Nicotine patches are a form of nicotine replacement therapy to help you quit smoking by replacing the cigarettes and cigars you would use to obtain nicotine with a less toxic method of delivery. While you still get the nicotine you are trying to avoid, the point in using them is so that you don’t experience the craving you normally get from your smoking addiction when you don’t smoke.

Nicotine patches have been found to be more effective in helping you quit if you use them along with some kind of psychological or behavioural therapy or hypnosis.

How Nicotine patches work.

Nicotine patches are plaster like skin patches impregnated with nicotine. You stick them on an arm or body surface and they gradually release nicotine through your skin over a period of time (up to 3 hours to get into your blood, with effect lasting for 16-24hours depending on brand and dose).

They are usually waterproof so you can wear them while bathing or any other activity.

You would normally change your patch with a fresh one once a day.

The patches come in different sizes and contain different doses. Larger patches tend to contain higher quantities of nicotine. Some manufacturers recommend starting with a larger patches and gradually switching to smaller sized patches (and reduced doses) over a period of time.

Nicotine patches help you to diminish the normal nicotine withdrawal symptoms of fidgeting, irritation, inability to concentrate, drowsiness etc.

Side effects:

Some people have claimed to become dependent on their nicotine patches – which is not unexpected since they also supply nicotine to the body.

Nicotine patches have been found to cause dizziness, sped up heartbeat, headaches, vomiting, skin problems, sleeping problems, vivid dreams, in some people. Some users find that removing their patches in the evenings helps them alleviate sleep disturbances.

How do I use a nicotine patch

You should however use the patches according to the directions given to you by your doctor who has your medical records and is aware of specific information concerning you, and your body that the manufacturers will not be aware of.

Normally, the patches are simply Nicotine impregnated plasters you can apply to any hairless part of your skin. It is best to place them on your shoulder, back or upper arm.

Since the patches can cause skin rashesor irritation in some people, try to apply new patches to different parts of your body each time rather than the same place each day.

Don’t remove your patch and put it back on. Don’t use patches and cigarettes at the same time – they are substitutes for the cigarettes you would normally use.

Change your patch to a new one daily. Avoid using more than one patch a day.

It can take up to 8 weeks to quit but they have been shown to cut craving in under 2 weeks.

How effective are Nicotine Patches:

This is debatable with a range of studies showing effectiveness from 10%-40%. They are more effective when used with some other method of quitting as they only cut down on the withdrawal symptoms.

What is Chantrix

Chantrix is a nicotine-free replacement therapeutic drug you can use to help you quit smoking cigarettes. Its active Ingredient is Vareniciline Tartrate. It is especially useful in helping you if you are one of those who experience severe withdrawal symptoms when you stop smoking.

Chantrix acts as a replacement therapy by providing you with the same effect nicotine has on you without its very dangerous effects.

How Chantrix helps in Giving up Smoking

Your brain has special cells called receptors which respond to chemicals or drugs. Many drug therapies make use of this response and several. drugs are designed to copy the effect of natural chemicals on these receptors e.g. sleeping pills, anti-depression pills etc.

There is a portion of the brain that nicotine acts on to create a very pleasurable sensation. Just like cocaine and heroine it causes the release of a substance called Dopamine which produces intense pleasurable sensations in the body. This is why it is hard to stop smoking without help.

What the drug Chantrix has been designed to do is to attach to and occupy the same portion of the brain that nicotine would normally attach to.

This has two very important effects that can help you to stop smoking.

1. If you smoke, the nicotine from your cigarette has fewer cells to attach to and is therefore ineffective – This is why many smokers have reported that they don’t enjoy smoking while on chantrix i.e. the nicotine loses its satisfaction.
2. Secondly, because Chantrix can stimulate the same receptors as nicotine, it provides some of the pleasure of smoking and reduces the craving to smoke. So you don’t feel compelled to light up a cigarette.

Side Effects of Chantrix

Some users of Chantrix are said to have experienced:
Depression, Suicidal thoughts, Behavioural changes
Irritability, Unusually aggressive behaviour
Headache, Insomnia, Abnormal or colorful dreams or nightmares
Stomach upsets, constipation, flatulence , indigestion
Nausea, Vomiting
Changes in the way food tastes

People who may wish to avoid Chantrix or use it with caution:

People with asthmatic conditions
During Pregnancy
Diabetes sufferers
People with Kidney problems
Mental health issues
Undergoing Anticoagulant treatment
People predisposed to suicidal thoughts or depression

Efficacy

It can be very hard to quit smoking but a combination of behavioural changes and medication should help you to stop smoking permanently. Some studies have shown chantrix to be 44% effective in helping smokers to quit smoking.

