sue's hypnotist.

Sue’s hypnotist

I Started smoking at age 17. I smoked for 4 yrs and smoked approximately twenty a day, my husband is a non smoker so I wanted to quit for him, I went to a hypnotist in Auckland. Found her through the phone book, her name appealed to me, I went along, stubbed my cigarette out at the door and left a packet of cigarettes on my car seat and went into her office The session lasted about one and a half hours, we talked for a while about what I wanted out of giving up then she put me under, I don’t remember what she said but I remember a strange smell. She brought me back charged me $75 and I left.

I got into my car and my cigarettes were still on the seat, I drove home and I had no urge or interest to light up. I gave the packet away to a friend a few days later, I just didn’t want them, I had no desire to ever smoke again I wasn’t concerned being in the company of other smokers it just didn’t worry me.

I initially put on a bit of weight not because I was using food as a substitute but I was healthier, I felt I had more energy and Danny said I smelled nicer, but then he stunk of beer,

Since then I’ve known of other people that have gone to hypnotists with mixed success. My brother and his mate went to one (not the same one). Phil walked out and never smoked again but my brother gave up 2 years later but the hypnotist told them that it may not be immediate. Phil isn’t concerned about being around smokers but Ted loathes the smell and complains about smokers.

Monica went to one and she didn’t smoke for a day but that’s as long as it lasted,

Monica went because of financial problems Phil was having health problems, and Ted went to support Phil At the time Ted thought it was a load of rubbish but now he truly thinks it was responsible for him giving up even though it was years later,

Elaine went to one and his method was to convince her that cigarettes tasted of disgusting burning rubber, but it didn’t stop her smoking, she would spit and pull faces as she smoked them, this continued for a couple of weeks till she got used to it.

gerry's story

I smoked 20 a day for 18 yrs; I started at 19 yrs old. Most of us start when we're young because we think we’re indestructible, and it’s so horrible you never believe you'd get addicted then when you decide to stop you find you're hooked.
The last time I quit was partly to encourage my wife, there are some smoking related health issues in her family and her smoking was concerning to us both she managed to kick the habit but I secretly started again.
I got the book from the library 'how to quit smoking the easy way by Alan Carr’, I had to pre-order it at the library it was so popular, I read half of the book and got bored of it so didn't finish it and carried on smoking merrily

A few weeks later I realized that I had to stop making excuses and that I couldn't keep putting off the day that I quit so started reading the book from the beginning again, it took me a day to read the book and by seven o’clock I was three quarters of the way through the book and I had what I knew would be my last cigarette.

The book made me look at quitting in a different way, giving up was an enjoyable experience, I wasn't losing something I was achieving something. I’d recommend the book to anyone it really helps and makes you think differently, It’s claimed thousands of people have given up with this method, there are Alan Carr clinics that you can go to and they claim to be very successful. I didn’t need any substitutes like gum or food. I finished the book in bed that night. I still have an unfinished pack of cigarettes that I don't touch; it doesn't affect me at all. I can't pick one part that made me to give up the book is an individual personal experience, deep down every one wants to give up. I hated my teeth, I was disgusted when I saw photographs of myself and my brown yellow teeth would be so noticeable, they started to go whiter after the first week.

When I get the urge to have a cigarette I feel I’ve come this far why ruin it, the urge lasts a few seconds and then its gone, I get the urge about three times a day, but I think I’m only cheating myself, I’ll never smoke again, they say once a smoker always a smoker but I get a great feeling of self fulfillment. My mouth feels a lot cleaner especially in the mornings and I don't cough up phlegm in the mornings like I used to. You know you've got to give up sooner or later so why not make it today, rather than when a doctor says you have to. I hate to sound like a self righteous ex-smoker but I now look at smokers and instead of being tempted I feel sorry for them knowing that they're still addicted to ‘the monster’ when it's actually really easy to quit.

studly's conspiracy

In the Mel Gibson movie ‘Conspiracy theory’ Jerry buys the same book, J.D. Salinger's, The Catcher in the Rye, every day. He has hundreds of copies of this book at his apartment that he’s never read yet he still buys one a day and he struggles to explain why.

Initially I questioned the probability that someone would be so brainwashed that they would continue to buy something so useless, surely their common sense, and the waste of money and time would encourage them to seriously question and resist it. Then I realized my daily purchase of cigarettes was just as bizarre. I’d been conditioned just as jerry was and I hadn’t questioned it for over twenty years, I didn’t need to quit smoking I just had to stop buying them.

john's financial incentive

my flat mate John and I made a bet with each other, we both put fifty dollars each in a glass jar on top of the fridge and agreed that from the next day if one of us had a cigarette the other one would claim the one hundred dollars.

The first few days were quite easy, a combination of greed and competitiveness, getting one up on the other, and the cravings would be softened somewhat by our humor, each trying to encourage the other to have a cigarette. John knew the mornings were hardest for me, a cig with my morning coffee was tradition and so he would describe in great detail the joys of smoking and lighting that first cigarette of the day, and he'd leave a cigarette and lighter on top of the kettle and when I ignored it he'd hold it to his nose like you would an expensive cigar and sniff the length of it crowing "mmmmm, how good it smells". One morning, a minute before my alarm clock sounded he sneaked into my room while I slept and placed a coffee and a ashtray containing a lit cigarette on my bedside table. I woke to the realization that this had become a battle of wills.

