Oftentimes, when people try to quit smoking, they do it by waving a finger at themselves and giving themselves messages like “If you can’t resist smoking, you are bad” or “If you pick up a cigarette, you should be ashamed of yourself.” Those kinds of negative messages, though well meant, do more harm than good. Most often, they lead right back to another cigarette. Instead, if you want to quit smoking, dose yourself with love therapy. Give yourself loving messages and treat yourself with extreme loving kindness. Read on to learn how to use love therapy to quit smoking.
Throw all cigarettes as well as all paraphernalia having to do with smoking out of your house. Get rid of all the matches, lighters and ashtrays. While you are doing this, compliment yourself in your mind and tell yourself, “I am so proud of you for doing this. You are wonderful. I think that what you are doing is so heroic and beautiful. You are the best.”
Now if you have some time off from work, whether it is a few hours or a few days, spoil yourself. Make yourself as comfortable as possible. If you enjoy taking hot baths, indulge in them. Do you enjoy sitting in a recliner with your feet up? By all means do it. If you enjoy watching television or reading or singing, allow yourself to indulge in those activities without limit. Tell yourself, “Now I may do anything I desire except smoke.” Whatever comes to your mind to do, so long as it is legal, allow yourself to do it.
The next morning, if you are off work, sleep as late as you like. If you enjoy a lot of leisure, you may want to get up and make yourself breakfast when you are hungry, and then go back to sleep. Try to keep yourself free of any commitments that day. Just take a la-de-da attitude. The two key words to keep in mind here are relaxation and loving kindness. If you must go to work, try to proceed with as much relaxation as possible. Take your time getting ready for work, and when you get there, allow yourself to do things at a slower pace if it is permissible or if you can get away with it. The best situation is if you have an understanding boss. If that is the case, let him know that you are quitting smoking, and that in order to avoid tension, you will need to proceed with your work a little more slowly than usual.
Treat yourself to a nice lunch and dinner, including foods you don’t usually allow yourself to eat. If you would like an extra cup of coffee or an extra tsp. of sugar in your coffee, by all means have it. If you have a little extra money, buy yourself a nice, professional massage. As often as you can remember to do it throughout the day, say to yourself, “I love you and am so proud of you for what you are doing. You are wonderful. You are the best.”
Continue this love therapy for at least the first month after smoking your last cigarette. Though the nicotine is out of your system within a week, smoking is a psychological addiction even more than a physical one. Therefore, even after you’ve physically kicked the habit, you still have a long way to go. If you go down a path of loving kindness rather than threats, you are much more likely to attain your goal of successfully putting away the cigarettes once and for all.