Smoking is one of the most difficult addictions and habits to stop. It can be extremely hard to stop because there are both psychological and physiological symptoms to the addiction. Or to put it a different way, smokers are hooked both by the chemical effects to the body – nicotine addiction and dependency – as well as the seemingly positive effects on the mind such as getting rid of stress, feeling calm, boosts in confidence etc.

There is no one method of stopping smoking that works for everyone, so it can prove difficult to say which is the best way for any particular individual Notwithstanding, it is possible to stop smoking as demonstrated by thousands who have succeeded in getting rid of the habit and breaking their addictions permanently

You need to identify a program that suits you in particular. Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) has been used effectively in many instances of smoking addiction and is one of the most common strategies of getting free of smoke addiction. It is often used in addition to other therapeutic methods including other medication, addiction counselling and psychological therapy.

In any therapy for smoking addiction, you are very likely to experience withdrawal symptoms. How successful you are in dealing with the withdrawal symptoms is likely to determine how successful you are in dealing with your addiction.

If you are undergoing Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT), you are provided with patches, gums, oral inhalers or nasal sprays containing low quantities of nicotine. These are intended to reduce your withdrawal symptoms by releasing a low quantity of nicotine at intervals to combat the craving of the addiction. Over a period of time, the dosage of nicotine is reduced gradually to allow your mind and body to accept lesser and lesser quantities of nicotine, until it can be stopped completely.

The success rate of Nicotine Replacement Therapy is relatively high and it is said few people who successfully complete the therapy relapse even after years of kicking the smoking habit. Many authorities consider Nicotine Replacement Therapy, NRT to be the best way to stop smoking.

It is important to not succumb to the temptation to smoke during NRT. Smoking cigarettes during Nicotine Replacement Therapy could be dangerous as you are likely to end up taking in even more Nicotine than you absorbed when you were only smoking cigarettes.

You can obtain Nicotine patches and Nicotine gums over the counter but other forms of NRT have to taken under medical supervision and provided by authority of a medical practitioner.

You can also get medical treatment for smoking as opposed to replacement therapy.Zyban is a drug made from the chemical Bupropion. Bupropion originally developed and marketed as an anti-depressant was later found to be effective as a smoking cessation aid. It stimulates the body to release dopamine and norepinephrine which are naturally occurring chemicals in the body that produce the same kind of pleasure, calm and feelings experienced by smokers while smoking.

Zyban or Bupropion therapy has a modest success rate. Some smokers return to smoking after a while. Hence if you take Zyban to give up smoking and succeed you should still maintain contact with your physician. Because of its other effect, Zyban must only be taken under medical supervision. It is to be avoided by people suffering from epilepsy or cardiac conditions. Pregnant women are also advised to not take it. Unlike some other drugs, Bupropion does not causes erectile dysfunction or sexual dysfunction.

Some smokers and nicotine addicts profit from psychological counselling.

Psychological counselling is useful in combating the withdrawal symptoms that can occur such as anxiety, stress and mood changes. Seeking counselling from experienced professionals can help you become emotionally stronger and determined. They can instruct you on coping strategies, avoidance mechanisms and also reinforce your determination to quit smoking as they remind you of the immediate and long term advantages to your health and general well being of giving up the smoking habit.

Alternative therapies including yoga and meditation can also prove beneficial in kicking the habit.

For some you, however, the best way for you to quit smoking is by going cold turkey. You may be able to decide you are not going to smoke any longer. Stub out your cigarette, and refuse to light another – ever. You will need all your will power. But if you can, this is great and without any of the side effects of the drug and chemical therapies.

Zyban is a nicotine free drug used in the treatment of cigarette addiction. It helps by reducing your urge to smoke.As it contains no nicotine, it can be used with nicotine replacement patches and gums under medical supervision.

