I want you to know how easy it can be to quit. Don’t let the fear of smoking withdrawals put you off. Smoking withdrawal symptoms are not the monster you might have been led to expect!  I’m saying this and I was a die-hard smoking addict. So take heart, and read on …

After thirty-odd years of sucking on a ciggie I haven’t smoked for a couple of years now and I am very pleased about it. In every way this choice has had a positive effect on my life (and the lives of my nearest and dearest).

My sister, brother and I all started our nicotine habits in childhood. Our mother smoked two packets a day, and by the time we were adults we were not far behind.

I did try and stop, or smoke less, when I realized how my health was suffering. In fact, when I admitted the truth, I was only getting through the day by literally overdosing on asthma inhalers. I was asthmatic and the cigarettes were causing chronic inflammation.

I’d stay off the cigarettes while on camping holiday with my non-smoking partner. But every time I returned to my social circles, work mates and family who smoked, I’d start again.

It wasn’t until my sister, brother and I all received a big wake-up call that we changed the habit.

Our mother was very unwell with emphysema. She went into hospital for unrelated surgery, and tragically died just after the operation. She wasn’t even old. She hadn’t told the doctors she smoked heavily. The post-mortem revealed she also had lung cancer.

We made a pact to stop smoking – for our mother’s sake as well as for ourselves. Then my sister was diagnosed with emphysema herself, and contracted a chest infection so bad she was sure she was going to die. By now our younger brother was experiencing body numbness from poor circulation. So we really had to quit, to choose life and health.

Now we have all stopped smoking – and we were all surprised at how easy it was to do.

Stopping smoking is much easier than you think.

Before I gave up smoking for good I’d made a couple of serious attempts to stop, as I said, but my success didn’t last. A lot of people have the same experience so don’t worry if your first attempts don’t go well. You will get there. For me what made the difference was truly agreeing I needed to quit, I wanted to quit and I could do it. That brought me back to choice.

Here are a few useful ideas to keep in mind:

1. Stay away from shops and other smokers for the first few days. 

This does help. Sure, those first few days were a bit challenging. I had slight headaches and felt a bit lost. My brother found it difficult – but he knew he just had to last it out. He spent the first days on his own, and I encouraged him via some phone coaching! Still, it was all very mild compared with the shocking health declines we’d started to experience. And next thing we knew, smoking wasn’t even something we thought about.

So, you may feel sharp urges to reach for a cigarette, but you’ll be surprised how quickly they subside. Three days or so and you will be over this stage. Smoking withdrawal symptoms don’t go on and on.
 
2. Give yourself a break in routine.

3. Choose something you can do immediately – a replacement activity – instead of heeding an urge to smoke. It could be to drink a glass of water or juice, do one yoga stretch, leap up and dance for a minute, sing, read something to make you laugh, anything.

4. Instead of saying "I am giving up cigarettes", say something positive like "I am choosing health".

One of the things I really used to enjoy about smoking was the little breaks of relaxation, like sitting down for ten minutes with a cup of tea and a cigarette. So when I was quitting I still allowed myself those brief breaks. I’d sit down and say something like "this is my breathing space break", and I’d try to stay aware of each healthy smoke-free breath.

For me aging and increasing ill health were great motivators. I really do wish I’d stopped smoking years ago. So if you do smoke and you’re anywhere near wanting to quit I sincerely and heartily encourage you. Be firm but also be kind and gentle to yourself. Treat yourself as if you were your own dearest friend or beloved child.