Aids to Help You Stop Smoking - Part 2

Here are some more healthy things you can use as a substitute for smoking. More things to help you get your mind off that urge to light a cigarette:

Breathing Exercises

Breathing exercises, too, can prove useful in controlling the urge to smoke. They also help release toxins from the body. Yey most of us don't breathe properly! Just consider: with each breath that we take, we take in oxygen. This oxygen is carried by the blood to every cell of the body, and every cell must get enough oxygen, not just to survive but to remain healthy as well.

The best time for breathing exercises is early in the morning when the air is comparatively unpolluted. What you have to do is this: sit comfortably so that there is no strain to any part of your body. It is not imperative that you close your eyes, but it may help.

When you are ready, breathe in deeply and slowly, and feel the fresh air filling up your lungs until it just can't take any more. Conjure up images of the air circling throughout your body and reaching every cell, literally bathing it with oxygen. Of course it doesn't happen that way, but the image helps a lot. Then hold your breath for a few seconds, and then, very slowly, exhale.

Again, conjure up an image of all the toxins being released from your body. Every cell has become free of the burden it was carrying. Now pause for a second or two, and again breathe in deeply, slowly letting your lungs fill up. Repeat this exercise at least ten times, and take your time over it.  

When you have done that part of the exercise, it is time for the second part. Again, sit with your eyes closed, but this time, keep one nostril closed with your index finger. Now breathe in deeply and slowly through your left nostril while keeping the right nostril closed. When you have held air for a second or two, release your right nostril and breathe out through it.

While you are breathing out conjure up an image of all the toxins being released form your head - especially the brain. And as you breathe in, conjure up images of the clean air circulating throughout your brain, freeing it of all its worries and troubles, and lightening it.

Repeat this exercise with the other nostril closed, and alternate between the nostrils at least ten times. The entire breathing exercise need not take more than ten minutes; but you will be surprised at how light hearted and free you will feel afterwards. Once you have practised it for three or four mornings, you will be in a position to do the exercise each time you get the urge to smoke.

Try a Substitute for Smoking

When you get the urge to smoke, try using something else, such as a chewing-gum or a toffee. Or try things that have strong flavours, such as menthol, mint or spices like cloves or cardamoms. You should not swallow these things immediately, but bite into them and then let the taste linger in your mouth for a couple of minutes. You might experience numbness in your mouth, but it helps take away the urge to smoke.

But please note that these things can be addictive too, so try alternating between chewing gum and spices, or coffee and sweets.

Very Important!

Make a list of all the smokers around you whom you know closely. What you have to do is: STAY AWAY FROM THEM. Unless they too are trying to quit, keep a very safe distance from them. If you had a habit of smoking with them at fixed times, take special care to steer very clear of them at those fixed times.

The next section is: Quit Smoking Now!