Zyban is Glaxo’s version of the drug Bupropion Hydrochloride specially formulated for slow sustained release in the body. Buproprion is also the main active component of the anti-depressant Wellbutrin. To avoid dangerously high quantities of the drug in your blood stream, you are advised not to use Zyban or other versions of the drug as an anti-smoking remedy if you are being treated for depression with Wellbutrin

How does Zyban work?

Zyban as an anti-smoking therapy was discovered by chance. The active ingredient of Zyban was originally used as a treatment for depression, but it was found that many users were giving up smoking. Further investigation revealed that it blocks the chemicals which when released by nicotine result in pleasurable sensations. It also reduces craving for nicotine and withdrawal symptoms.

How to use Zyban

Zyban is taken orally in tablet form. You are expected to be able to stop smoking within 12 weeks of starting the treatment. The adult dosage is 300mg of Zyban daily and you should be able to reduce your cigarette usage within a few weeks. Some sources recommend that you cease taking the drug if it is not effective within 7 weeks.

Side effects of Zyban

Most people tolerate Zyban well, but there are a large number of possible side effects including sleeplessness, nausea, vomiting, headache, weight variation, nervousness, dizziness, skin rashes and disorders, constipation, diarrhoea, tremors, anxiety, tinitus (ringing sounds in the ears), sweating, high body temperature, abnormal dreams, cough, drowsing

You want to stop smoking. Perhaps you’ve never tried but are convinced you could stop if you did. Or perhaps you have tried to stop several times – and failed. Why did you fail? Possibly you did not prepare yourself for the mental challenge of stopping – and it’s a massive mental challenge. To quit smoking successfully, you need adequate mental preparation. The more prepared you make yourself, the greater your chances of succeeding and staying cigarette free.

Are you really prepared to stop smoking?

Why do you want to stop smoking? There are many reasons you might be trying to stop. You might be trying to kick the habit because you have heard about the diseases it causes and the threat to your health. It might because you find yourself wasting a lot of money. Maybe your husband or wife or children are putting pressure on you to quit smoking.

Unfortunately, it’s been found that quitting smoking because of some external reason or someone else rarely works or rarely works for long. The only way you’ll stop is if you do it for yourself – not for others. You have to stop smoking for YOU.

What makes you to smoke?

You started to smoke (and keep on smoking) for a variety of reasons. There are both physiological (addiction inducing chemical substances in cigarettes) and psychological (emotional) reasons.Some smoke for the taste, some because it makes them confident or calms them down. Some people find it relaxes them in tense moments. For others it numbs feelings and reduces stress. Alleviates loneliness, gives something to do. Gets rid of boredom. Kills time while waiting etc. Basically, smoking fills a void, fulfils a need you have.

Make a written record of the reasons you smoke or how it makes you feel when you smoke compared to when you don’t.

You need a substitute for your smoking

To successfully stop smoking, you need to find some replacement therapy for the nicotine you breathe in when you smoke. What can you substitute for smoking in your life? It is easy to find a substitute for the nicotine which causes the physical symptoms and craving, but to succeed in quitting, you also need to find a substitute for the emotional void you feel when you quit.

Next to the reasons you’ve listed, think of and write down some activity you can partake in that will help you develop similar sensations or feelings.

Other things you can do are:

Hang out with people or make new friends who will support you and help you feel good – preferably non smokers!

Get yourself a new hobby that keeps your mind and your hands busy. It could be doing a course, teaching yourself a new skill, a sport or exercise. Do something that gives you a daily sense of achievement.

Try to exercise for a short while everyday. It could be several short walks, a jog, a session in the gym, swimming, tennis, dancing or any other exercise. It will probably be more fun if you make it a group or family affair. Once it becomes routine, you’ll be surprised how it helps you reduce stress and improves your mental and physical fitness and sense of well being.

By Adam Eason

Powerful Hints to Stop Smoking

Whether you are using Nicotine Replacement Therapy, Hypnosis or just Cold Turkey, these strategies and hints are for aiding you to stop smoking and are sure to assist you in helping your neurology change and thus enable you to stop smoking with ease. It is up to you to ensure that you do these things to really enhance what you are doing, the more effort you put into these exercises, the easier it is to stop smoking for good.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 1.

Being a smoker is like cycling with stabilisers attached to the wheels, you can find it hard to be balanced without smoking. Now, when you cycle freely again, the natural balance returns.

