend upon the need of the patient, especially his weight loss goal.

The patient is also taught how to apply the pressure again afterwards for example, when he feels the strong urge to eat heavily or smoke again.

Acupuncture sessions may also be supplemented by herbal medicines as well as counseling on nutrition and lifestyle changes. The acupuncturist may even suggest combining acupuncture with other stress reduction methods. These methods may include yoga and meditation as well as breathing exercises.

Acupuncture is an ancient technique that up to this day promotes several health benefits. Like any other health options however, consistency and determination on the part of the patient is also required.

It does not promise a miraculous loss of weight but it promises to address the problems that lead to weight gain. In the process, the vicious cycle of eating heavily due to stress is put to halt so the weight loss process can proceed.

Acupuncture aims to promote harmonious flow of energy through the body for better health and life.

What would you and your partner do with £407,887.50? Spend it on cigarettes perhaps? Well, if you and your partner both smoke 60 cigarettes a day between you, and you both smoke for another 50 years, this is exactly how much it will cost you.

Maybe you’re thinking that you don’t smoke that much. Ok then, a smoker who smokes 20 cigarettes a day for just 10 years will spend £19,892.50.

A smoker who plans to smoke 30 a day for 30 years will waste £105,941.25.

These figures are based on a packet of cigarettes costing £5 for the first year and then increasing by 10 pence per pack per year thereafter, and this is not unreasonable to assume.

As well as the health dangers, perhaps any smoker should be asking themselves if they can afford to smoke. Over four hundred thousand pounds would pay off more than the average mortgage and buy a few nice cars but because the money spent on cigarettes is passed over the counter daily without any fuss, its absence is not really noticed.

Imagine holding a box containing £105,941.50 in cash and being told that you can have it back in 30 years if you don’t smoke, or smoke 30 a day for 30 years and never see the money again. Incredibly, most smokers would probably choose the 2nd option and then spend a few days or weeks chasing a tenth of a percent on a mortgage deal! These are the smokers that are not ready to stop smoking.

This illogical reasoning is caused by our rational thinking which has to come up with reasons why we do the things we do. The only problem is that sometimes if it can’t find a reason it will come up with an excuse such as “I won’t notice the daily fiver”.

Anyone wishing to give-up smoking and who passes the box test, who is willing to throw their cigarettes in the bin and look forward to getting their hands on the cash in 30 years, need only to put the money that they would have spent on cigarettes in a savings account! Don’t forget that this figure will be even greater because of the interest it earns.

So, how do you stop smoking? Most smokers know that smoking is expensive, both financially and in terms of health, but the fear of stopping seems even worse. Many people think that they will be ratty, not be able to concentrate, need new wallpaper as they will be climbing the walls and generally unable to cope with the imagined withdrawal symptoms and cravings. This fear of stopping is greater than the fear of smoking. Again, our rational thinking sometimes works against us.

If you could stop smoking virtually instantly, feel good, not experience any withdrawal symptoms or cravings and know that this change was for life and costs a fraction of the money that you would have spent if you were to carry on smoking, would you stop smoking now?

The aim of smoking cessation with good, professional hypnotherapy is to help you become a happy non-smoker virtually instantly.

What would you rather do, possibly spend hundreds of thousands of pounds feeding a habit that has not got one single benefit to it or stop smoking easily, quickly, naturally and safely?

Imagine someone offered you a box containing £105,941.50……..