smoking (cough, cough)

[Buckwheat]

How is the quit going? I sure hope you are doing well.

[ground]

i have been smoking for 35 years. i have tried to quit a thousand times before - ...
so, today is day one - and i have already confronted mr. nic-o-teen with several greetings of "hello, my old friend habit energy - i see you"
so far so good.
any good words would be appriciated.
thank you.
delf

I hope you are still on track.
Since it is all about abandoning habits the most obvious and unwholesome ones should be abandoned first. To spare the abandonment of these "for later when the time will be right" is likely to undermine the abandoment of all other habits and thus progress on the path may be blocked in the first place.

Kind regards

[Moth]

I used to smoke as well. Switching to e-cigs helped, but I relapsed a few times after that (usually from bumming a smoke or buying a pack and throwing it out). What really helped me quit was to focus entirely on the unpleasant aspects of smoking, and also by comparing the expectation to the experience itself. For example, if I saw others smoke I would reflect upon how they were rolling the dice with cancer, perpetuating addiction, etc. If I relapsed I focused on the gross feeling and the unsatisfied craving that lingered afterwards, and the sense of shame and disappointment I felt towards myself. If you keep focusing on the negative aspects eventually it will lose its appeal and you will become disenchanted.

[delf7]

Hi delf7,

Here's a link to an article describing using Mindfulness meditation to "urge surf." It is used by Psychotherapists to help "people recovering from addictions to alcohol and other drugs. It can actually be used to help with any addictive behaviour such as gambling, overeating, inappropriate sex or any other destructive impulses." Hope it helps.

And be gentle with yourself. I took me many failures to finally succeed in my final quit. I wish you the best.

Peace,
Don

Note: I've also attached the article as a PDF

thank you very much for the link & pdf. i have printed it out and looked it over. i think this will be of some help.

[delf7]

How is the quit going? I sure hope you are doing well.

thank you for asking. things are going o.k. i have not been able to go longer than 3 or 4 days without a re-lapse, tho.
as of right now, i'm pretty much "on track". i am down from over a pack a DAY when i started this "quit", to 2 packs a WEEK! i plan to cut that in half in a week, then cut that in half the next week. my goal is to be DONE smoking at all by the 6th of february, as that will give me 3 weeks to get over the final withdrawl before my 10-day retreat at the end of the month. i don't want to be distracted by nicotine withdrawl symptoms durring my 1st retreat.
thanx again for asking, everyone, as it helps me want to quit even more when there are people giving encouragement!

[Buckwheat]

Good... I look forward to your return from retreat with a month of smoke free breathing under your belt. Wishing you the best.