Quiting Smoking

[willjohndover]

Hello all,

So with Ango and especially Jukai going on I have decided to quit smoking. I tend to smoke rather strong cigarettes, but only about a pack a week or 5 cigarettes a day give or take. I need to drop this addiction that is only harming myself. Do any of you have any tips to quit this habit? Any thoughts or ideas are greatly appreciated as is encouragement.


With hands together,
Will John

[Taigu]

Re: Quiting Smoking

Hi John,

I smoked for more than 25 years, two packs a day...
How did I quit? Simple, the day mi GP told me" you stop now or you re going to die fairly soon".
There is no trick, just stop. This addiction is very much an illusion. It is very easy to kick the habit. Just do it. No more smoking. And don't play the little game of having a last one. Just quit. Stop. Now. And now again. You may put weight on, I used to be quite thin and fit, a few months down the line I managed to put 30 kilos on...
Just quit.
Now.
Now.
Now.

gassho

Taigu

[willjohndover]

Re: Quiting Smoking

Taigu,

Thank you, thats honestly what I needed to hear. Your very right about playing the game of the last one. though I'd rather not gain weight, I think exercise will help keep that away.

With hands together,
Will John

[Geika]

Re: Quiting Smoking

Exercise will help the quitting.

Bon chance!

_/_ Amelia

[Shokai]

Re: Quiting Smoking

quiting is easy. I did it hundreds of times :roll: :lol: Cold turkey; the only way to go!!! :shock:

[Ryumon]

Re: Quiting Smoking

Hi John,

I smoked for more than 25 years, two packs a day...
How did I quit? Simple, the day mi GP told me" you stop now or you re going to die fairly soon".
There is no trick, just stop. This addiction is very much an illusion. It is very easy to kick the habit. Just do it. No more smoking. And don't play the little game of having a last one. Just quit. Stop. Now. And now again. You may put weight on, I used to be quite thin and fit, a few months down the line I managed to put 30 kilos on...
Just quit.
Now.
Now.
Now.

That's what worked for me, 25 years ago. I wasn't told I was going to die, but I had a problem that was clearly exacerbated by smoking.

I don't, however, agree that the addition is an illusion. For some of us, it is easy to quit, NOW, but for others - and this depends on the way their brains work - it is hellish. Many people are afraid of trying to quit, and find out that it's no big deal, but others suffer a great deal, and need medical assistance.

So, my opinion is this: stop, now, as Taigu said. BUT, if it's really hard, see a doctor; there are meds that can help, something I didn't have when I quit.

[Hoyu]

Re: Quiting Smoking

Will John wrote:
I need to drop this addiction that is only harming myself.

Hi Will John,
Not necessarily so. I work in a hospital and can tell you that many people's health is harmed through 2nd hand smoke. Best of luck quitting! As mentioned above there is medications which can help. Works great for some but I've had friends quit the meds after depression and thoughts of suicide!

Gassho,
John

[Owndrum]

Re: Quiting Smoking

Hi Will John,
I gave up after smoking for a long time by using a subliminal cassette tape my ex wife had borrowed from a friend. The irony was that i gave up after one
listening, and she continues to smoke to this day! A friend whom i told was a hypnotherapist and he said that i must have wanted to give up desperately , as these
methods usually take a couple of weeks to work. Anyway i had no side effects, the smell of smoke never bothered me and it was one of the best things i've done.
(they probably have CD'S nowadays or apps for i phones etc).

Good luck
Gassho
Gary

[Shohei]

Re: Quiting Smoking

Hi I quit couple of dozen times.
I started smoking when I was 10 and had my first job.
Heavier when I got a job that was not seasonal at around 14 and was a pack a day from like then until 20 ish then from then, 2 packs a day until my daughter turned 1( I was 31)
What got me the mere fact its killing me... NOW...not later...not sometime down the road but now...along with many other things..we all have to die but why help out . Anywho Ive not looked back going on 4 years this January.

I used the nic gum to help for a bit then switched to normal chewing gum after. Worked fine. The thing is, what ever it is you do you must want to quit.

Good luck (Well good will power as luck has nothing to do with it!)
You can do it!