John didn’t just smoke cigarettes, he liked to have the occasional joint, so I’d invite his pot smoking buddies over and of course, they only ever talk about one thing, “pot” he’d squirm as they’d describe their latest sessions and how good the gear is from this new dealer how fat this joint was and how strong that one was and how this pipe is the best ever, they’d also argue that pot smoking shouldn’t be included in our bet because it was different from cigarettes, John and I both knew that that was hog wash but peer pressure from a group of pot heads can be quite heavy and poor john would glance from them to the jar on top of the fridge and back to them, and then to me, grinning like a mad man.

For two weeks this went on, we’d buy cigarettes to place strategically where the other would be tempted, I’d find cigarettes in my tool bag at work and John would find them in his desk, his pockets, and on the dash board of his car, we’d leave little notes on them, “please smoke me”.

We’d recruit our friends to encourage the other to smoke, some one would say “ hold this while I go to the toilet and thrust a lit cigarette in my hand”, I’d stand there while it burned away and then I’d notice john casually spying on me. “Nice try” I’d say, and he’d smile and deny all knowledge.

It was all good fun and the plotting kept our minds busy. Each evening our third flat mate who didn’t smoke, would have to smell us, for traces of tobacco smoke, she’s quite hot so we didn’t mind. John would watch suspiciously while Tuppy sniffed at my clothes, my fingers and my breath.

We hadn’t been out drinking or clubbing because we both knew that in that atmosphere with a few drinks in us it would be very hard to resist, but more than two weeks had passed, we were now non smokers and we were going out this Saturday. I got to the club a hour or so before john and I was quite comfortable being in the company of a lot of smokers and it wasn’t difficult not having a cigarette and even declining them when they were offered to me. I had a dance with my girlfriend and hot and thirsty I came back to the table I took a big drink from my glass of lager and took a drag of the lit cigarette in the ashtray next to it, and as I flicked the ash off into the ashtray I glanced up and saw John. I stopped dead as the cigarette was half way back to my mouth, “shit”. I stared at him but he was a couple tables away and was talking to a chick, so I threw the cigarette in the ashtray and pushed it away from me, I looked around to see if any one else had noticed, no one had.

My night was ruined, John was being too happy, when we spoke I looked for signs that he had seen me with the cigarette but he gave nothing away, except for him smiling like a constipated hyena.

The next day nothing was said all day but he was still suspiciously happy, I’d started to think there was another reason for his ecstasy and I was in the clear when he suddenly asked me between grinning teeth if I had a confession to make. I got the jar from off the fridge handed him the money congratulating him on his win. He slowly counted the money over and over, simultaneously preaching the dangers of smoking, savoring his victory just as I would have done, it was so painful that I had to have a cigarette, I tried to convince him that at least now I could have a smoke and fifty dollars was small price to pay for the pleasure but we both knew it had gone way beyond the money.

That was five years ago and john hasn’t had a cigarette since, I smoke more than ever, we still remain best friends but I’d never bet with him again..

Rob Gives up Smoking....

I think that it is important to share what for me was a life changing time, and if I can make it any easier for someone else trying to kick the smoking habit that would be fantastic, and well worth the half an hour that it took me to write this article.
Smoking, why do we do it? Well.. at the time it feels great, gives us that nicotine rush that makes smoking more important to us than living a long and healthy life. I sometimes wonder how something so addictive and bad for the body can be legal, I guess it goes back to the days when smoking was considered cool and not known to be so harmful to your health.
Giving up smoking is a little like starving yourself, and not letting yourself have anything to eat. That is what it feels like anyway. If you don't smoke, then you don't understand so you might as well go and read one of the other articles!
Ok so how to stop smoking? Well instead of telling yourself you can never have another cigarette, how about this. First you need to go an buy yourself a pack of wee willem cigars from your local store, this will be the catalyst to your success if you follow this technique.
Now knowing that your nicotine cravings will be quenched at the end of the week, you need to give up for 7 days. Your reward will be 1 wee willem cigar and this will take away the craving. That's easier than giving up forever right? of course it is easier, it is only a few days. Once you finish the 7 days you will be almost desperate to have the cigar, then you will smoke it and it will get rid of your craving however it will taste kinda gross. Yep cigars taste not the best and you will not be in a hurry for another one.
Great the first seven days is up, your craving has been overcome by the gross cigar, now you need to go another 7 days, this is the key, you need to keep doing it. Once the 7 days is up you can have another cigar. And so on.
What one finds after a few weeks of this is that the grossness of the cigar starts to overcome the urge of the nicotine fix, which by ignoring for 7 days at a time starts to loose its grasp on your body. Before you know it you don't really need or want that cigar. But remember if you feel like falling off the wagon do not have a cigarette, wait until the end of the current 7 day period and rip into a cigar.
A simple process that worked for me, and could work for you. It is easier than going cold turkey because the willpower that you have cannot remain strong indefinitely, this way you get to have a rest after 7 days, then fired up once again can continue on the path to a better life.
Disclaimer: Cigars are worse for you than cigarettes so do this at your own risk! It could quite possibly be worst for your health, especially if you become addicted to smoking cigars.

Mr Burgers Story

burger
been smoking for 22 yrs since 16yr old, 15 a day

signed up for a course with 7th day Adventist church, quit for two months

showed pics of cancer lung disease mouth disease guest speakers and shit group sessions,

the pictures convinced me to give up

it was advertised in local rag

went once a week for six weeks

each session was two hours

cut down before I went

quit by the end of it

smoke less now