When people smoke, more than half of what they breathe is fresh air – pulled through the cigarette right down into the lungs. So if you feel any cravings you can instantly overcome them by taking three deeper breaths. Imagine breathing from that space just below your belly button. Whenever you do this you put more oxygen into your bloodstream. This means you can use deep breaths to change the way you feel instantly and give you power over the way you feel and help you let go of those old cravings and thus making it easier to stop smoking.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 2

Next, think now of all the reasons you don’t like smoking, the reasons that it’s bad and the reasons you want to stop smoking. Write down the key words on a piece of paper. For example, you experience breathlessness, it’s dirty, filthy and your clothes smell, your friends and family are concerned and it’s expensive, unsociable and so on. Then, on the other side of the paper, write down all the reasons why you’ll feel good when you’ve succeeded in stopping. You’ll feel healthier, you’ll feel in control of your self, your senses are enhanced, your hair and clothes will smell fresher and so on. Whenever you need to, look at that piece of paper.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 3

Next, we are going to programme your mind to feel disgusted by cigarettes. I want you recall 4 times when you thought to yourself “I’ve gotta quit”, or that you felt disgusted about smoking. Maybe you just felt really unhealthy, or your doctor told you in a particular tone of voice ‘You’ve got to quit’ or somebody you know was badly affected by smoking. Take a moment now to come up with 4 different times that you felt that you have to quit or were disgusted by smoking.

Remember each of those times, one after another, as though they are happening now. I want you to keep going through those memories and make them as vivid as possible. The more vivid you make those memories, the easier it will be to stop smoking. See what you saw, hear what you heard and feel how you felt. I want you to take a few minutes now to keep going through those memories again and again, overlap each memory with the next until you are totally and utterly disgusted by cigarettes.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 4

Have a think to yourself about the consequences of you not stopping smoking now, if you just carry on and on. Imagine it, what will happen if you carry on smoking. What are the consequences? Imagine yourself in 6 months time, a years time, even 5 years time if you do not stop smoking now. Think of all the detrimental effects of not stopping right now and how a simple decision you make today can make such an impact on your future.

Next, imagine how much better is your life going to be when you stop smoking. Really imagine it’s months from now and you successfully stopped. Smoking is a thing of the past, something you used to do. Keep that feeling with you and imagine having it tomorrow, and for the rest of next week. In your mind, imagine stepping in to that non-smoking version of you and feel how it feels to be a non-smoker.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 5

Also, your mind is very sensitive to associations, so it’s very important that you have a clear out and remove all tobacco products from your environment. Move some of the furniture in your house and at work. Smokers are accustomed to smoking in certain situations. So, for example, if you used to smoke on the telephone at work move the phone to the other side of the desk. Throw away ashtrays, old lighters and anything that you used to associate with smoking. Make your environment conducive to stopping smoking.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 6

Smokers sometimes use their habit to give themselves little breaks during the day. Taking a break is good for you, so carry on taking that time off – but do something different. Walk round the block, have a cup of tea or drink of water, or do some of the techniques on this programme. In fact, if possible drink a lot of fruit juice. When you stop smoking the body goes through a big change. The blood sugar levels tend to fall, the digestion is slowed down and your body starts to eject the tar and poisons that have accumulated. Fresh fruit juice contains fructose which restores your blood sugar levels, vitamin C which helps clear out impurities and high levels of water and fibre to keep your digestion going. Also try to eat fruit every day for at least two weeks after you have stopped.

Also when you stop, cut your caffeine intake by half. Nicotine breaks down caffeine so without nicotine a little coffee will have a big effect. Drink 8-10 glasses of water (ideally bottled) to help wash out your system.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 7

You were used to using cigarettes to signal to your body to release happy chemicals, so next we are going to programme some good feelings into your future. Allow yourself to fully remember now a time when you felt very deep ecstasy, pleasure or bliss, right now. Take a moment to recall it as vividly as possible. Remember that time – see what you saw, hear what you heard and feel how good you felt. Where abouts in your body were those feelings, imagine turning them up and spreading them through your body to make them more intense.

Keep going through the memory, as soon as it finishes, go through it again and again, all the time squeezing your thumb and finger together. In your mind, make those images big and bright, sounds loud and harmonious and feelings strong and intensified. We are making an associational link between the squeeze of your fingers and that good feeling.

Okay, stop and relax. Now if you have done that correctly when you squeeze your thumb and finger together you should feel that good feeling again. Go ahead do that now, squeeze thumb and finger and remember that good feeling.

