Smoking is becoming more and more socially unacceptable, smoking causes all kinds of problems and diseases. Hypnosis is the most effective stop smoking treatment according to the worlds largest ever scientific survey which combined the data from 600 studies covering almost 72,000 people from America, Scandinavia and elsewhere in Europe. Many people try to stop several times before they eventually succeed at it the reason so many people fail to stop smoking the first time could be because of the many myths about smoking addiction. I am going to dispel some myths about stopping smoking and hypnotherapy below, I hope you find this post useful and it aids you to achieve your goal of becoming a non-smoker.
Myth Number One – Nicotine is Addictive
Have you ever heard of anyone becoming addicted to nicotine patches? I have never heard of anyone becoming addicted to nicotine patches but I have heard of people still smoking whilst they wear a patch, people still smoke on patches despite the fact that they are usually getting a much higher dose of nicotine directly into their bloodstream. Isreali research has shown that smoking is a habit, not an addiction, smokers associate certain times of the day and certain triggers such as coffee or alcohol with smoking, smoking is a conditioned response like Pavlov’s dog.
Myth Number Two – Stopping Smoking Causes Weight Gain
Stopping smoking doesn’t have to cause weight gain. Nicotine dose help to suppress appetite and it can make burn calories faster but stopping smoking doesn’t have to make you gain weight.
Cigarettes contain sugar, the tobacco naturally contains sugar but many tobacco companies actually add more sugar, added sugar not only makes the cigarettes more toxic it also causes blood sugar to increase when someone stops smoking they may find themselves wanting to eat junk food to make up for the lack of blood sugar spikes they are no longer getting from cigarettes. If you stop smoking and stick to or start eating a healthier diet it’s not likely that you will gain weight.
Myth Number Three – Smoking Reduces Stress
Cigarettes contain 7000 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer and many more of them are toxic in some way. When you smoke a cigarette your body perceives it is under attack and releases all kinds of stress hormones and these actually elevate stress levels. The only stress-busting part of the smoking habit is having a break and focusing on the breath, instead of having a smoking break try having a breathing break. Box breathing is a very effective way to relieve stress and reduce anxiety, I describe box breathing and another breathing exercise in this video.
Having a cigarette also causes the release of dopamine which is a reward chemical, the more dopamine you get the more you need this means that having a cigarette actually makes cigarettes more addictive. Find a healthier habit or learn a new skill to get your dopamine fix in a healthier, more productive way. Finding a healthier habit can also help you with myth number two, especially if it takes you to a new environment because you will be away from the triggers and the environments that you associate with smoking.
Hypnosis Myth Number One – Hypnosis is a Form of Mind Control
Hypnosis is not mind control and you will not be asleep or unaware of what is happening during the hypnosis session, hypnosis is actually a heightened state of awareness of being more in the present. Trance is a natural state that we all experience on a daily basis. One example of a trance state is driving, have you ever driven or even walked to a destination and then not remembered the journey?
Hypnosis Myth Number Two – Hypnosis Doesn’t Work
Research has shown that a child’s brain is in a hypnotic state until the age of seven, this time is known as the imprint period and it is when humans do all of their most difficult learning. Children learn to walk, talk, feed themselves and much more all before the age of seven. They also develop their sense of identity and they learn how to interact with others in society they can do this because they are in an advanced learning state.
The brain has several different brainwaves states these are Beta, Gamma, Alpha, Theta and Delta. Theta and Alpha are the two states we are looking to access with hypnosis, when we are in the alpha state we are usually beginning to feel more relaxed more in the flow and theta the state we experience just before sleep. Theta is the R.E.M state where we can visualize things more clearly and dreams start to occur.
As mentioned above many people have been hypnotised to believe that they are addicted to nicotine when it is, in fact, the habit that they are addicted to, hypnosis is a state in which we can very effectively learn new habits and break old ones. If you need any more evidence on the effectiveness of hypnosis just see my reviews.
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