Gassho
Shohei

[Shokai]

Re: Quiting Smoking

My first taste of tobacco was at around age five. I smoked steadily from age 13 to 34; cigarettes(up to two packs for maybe a couple of years), started one cigar/day and built to ten, tried the pipe. Still love the smell of tobacco burning (sweet like incense - not the after effects of staleness) Nothing beats a good cigar :shock: :roll: Started up again from age 42 to~46; living in the dessert it was something to do! Then off and on between the ages of 53 to 66 ( a cigarette was a total relief from the formalin fumes in an embalming room.) Haven't smoked now for seven full years and probably won't try it again.
The various reasons for smoking have to do with things like peer pressure, social environment, lack of direction, on and on. Do you notice how they all deal with the ten thousand things? When quitting it is best to have your own reasons. The side effects of any meds or artificial aids can be worse than smoking, as already pointed out here by Shohei, John, Taigu et al. You're just switching crutches. If you put on weight; exercise, it's a healthy pass time.
Above all, use it as a koan, "sit with it"; do it when you are ready !!!

[Risho]

Re: Quiting Smoking

Addiction is a bitch... plain and simple. I smoked for about 9 years from 18 to 25 or 26 I can't remember now, but I quit a few times. Once I quit for up to 6 months and went back to it on my honeymoon. In Spain, they were smoking in the airport, so I had to of course. lol

Finally I quit in 2002. I used the patch. It helped a lot, but you have to follow the plan, and you have to stop doing things that you associate with smoking, for a while at least, like drinking coffee and drinking alcohol for me.

As Shohei said, it has nothing to do with luck or will power. When those urges come, don't give into them. It gets better, but it will take time.

Gassho,

Risho

[Shokai]

Re: Quiting Smoking

If you watch (are mindful) the urges do pass. I remember one during quiting, I was painting on a ladder and I got this tremendous urge to have a smoke. I hung on to both sides of the ladder and told myself,"If you still want a smoke in ten minutes I'll give you one. Ten minutes later I was more worried about splattering paint on the window than going down off the ladder to smoke.(true story)

[Shohei]

Re: Quiting Smoking

If you watch (are mindful) the urges do pass. I remember one during quiting, I was painting on a ladder and I got this tremendous urge to have a smoke. I hung on to both sides of the ladder and told myself,"If you still want a smoke in ten minutes I'll give you one. Ten minutes later I was more worried about splattering paint on the window than going down off the ladder to smoke.(true story)

Agreed! (and thanks for sharing that story too!)
I was in traffic on my way to work... had just secured my ritual morning xtra large tim hortons... black...mmmmmm and the guy a head of me, windows down smoking, the smoke wafting back to me dancing in the heavy mist moving in off the river... I then contemplated...um only briefly... popping the guy in the nose, grabbing the dropped cigarette and running off into the nearby park
the time it took to imagine the foolish scenario and laugh it off... the urge was gone again. Like all things, not to last!

Gassho
Shohei

[willjohndover]

Re: Quiting Smoking

Agreed! (and thanks for sharing that story too!)
I was in traffic on my way to work... had just secured my ritual morning xtra large tim hortons... black...mmmmmm and the guy a head of me, windows down smoking, the smoke wafting back to me dancing in the heavy mist moving in off the river... I then contemplated...um only briefly... popping the guy in the nose, grabbing the dropped cigarette and running off into the nearby park
the time it took to imagine the foolish scenario and laugh it off... the urge was gone again. Like all things, not to last!

Gassho
Shohei

Shohei, your posts tend to make me smile and or laugh. I think it is impart to your wording, and the other part is the great picture you currently have as your avatar.

Laughing Buddha?
Will John

[Kyonin]

Re: Quiting Smoking

Hey Will,

I have never smoked, but here's a little tip that's helped some people to understand.

Smoking is burning money. Literally.

When you go cold turkey, put all the money you used on cigarettes on a jar. After a couple of weeks you'll start to see how damaging smoking is to your personal finances.

After a couple of months you'll have enough to open up a small bank account or maybe even donate to a cancer foundation and you'll be happy you are a quitter.

Hope that helps.

Hello all,

So with Ango and especially Jukai going on I have decided to quit smoking. I tend to smoke rather strong cigarettes, but only about a pack a week or 5 cigarettes a day give or take. I need to drop this addiction that is only harming myself. Do any of you have any tips to quit this habit? Any thoughts or ideas are greatly appreciated as is encouragement.


With hands together,
Will John