Why did we ever start smoking? I cant remember why I did? I mean we all know that smoking is bad for you, so why did we start in the first place? Man! was it the peer pressure thing? I dont know? Maybe? Was it so that us guys could look like toughguys? Was it because that some girls wanted to look like toughgirls? I mean why start in the first place? Remember that first "hit" of someone else's "stick?" The whole world started to spin and I got sick! I am sure that we all got sick! Did we not? Sure we did! dont lie to me or to anyone else! We did! but then all of a sudden we realize that smoking is pleasurable, I mean we have one after a filling meal, you know "that feeling dont you? Well the ancient Egyptians used tobacco to help them relax! Well that is not how we do it in America, but they did!

Smoking must bring with it some kind of relief or pleasure with it. It must be pleasureable, I mean think of all that bad breath that we and other smokers have had? The yellow or worse color teeth that smokers have or that you have if you are currently smoking? Think of all the "wind" that you have lost from smoking? Man! Now that is pleasure if you ask me, huh? I can remember being able to run and run and run, then I got into smoking! Thank God! I finally quit! I dont run miles and miles anymore, but I have my health back!

Still the thing is what made us start smoking? Maybe we all wanted to be like the Marlboro man! Remember him? Or the Salem man? remember him? Later in life one of the Salem Men played Magnum PI on TV! Yup you guessed it! Maybe it was all that advertising that goes way back, like Bogey having a smoke, or any other tough guy having a smoke, like James Dean? Smoking made us different from the rest of our social group did it not? Smokers were cool, and tough as nails! Maybe in the long run we found that smoking in some twisted way relieved stress and once again like the Egytpians helped us to "relax" There is some correlation in the fact that people who are goal oriented and looking at the long term aspect of their lives are less likely to take up the "habit" And those that for whatever reason have a shorter view on life may be more likely to take the "habit." The fact of the matter people is that at one point or another and then another and then another some smokers come to a point were they want to give up the "habit," This is and will be one of the most profound decisions of a smokers lifetime! It can be a trying time, but a time worth taking!

Why do people want to quit smoking? Well naturally the first reason is for their own health and a longer life span! Smoking has been recognized as the single most preventable cause of death from cancer! Way back on the 1980's the surgeon general of the United States reported that smoking tobacco and using tobacco products caused more cancer death in the U.S. than all other factors. Upwards of 87% die from lung cancer. So why do people want to quit smoking? How's about the ability to breathe? Think of the alternative? Smoking has been associated with cancers of the bladder, mouth, and kidneys as well as the stomach, and throat! For women smoking has been atrributed to cancer of the cervix!. It has been reported that quitting smoking can reduce the risk of cancer considerably. 15yrs after quitting the average Joe that quit has almost the same low risk of cancer than that of a regular Joe that never smoked at all! So I say again, what are the benefits of quiting smoking? I bet you as a smoker never really thought of it have you? Maybe you have not as a matter of avoidance self therapy knowing all along that you wanted to quit, so let me give you some reasons to quit:

1. Hows about the fact that your tongue might fix itself and your food might taste better! Hey unless you want to tell me that a cigarette tastes better than Mom's home cooking? I thought so, Mom's food wins out!

2. What about the fact that you might have more energy in your life! Now who around you would like for you to have more energy besides you? Get the hint?

3. Maybe your clothing and your breath wont smell like smoke

anymore? Hmm? What a thought huh?

4. You might actually feel more in control of yourself and not be dependent on the smokes! Would'nt that be great? You know it would!

5. Holy Moly! you could save well over $1400.00 a year on smokes depending on how much they cost in your area! Do the math If you are a pack a day smoker or more multiply the daily cost by the week and then by the month and then by the year and you will see.

Here is absolute best reason I can think of in regards to quitting smoking and it is perhaps the most important of all! LIFE! Your life! Isn't your life worth more than the cost of a pack os smokes a day? Isn't your life worth watching your kids grow up to be somone! Isn't your life worth growing old with the one that you love? YOUR LIFE? Think about it? Think of all the positive side effects of quitting smoking? Well, breathing for one! Hows about better sex! Hows about sex in general now that you can breathe? Yeah! I thought so! No more being called the one minute man! Hehehe! Hows about better social acceptance? Yup! hows about lower health insurance premiums? How about you will be able to get a job. Remember we live in a new world and someplaces dont hire smokers because of simple things like increased insurance premiums! Hows about you will smell better! Your teeth might look better!

