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The truth about Smokers 'Relaxation Ruse'
By: Neil Stelling
Smokers love excuses. They can't quit because .. (fill in the blank). I covered one of the favorite excuses in another article, the 'concentration con'.
Now here's another of the main - can't quit - excuses. Smoking helps relaxation. Most smokers claim it helps them relax. But would you ever describe a smoker as relaxed ?
Their addiction (or habit) makes them nervous and jumpy. All things equal, a smoker will never relax as they once did before their drug.
Think about last time you ate in a restaurant. Isn't that a relaxing environment when you're eating your meal, in good company ? But that's not enough for the smoker. They're still not relaxed. They need a cigarette fix, even between courses, because they think that's what they need to relax.
Then they associate a temporary relaxation with the cigarette, rather than the environment and company. They don't even consider their non-smoker friends enjoyment might get ruined by smoking.
Let's look at the realities of the relaxation ruse. Nicotine is a stimulant, not a relaxant/depressant. A stimulant speeds up metabolism, not slows it down.
The 'smoking is relaxing' claim counts as yet another irrational excuse used by smokers who can't face up to quitting. The smoker genuinely feels a cigarette will relax him.
In reality it's the habit, expectation and association with relaxing situations that are the main reasons he feels relaxed. Sometimes it's even the deep breathing effect that helps relaxation.
Any sportsperson knows that deep breathing helps relax before an event. Difference is he's breathing fresh air, rather than poison ! Smokers actually credit their cigarette for a temporary benefit they get from deep breathing.
Most people agree stress and relaxation make two opposite conditions ? Many smokers think giving up will create more stress. They think their cigarettes are actually relieving stress.
Amazingly, cigarettes actually 'cause' the stress smokers think they're relieving ! Continual craving for another cigarette; guilt, helplessness at their inability to quit; low self-esteem… Any of this sound familiar ? At best, another cigarette temporarily reduces the stress caused by earlier cigarettes.
So we really should call the relaxation effect, the 'relaxation ruse'… an illusion favored by uninformed smokers who wrongly credit their cigarette with relaxation.
Quitting smoking means a return to relaxation. Quitting smoking means a return to a clear head… among many other benefits. Once you see through the relaxation ruse', you're much closer to finally quitting smoking once and for all.
© DigiLectual Inc. 2004
http://www.quitsmokingwithNLP.com/
Why can some people quit smoking permanently, while others just keep starting again ? Discover the NLP approach to quit smoking once and for all. Click ==> http://www.quitsmokingWithNLP.com/
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About The Author
Neil Stelling
** Attn Ezine editors / Site Owners ** Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine or on your site so long as you leave all links in place, do not modify the content and include my resource box as listed above.
If you do use the article please send me a note to neil@quitsmokingwithnlp.com so I can take a look. Thanks. Check out other quit smoking articles at http://www.quitsmokingwithnlp.com/articles.html
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This article was posted on October 13, 2004
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How to Benefit from the Mind-Body Connection
(excerpt)
You are about to gain insight into the
mind-body connection. The number of
people who truly understand these principles on our
planet are relatively few.
There is an undeniable connection between our minds and
bodies, you can learn
to use this fact to your benefit.
Dr. Bernie Siegel, author of "Love, Medicine and
Miracles" was once a
distraught cancer surgeon until he
began to understand the greater principles
of the mind-
body connection. He felt dragged down by the artificial
barriers
that existed between patient and doctor, and the
helplessness he often felt as
a result of his inability
to effectively serve those patients. Eventually, those
barriers
were disintegrated by Dr. Siegel's recognition
and growing understanding of the
mind-body connection and
how it could serve his patients and himself.
Dr. Siegel, or Bernie as he began to have his patients
refer to him, had some
startling realizations as a cancer surgeon. He found that
there were actually
quite a few people in the world that successfully beat
the statistics on cancer
survival. He began to recognize that a patient's ability
to defeat something as
serious as cancer had to do with the patient's mind and
attitude about their
disease.
If you would like to see the rest of
this article, please go here:
http://www.tobeinformed.com/repository/mind-body.html
copyright 2004 - David Snape
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