Now we’re going to programme good feelings to happen automatically whenever you are in a situation where you used to smoke but now you stop smoking.

So, next I’d like you to squeeze your thumb and finger together, get that good feeling going and now imagine being in several situations where you would have smoked, but being there feeling great without a cigarette. See what you’ll see hear and take that good feeling into those situations without a need for a cigarette.

Imagine being in a situation where someone offers you a cigarette and you confidently say ‘No thanks, I don’t smoke’. And feel fantastic about it!

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 8

Get social support. Your commitment to stopping smoking for the rest of your life can be made much easier by talking about it to friends and family and letting them support you. They will congratulate you on doing so well too! You really did stop smoking.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 9

Be aware of making excuses for yourself. Some people talk themselves into smoking, especially if they encounter a stressful situation and in the past they used to deal with it by smoking. If those old thoughts pop into your head, shout the word “STOP” in your head, to stop the thoughts from progressing. Nicotine just stresses your body more and is like that itch that can never be properly scratched; the more you smoke, the more you have to. So say “STOP” and steer clear of old slippery slopes.

Powerful Stop Smoking Hint 10

Reward yourself. Congratulate yourself. Feel how good it feels to stop smoking and be a non-smoker. Treat yourself each time you get past a certain milestone; the first week or first month, the six month target. Let yourself know that you did something really special here.

Keep on using your brain, stretching it and helping your self, by running through these exercises time after time; you are sure to be able to make it easier and easier and successfully stop smoking for good.

Copyright 2005 Adam Eason All Rights Reserved.

About the Author: Visit Adam Easons website today to have an amazing free mini series of information, tips, techniques and strategies on how to stop smoking; all delivered to you by email. http://www.adam-eason.com

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By: Allen Jones

Congratulations on your decision to stop smoking. Identifying your smoking triggers (reasons that cause you to crave a cigarette) will help you out when you are experiencing the toughest times. Always remember that your strongest cravings will only last a few minutes.

Getting through these few minutes is vital to your success at becoming an ex-smoker. These 2 tips will help you get through them. Note: Utilizing the tips below will probably not be enough for you to stop smoking. They are intended to be used in conjunction with a proven stop smoking plan.

Identify Your Triggers

Cigarette cravings come from two sources, physical and psychological withdrawal. Physical withdrawal happens when your brain realizes that your body does not have nicotine in its system. Seeking equilibrium, your body sends you a craving so you will give it the nicotine that it thinks it needs.

Psychological withdrawal is basically your body trying to act on a habit it has developed over the years. The act of smoking the cigarette and gaining pleasure from it (in many different ways) has ingrained itself into your everyday life.

The first step in handling these cravings is identifying what kind of craving it is, physical or psychological. It’s important to realize which type of craving you are having because once you do; you can handle it much better.

If it is a physical craving, think about the actual process that is happening. Your body is simply trying to seek equilibrium. Knowing that this equilibrium could be slowly killing you, you can take a deep breath and realize that you are doing something that is good for your body, not bad. I can tell you first hand that merely knowing what is happening inside your body will ease your craving. Close your eyes, breathe deeply and think about it. The craving will soon pass.

If it is a psychological craving then you must quickly identify the trigger that is causing the craving. Is it boredom, anger, routine or something else? Once you realize the cause of the trigger then you will be able to act upon it by using an alternative to that specific trigger. Chances are, once you have thought about the craving, identified it as a psychological craving and then acted with an alternative action, the craving will almost be gone already! As the days go by, your cravings will become shorter, less strong and farther apart.

Find Alternatives to Triggers

As you become better at identifying your psychological smoking triggers, you will quickly be able to see those triggers coming. Realizing that a trigger is about to happen will greatly increase your chances for success. So what do you do when a trigger hits? You act on it. Instead of giving in and lighting up, you should have a pre-planned alternative to the trigger that is happening, or that is about to happen.

Sit down with a pencil and paper and list as many smoking triggers as you can think of. Skip a line between each trigger. Here is a short list that will help you get started:

• Driving your car
• After a meal
• After an argument
• During a break at work
• When you are bored
• When you are anxious

Now that you have written down all of your triggers, go back to the beginning of your list and think of at least two alternatives to each trigger. For instance, when driving in your car and you get a craving, you can turn up the CD player and sing loudly, play the drums on your steering wheel, chew 2-3 pieces of gum or call a support buddy on the cell phone.

