Most people when thinking of quitting smoking become focussed on the future. Not next month or next year, but the hours and days after they quit.
The fear of being without a smoke may seem to be in the future however a craving is never off in the distance it is right now! The only time you need to manage your craving is in the present.
But the problem is that is where the fear and anxiety also live. However there is a way to use your past to let go of your present craving fear and anxiety.
A popular method used in Neuro Linguistic Programming and in my Calm process is to revisit a time rom the past and bring it into the now.
I ask my clients to clearly define how they will feel when they have successfully quit. The common answers are proud, happy, free or successful.
I then have them recall a time in their past when they felt this way. The most common answer was when they first held their child. Other answers include winning, an event, buying their first house, and riding their motorcycle the first time after getting their license.
The next step is to revisit that memory. To deeply remember and feel the event, to recall the exact time, place, people and most importantly their feelings and where they are located in their body.
This process is established in the first Calm session, and their homework is to revisit these memories as many times as possible before the second session when they quit smoking.
The second Calm session is when we make a dive into the unconscious mind, to dig out all of the connections habits and beliefs about smoking. Usually mid way through the session I will have them recall the positive feeling, then dismiss it.
Next I have them imagine a situation where there might be tempted to smoke, and rapidly I have them bring back the good feeling to completely squash the smoking feeling.
We repeat this process three times imaging different smoking scenarios, each time having them win the battle over smoking and have them feel good about their victory.
In the coming days and weeks any time they feel any cravings or urges to smoke they will revisit this feeling. In addition they will stack at least two more strategies to ensure that they remain a non-smoker for life.
Of course they can use this feeling to relieve any stress in their life.
