How to Use Yoga and Self-Hypnosis to Quit Smoking
"Smoke," by Split Shire.
A lot of people struggle with smoking addiction. There are some who don’t want to stop, but quite a few who have become more health-conscious have realized they need to quit in order to live a healthier life. We at Patanjali Institute, through our founder Dr. Sohail Ebady, have helped a lot of clients quit smoking.
Dr. Ebady uses yoga and self-hypnosis in helping clients stop destructive habits, and he says that quitting smoking is actually easy if you know how to approach it. “You need to get the cooperation of your subconscious mind,” he says.
The subconscious is a powerful driving force in all of our actions, and by making it cooperate with you in your struggle to quit smoking, it will be much easier to accomplish.
Dr. Ebady, who gives yoga teacher training courses in Bali and Thailand, says that practicing yoga and self-hypnosis regularly can empower anyone to quit smoking for life. He gives the following tips to follow:
1. Practice positive thinking
“As you think, so you become.” By practicing positive thinking, you condition your mind to live the life you want, and that is living healthy without the smoking habit.
Dr. Ebady suggests you start by repeating this sentence 20 times every morning when you wake up: “Positive thinking brings me what I wish.”
What it does is that it tells your subconscious mind to be open to your suggestions and ideas. Whenever you get the urge to smoke, repeat this sentence and tell yourself firmly that you can avoid the temptation of smoking. Do this throughout the day.
2. Do some visualizations
Aside from the mantra, also imagine yourself throughout the day as a nonsmoker, specifically seen in certain places and situations. If you usually go to the smoking area of your office after a meal, for example, imagine yourself standing there without a cigarette.
Visualizing yourself in that context as a nonsmoker works because most unwanted habits are programmed and deeply rooted in the subconscious. When you are trying to break it, replace it with an image of what you want to be, so that your mind can be deprogrammed and reprogrammed with a more positive imagery.
Other visualizations you can do include:
- Imagine it is the morning and you are having breakfast, drinking tea or coffee. You feel good that you are a nonsmoker.
- Imagine you are working in front of your computer and you are a nonsmoker.
- Imagine you are waiting for a friend who is already late and you are a nonsmoker.
- Imagine you are laughing, recognizing that your lungs are clear because for many months you did not smoke.
- Imagine in general about yourself that you are very healthy and a non-smoking person.
3. “I am always healthy, and I am a nonsmoker”
Finally, repeat another mantra throughout the day to strengthen your resolve to develop a healthier attitude towards life. Say: “I am always healthy, and I am a nonsmoker” during self-hypnosis and also during yoga and meditation. Also say it every time you get tempted to smoke, or when a negative thought occurs.
Quitting a destructive habit like smoking doesn’t need to require a lot of money nor does it have to be frustrating. Learn how you can do it with yoga and self-hypnosis through our Yoga Teacher Training and Hypnotherapy Training facilitated by Dr. Ebady.
To read the full version of this article, plus detailed instructions on how to practice self-hypnosis and meditation, check out his article Yoga & Self-Hypnosis to Quit Smoking.