Once you have completed your trigger/alternative list, carry it with you at all times. Any time you realize a trigger that you don’t have in your list, write it down and come up with alternatives for it. If you are having difficulty finding an alternative, you can find hundreds of them online by doing a web search on your favorite search engine.

Tying it All Together

Now that you have a (very) basic understanding about what causes cravings when you try to stop smoking, you will have an easier time with them. Just knowing this information will allow you to endure the cravings a little bit longer. Physical cravings will subside in a matter or days, usually 3-4 days. Psychological cravings, however will last much longer. Some people experience psychological craving for months. Although they are not as strong as physical cravings, they can easily get you smoking again even months after you have smoked your last cigarette.

This is why most people stop smoking successfully only to start smoking again weeks or months later. The physical addiction was broken. It was the psychological addiction that did them in. For this reason, you must identify and act upon your smoking triggers for the rest of your life. It is important to know that you must never take even one puff on a cigarette for the rest of your life, not one. The very next puff you take will have you completely addicted again, both physically and psychologically.

About the author: Allen Jones is the owner and administrator of http://TheStopSmokingGuide.com and an expert in nicotine addiction. Visit his website and discover the proven stop smoking plan that eliminates both physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms. Download their free Stop Smoking Guide ebook today and find out!

By: Roy Dobson

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese medical treatment. It involves in stimulating some particles of the human body for deriving specific outputs. Do not be horrified, as acupuncture is done by piercing the skin with thin needles. It is not painful but seems to be relaxing.

All smokers can use acupuncture to stop smoking. If you are a chain smoker and cannot quit the bad habit at all, then acupuncture can be a good option for helping you quit smoking. It can give you really positive results, where other methods to stop smoking have failed. Yes, acupuncture decreases chronic smoking habits.

The Prerequisites

Once you have reached a decision for using acupuncture to stop smoking, you must first and foremost get a licensed acupuncture practitioner. Make sure that you find a practitioner who has a proper medical cultivation and who can better assess the medical treatment required by you.

The process of acupuncture

Acupuncture is usually done on the cartilage of your ears. Do not worry, the procedure is safe, just ensure that the needles are useful ones, that is they should be purified to avoid contamination.

When you go for acupuncture to stop smoking, the acupuncturist will ask you a lot of questions to understand your health, behavior and lifestyle. Open out to the acupuncturist and do not conceal facts concerning any medical complications or any medications that you might be taking presently. It is only then that the acupuncturist will be able to tell you exactly how many acupuncture sessions you will be requiring.

The needles are pricked on the ear, hands and wrist of the smoker. The needles remain pierced on your skin for 30 to 45 minutes and this relaxes you. The result is that the pricked needles lessen the cravings for smoking.

As the needle pricking sessions are going on, the therapist recommends you to undergo herbal treatments. For speeding up the process of acupuncture to stop smoking, you can apply a mixture of wintergreen and clove oil, Sichuan lovage rhizomes and the extracts of evodia fruits in the acupuncture points.

The therapist will give you the up-to-date information about the progress that you are making. Depending on your condition, the acupuncture to stop smoking can go on for a few days or may continue for maybe a couple of weeks.

The after-effects of acupuncture

When you are done with the acupuncture treatment, the cigarettes seem to have a foul and nasty burnt taste; you do not feel like smoking. Yes, acupuncture to stop smoking also decreases the side effects of nicotine withdrawal, like cravings, depression and anxiety.

The acupuncture treatment also helps in de-congesting your lungs and improves your blood circulation.

Try acupuncture if you seriously want to quit smoking. Do not let your desire to stop smoking just be another New Year resolution that you intend to break. Trust acupuncture, and free yourself from the addiction of smoking.

About the author: Roy Dobson is a successful writer and publisher of Smoking related issues, for more informative articles go to http://www.stopsmokingtoday.net
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Bring to your mind an occasion on in which you felt absolutely relaxed and calm. Think perhaps of a time during a holiday lying on a beach, or just in bed on a weekend morning, or while camping, or an evening out with friends.