There are many ways to quit smoking out there in the world today you know! I am sure that everyone that it reading this article is aware of the "Cold Turkey Method?" Yeah! I thought so! You know how it goes: You just quit and rely on your will power. Granted some will power is a necessary component to quitting! You just have to leave your old friend Nic O' Tine behind you! Better said than done though is it not? There are tons of meds out there both prescription and over the counter that will help in quitting! You could try going to a shrink? There are of course classes and support groups, all of which can work! Smoking as we all know is a habitual behavior and it is hard to break as well there are many factors as to why people smoke in the first place. Lets face it! Quiting smoking IS the best thing that one can do for themselves and many, many people out there use one or more techniques in union to aid them in quitting the nicotine habit.

So what happens when someone decides to quit smoking! Well, many things can happen. Remember that tobacco produces nicotine and nicotine is the addictive substance in the body. So one could have symtoms of withdrawal and with that withdrawl can come severe mood swings, as well as depression, loss of sleep, limited concentration as well as head and body aches. Some people may also notice a new appreciation for the oral fixation of food! So there might be some weight gain in the individual, but hey! lets look at the facts: I think many of us would rather be a bit heavier and be able to breathe rather than being skinny and dying to take a breath? Right? I thought so! The length and extent of these symtoms is different for each person and usually will pass sooner rather than later! Hey with a new found capability to breath one might just feel like excersing again to reduce the stress of not smoking. I mean people have addictive personalities and I think to some extent that we all do! So better for someone to get addicted to exercise than to continued smoking! Right? I thought so!

1. Nicotine replacement solutions like "The Patch" to lower the nicotine cravings slowly overtime to ease the transistion to non smoker status.

2. Nicotine chewing gum for the quick "hit" of nicotine that a person might need as the nicotine is absorbed fromt the glands in the mouth instead of your lungs!

3. Today there are even nicotine nasal sprays on the market that allow the user to absorb nicotine through the sinus membranes.

4. Ever see an asthma inhaler? I bet you have! now they even have nicotine inhalers which kind of look like the old time cigarette filters from the old movies! Remeber those?

These stop smoking solutions were approved by the FDA in 2001

There are other ways to quit smoking as well and they are:

1. Antidepressants which are supposed to ease the effects of the withdrawl. I cannot give medical advise so ask your doctor!

2. Hows about going to a stop smoking support group? Look into it and use it as a support mechanism, as that is they are there for!

3. Hows about nicotine anonymous? it is a 12step program like the one used in AA and other similar programs.

4. Hows about some accupuncture? let someone needle you for a change! hehehe!

The one method that I would like to address here is hypnosis for the quitting of smoking! Hypnosis has been shown to work and have great effects on people who want to quit smoking and hypnosis can compliment any regimen to help in the quitting of smoking. Like hypnosis and dancing for excersize. What about hypnosis and yoga? Or hypnosis and tai chi? Hows about hypnosis combined with any medical treatment that one might be using! What about hypnosis and a support group? These are all things that can help to quiet the mind and help to center a person so that they can deal with the stress of living without have to smoke a cigarette! Remember: In my opinion the #1 reason to quit smoking is LIFE.....Yours! Dont forget that!

Here are some references in regards to using hypnosis as a means to quit smoking smoking:

The University of Washingtons School of Medicine in the dept. of Anesthesiology and Rehab Medicine July 2001 at that time there were 43 patients that were beiug treated with hypnosis to quit smoking. At the check points of 6 months and upwards of 3yrs 39 of the 43 patients were still smoke free! That is a 90.6% success rate with the aid of hypnosis! Depts. of Anesthesiology and Rehabilitation Medicine, Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2001 Jul;49(3):257-66. Barber J.

Check out www.smokefreeinternational.com/report.php, they compared hypnosis used with NLP(Neuro Linguistic Programming) and just using hypnosis alone to quit smoking. There was a 95% success rate using hypnosis and NLP and using hypnosis alone produced a success rate of 51%

In January of 2004 Texas A&M did a study of 30 smokers that were prescribed hypnosis as a method of treatment to help them quit smoking. When the treatment ended, 81% of the patients said that they had quit smoking and a year later 48% said that they had not gone back to smoking.

Texas A&M University, System Health Science Center College of Medicine, USA. Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2004 Jan; 52(1): 73-81

In October of 1992 at the University of Iowa, in the Journal of Applied Psychology wrote: "Hypnosis is the most effective way of giving up smoking, according to the largest ever scientific comparison of ways of breaking the habit. A meta-analysis, statistically combining results of more than 600 studies of 72 000 people from America and Europe to compare various methods of quitting. On average - hypnosis was over three times as effective as nicotine replacement methods and 15 times as effective as trying to quit alone."

So the crux of the matter is that hypnosis can possibly assist those who want to quit smoking! I know that there are many of you out there and I am always one to do as much research as possible as to the many different ways to accomplish a goal.

This article has been written for information purposes only and does not offer in any way shape or form any sort of medical advice or advice of any kind in relation to medical or any other kind of advice to quit smoking. Seek the advice of a trained professional.