Smoking Cessation

Read more about smoking cessation.

Just imagine bumping your head…

Just imagine, for a moment, that something peculiar were to happen. Imagine that every time you bumped your head, you got a rush of great feelings.

You can just imagine people walking in the shopping centres or down the streets, every now and then bumping their heads on the walls to get that great rush of feelings! (Shops would sell plenty of soothing creams and plasters, wouldn't they?)

Now, one day, this peculiar thing stops happening. Those good feelings no longer happen when you bump your head.

Here's a question for you:

Would you, and other people, continue to bump your heads out of habit, or would you stop bumping your heads?

Smoking is not pleasant

In order to take up smoking, you have to get past the point of coughing, that taste, the smell, the burning of your eyes. Even after that, it's not easy.

I still remember that feeling in my chest every time I used to take a puff, noting how short of breath I was, hating that taste in my mouth and that disgusting smell, all the while kidding myself that I enjoyed smoking. Your body is screaming at you to stop, but you've learned to ignore those feelings; in fact, you've probably forgotten that they're there.

No one actually likes smoking, although most smokers kid themselves that they do (just as I did).

Unconvinced?

One of the big problems that smokers have when they finally stop is that they think they're missing out. You feel that you're "losing out" by staying away from cigarettes.

Ask any non-smoker, “Do you have to smoke to feel good?” The look on the non-smoker’s face will tell you the answer immediately. It’s a false connection.

It's the same as asking you, "Do you have to use heroin to feel good?" Unless you're addicted to heroin, you will have the same feeling as the non-smoker does towards smoking. It's a false connection.

Ask yourself, what are you losing out on? Slavery to that smoke? The lack of freedom? Being unable to relax without the help of a stick? That's crazy. By smoking, you are losing out on freedom, choice, health, taste, smell, money, jealousy of non-smokers… You name the rest.

Nicotine is addictive.

Here's the thing. The reason people smoke is not habit. It's not that smoking makes you feel good. People don't smoke because it's nice.

People smoke because nicotine is addictive. They smoke for the nicotine addiction.

Let me make this clear: Nicotine is addictive. It's an addictive drug. When you smoke, you're addicted to nicotine. Plain and simple.

Removing nicotine from cigarettes

To prove it, try smoking cigarettes without any nicotine. This experiment has already been tried; cigarettes were made with the nicotine removed.

Guess what happened? People gave up the nicotine-free cigarettes and went back to the nicotine-filled cigarettes. Why? Because they were addicted to nicotine.

Getting addicted to nicotine

Do you know any people who have stopped smoking, but now they're addicted to nicotine gum? It's the nicotine!

According to the latest reports that I've read, nicotine-replacement therapy (NRT) has a lower success rate than willpower alone.

Does that surprise you? It doesn't surprise me. Would you cure a heroin addict by removing the (painful) needles but continuing to feed her heroin? No, of course not. In the same way, does it make sense to cure you of nicotine addiction by removing the (dangerous) cigarettes, but continuing to feed you nicotine?

Now, don't get me wrong. Nicotine gum and nicotine patches are far superior to cigarettes, because it reduces the damage to your lungs, blood, veins, heart, and so on. If you want to be addicted to nicotine, then use gum instead of cigarettes or cigars.

But the essential point is to just get rid of the addiction. Once you are no longer addicted, would you really want a cigarette? Or a bump on the head?

Getting rid of your nicotine addiction

Research has shown that the most successful single intervention to stop smoking is hypnotherapy, apart from one thing – heart attack!

Which one would you prefer?

(More about the Research.)

In fact, the most successful process is a combination. The use of hypnotherapy; support from friends and family, and support groups if you like them; and learning how to cope with stress instead of reaching for that false friend, the cigarette. Knowing how to feel less stressed, have fun, and socialise, without resorting to cigarettes.

If cigarettes helped with stress, then why are chain smokers some of the most stressed-out people you know?

Call 01865 429135 or email with your questions.

This website for hypnosis in Oxford is available for people to learn more about hypnosis and hypnotherapy for various issues and solutions. For hypnosis for smoking you can browse these pages. You can find more about smoking hypnosis and smoking cessation here. Hypnosis can also be used for taking control of other problems or issues, especially when used together with other therapies, such as hypnotherapy, self-hypnosis, NLP and EFT.