Think of how you felt during this event away from daily problems and in a relaxed environment. If you can’t recall any particular event, it’s okay to invent or imagine one, or to combine a real relaxed event with an imagined one e.g. imagine yourself in place of your favorite movie star in a relaxed scene.

The next thing to do is to transfer yourself to that scene mentally i.e. go there mentally. To do this, just imagine how you would get to that scene from where you are now. Get a pen and write down all the steps you would take to get there from where you are now.

Your steps might appear something like this.
1. I am sitting comfortably on my favorite chair.
2. Now I am shutting out my worries.
3. My nerves have calmed down and I am feeling more relaxed.
4. My breathing is becoming more rhythmic and relaxed.
5. I am breathing more deeply. (Concentrate on your breathing for a minute or two.)
6. I am feeling that I have gone to the beach. (Try to picture in your mind the details of that environment.)
7. I am enjoying the natural surroundings; the pleasant smells around me, enjoying the view that surrounds me on every side, and the sounds coming to me from every angle.
8. The atmosphere is so soothing and relaxing.
9. I feel totally relaxed.
10. I am totally relaxed.

Once you write down these steps, revise them, and learn them thoroughly because once you start the relaxation process you can’t stop to read your notes.

During the whole relaxation process, you will be speaking to yourself. You can speak silently or make yourself a recording while talking through the process and play this back to help you relax. While you are recording you should speak in a slow, smooth and soothing tone of voice. Give yourself enough time while recording each of the steps to imagine the feelings you would experience if you were really at the scene.

Once you are ready to start the relaxation process, get yourself comfortably seated. Close your eyes and start talking yourself (silently, if you want) through each of the steps in turn. Or play the recording and let your mind follow each of the steps as you listen. Allow yourself enough time to catch the emotions and feelings triggered by each step.

Once you reach the last step, go back down the steps in reverse and return to normal Try to practice these steps so that you can relax quickly whenever you want to.

The next step is to focus on solving the problems. To do this go through the relaxation steps, but instead of going back down, go onto the problem solving steps that follow.

Author: Peter Finch

Herbal stop smoking methods really do seem the order of the day. When other popular methods such as nicotine replacement therapy and medication therapies are showing either their inefficacy or their potential dangers to the human system, it is but obvious that people want to play safe and go the natural way.

Herbs have also shown their efficiency at smoking cessation and that indeed helps a lot. In fact, it is not wrong to say that such methods have taken an important place on the smoking cessation shelf.

There are many reasons why herbal stop smoking methods work. First and foremost, herbs are natural products. They are derivatives of plants. As such, they are much safer than the medicinal therapies which include synthetic chemicals. People trust natural herbs more and do not mind introducing them into their bodies.

In addition, natural herbs do not have the long list of contraindications that chemical antidepressants have. Herbs can be safely used in almost all people, even with those who have some health conditions. And herbal stop smoking methods do not create the delusions and hallucinations that synthetic chemicals can do.

Though these methods seem to be new, they have been in use since centuries. Saint Johns Wort is a common herbal antidepressant that has been used since age-old times. Even common herbs like peppermint, spearmint and clove have the capacity to make the person actually hate the taste of nicotine.

This is an important point to ponder on. While conventional medicine therapies try to cure the addiction after it has occurred, herbal solutions prevent the addiction itself from happening in the first place. If a person is a mild smoker and he or she takes the herbal quit smoking formulations, then there is never a chance that they will convert into chain smokers. On the contrary, their addiction will be weaned away effectively.

There are many things that herbal medications can do for the smokers body. First and foremost, they will create distaste for the taste of nicotine itself, which will help to stop the addiction. But a sudden stop on nicotine might cause the person to enter into depression.

Herbal remedies can work here too. Most of the herbs used in herbal quit smoking formulations, like the SmokeRX, have antidepressant properties. They can positively stimulate the nervous system and help the quitting smoker to face the different pangs of withdrawal.

Last but not the least, herbal smoking cessation methods can flush out the toxins that years of cigarette smoking might have accumulated in the body. This is something conventional medicine cannot do. Within a few days of using herbal remedies for smoking cessation, the positive impact on health becomes noticeable. With a little more time, the body could revert to its original normal healthy state.

It is no wonder then that herbal stop smoking remedies are becoming so hugely popular. Their effectiveness has proven that they are today the best options available for determined smokers who want to give up their habit.

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Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Herbal Stop Smoking – Why Is It So Much In Demand?