There are many different approaches to the difficult task of how to quit smoking. This article will focus on one of the most effective approaches I’ve seen and suggested for my patients. For some folks, this technique alone is enough to do the trick. For others, it takes more. But the good part about this is that it can be used in conjunction with one or several other methods that you may be currently using such as nicotine replacement therapy, counseling, or even, dare I say, medications like Zyban.

What I like about this technique is that it is easy to use, you can do it almost anywhere, and it doesn’t cost anything, or very little. If I were trying to kick the habit, I would definitely start here, before I invested hundreds or thousands of dollars in the latest whiz-bang doohickey or miracle drug. My thinking is, always start with the simple, easy, free methods first. You can always try something more sophisticated (and expensive) later, in the event that these methods don’t work.

Here’s what you will need in order to make this technique work:

• A quiet place
• 10-20 minutes when you aren’t going to be disturbed, split into 2 blocks morning and evening
• A comfortable chair
• An open mind

As you become proficient at this, you will be able to use it even if you don’t have a quiet place, but in the beginning, definitely set aside time and place to practice.

I first heard about this technique in Dr. Maxwell Maltz’s breakthrough book, “Psycho-cybernetics”. He refers to it as…

The Theater of The Mind

Here’s how it works. As you are probably aware, the mind cannot tell the difference between an actual experience and one that is vividly imagined. So you are going to trick your mind into thinking that you aren’t a smoker. The first thing you should do is write down any situation where you feel compelled to smoke. If it helps, carry a pocket notebook for a couple of days and each time that you light up take a moment to write down the circumstances. Write down as many details as you can. Time, location, and most importantly what you are feeling. Is it a pressure situation at work? Did you just have an argument with your spouse? Is it after a meal with coworkers? Whatever is going on, make a note. Also, it is important that at this point you aren’t trying to curb your smoking. Just do what you normally do.

After a couple of days you should have enough data to start cutting back on your smoking. Take out your notebook and a separate piece of paper or use an Excel spreadsheet if you are really analytical, like me. Then start looking for patterns, by stick counting how many times you lit up in each type of situation. If you are like most people, you will have about 3-4 dominant situations where you feel compelled to smoke.

Now, taking the one that is your most dominant, try to come up with an alternate behavior to replace smoking. One such suggestion is chewing a piece of gum, which used to be a great technique. I’m not a big fan of it now, as most gums available today are loaded with artificial sweeteners. The question becomes, which is worse for you, the nicotine and tar, or the artificial sweeteners? So, if you don’t want the artificial sweeteners, shop for gum that doesn’t have any. Other suggested replacement behaviors include:

1. tic tacs – as far as I can tell, these handy little mints do not contain artificial sweeteners and have 1.9 calories (not the 1 ½ calories they used to advertise, as the mint size was increased). Either way, not many calories, so unlikely to add to your waist line.
2. having reading material with you and reading a couple of paragraphs
3. doing some jumping jacks, push ups, something physical
4. thinking about physical activity, your next workout, bike ride, etc.
5. a replacement behavior of your own design

Behaviors 3-5 are obviously not to be engaged in when you are in the middle of a work or social situation. I am not recommending that you stop in the middle of a meeting and start doing jumping jacks or whip out the Wall Street Journal. That would be funny, though.

OK, now that you have your replacement behavior, you are ready to use the theater of the mind. Note, up until now you still haven’t actually reduced your smoking. You are going to do this at least two times per day, in the morning upon arising, and in the evening, just before going to bed. You can practice it more often as your circumstances allow. Explain to your family or friends, whoever is around, that you will need 10 minutes of quiet time. Unless they don’t want you to quit, they should honor this request. If they won’t you will have to find quiet time elsewhere.

Go to your comfortable chair in your quiet spot, close your eyes, and take several deep, relaxing breaths while you focus on nothing but allowing your body to relax. Once you are relaxed, picture yourself in the situation you listed as #1 for triggering your smoking. But as you see yourself reaching for your smokes, you instead see yourself pulling out your pack of tic tacs, or gum, or your reading material, or doing your jumping jacks. Whichever you chose.

Now, don’t just see yourself doing it. Vividly imagine the situation using all 5 senses. Smell and taste the tic tac. Feel the container in your hand, feel yourself popping the lid. Hear the distinctive rattle a pack of tic tacs makes. Make it as real as possible. Rehearse this for the remainder of your quiet time. In the beginning you may not be able to involve all 5 senses, and it may take you the whole time to just see yourself doing the replacement behavior one time.

With practice, you will be able to vividly imagine it over and over during your quiet time. For the first week, just do the visualization exercise morning and evening, but don’t physically do the replacement behavior. Also, with practice, you should find yourself able to immediately bring the image into your mind, whenever you have a spare moment. This is really good practice.

After a week of imagining, it’s time for the real thing. Go and get whatever supplies you think you’ll need for the week on Sunday. Buy the tic tacs, gum, magazines, etc. And make sure you have back ups. Put spare tic tacs, gum, etc. in your desk, car, jacket, wherever you are most likely to encounter your smoking triggers.

Starting Monday morning, start with your visualization exercises. Then go about your day. When you are confronted with the smoking trigger, immediately engage in your replacement behavior. Pop the tic tac in your mouth and get back to your day.

For most people, after 2 weeks of working on trigger #1, it is time to move on to trigger #2. For the visualization, you can quickly see #1 and then move into visualizing #2, again involving all 5 senses as you did previously. For triggers #2 and up, I also recommend doing the visualizations for a week each before starting the physical behavior modification. Throughout this process you will continue using the previous behavior modifications and adding to them. I highly recommend using a different physical behavior for each smoking trigger. It’s easier to train your mind this way. If you have more triggers than alternate behaviors, you simply do the best you can.

While this approach isn’t flashy, and doesn’t always happen fast, it has two very large benefits. First, most people who successfully use these methods quit for good. You aren’t relying on some outside stimulus to keep them from smoking. You will have successfully modified your behavior. The second great benefit is that, because of the gradual approach that this takes, both the physical and emotional withdrawal symptoms are greatly diminished.

The length of time for success will vary greatly from individual to individual and will depend on how long you’ve smoked, how much you smoked, and how strictly you follow this program. Some have fantastic results in less than a month, for others it takes over a year. Just know that each step along the way is moving you that much closer to being free from cigarettes. Also, know that many people start this method several times before getting it to stick. It will work, it just takes some longer than others.

If you have any questions or comments about this article, or you would like further information regarding quitting smoking naturally, go visit our website at www.stopsmokinghowto.com.