Stop Smoking Already!

Don't You Know It's A Bad Habit & Can Be Eliminated

By Jeanne Ranger, Practitioner EFT-Adv,CH,RM

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Richard arrived early and sat there fidgeting in his chair wishing he’d smoked one last cigarette before coming in. Looking around he saw signs saying, “Today is quitting day!” “Not one more cigarette. Halleluiah!” These signs were new from last week. He was obviously nervous.

I tell clients it’s not necessary for them to quit smoking on the date of the first private session although many do. Richard had come to see me the week before, and had succumbed to his cravings for cigarettes. He was back for his 2nd appointment. That was two years ago, and Richard has not smoked since.

Think back to the first cigarette you ever smoked. You coughed, wheezed, shivered, and felt ill, but it was cool, it felt a little rebellious, now you fit in with the other kids at school. You got used to the taste, the smell, the suffocating feeling as your lungs filled with that toxic gas. In a week or so after starting you were an expert at it and you slowly became completely enslaved by smoking.

Smoking is a learned behavior that becomes an automatic response to the anxieties and stresses in our lives. People believe they smoke to calm and relax themselves. The truth is smoking makes us even more tense. In small doses nicotine acts as a stimulant to the brain. In large doses, it’s a depressant inhibiting the flow of signals between nerve cells, etc. etc.

If you smoke a pack or more a day, you’re most likely addicted to nicotine, so you’ll experience some physical side effects when you decide to quit. It takes 3 to 4 days for this drug to be cleared out of your system naturally. The remainder of the  “habit” has to do with your negative emotions that trigger your cravings.

EFT is a simple technique that combines focused thoughts with gentle fingertip tapping on key acupressure points. This balances the energy pathways of the body. Once these pathways are balanced, the emotional drivers behind smoking and other addictions start to fade. If emotional issues aren't properly resolved, the smoker feels overwhelmed and eventually turns back to cigarettes to pacify the emotional pain.

I use and teach EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) as a self-help tool so people can go home and use the process they’ve learned during their private session or workshop to tranquilize their negative emotions whenever they come up.

I often combine EFT treatments with hypnosis with the clients permission. This gives the client control and empowerment. They learn active tools they can use to help themselves when cravings become strong, assuring them much more success.

Maria is squirming in her seat as she studies the signs on my office walls, “Not One More Cigarette. Halleluiah!” “Today is quitting day!” She waits for me to finish my call. She is a little anxious, but this is her 2nd session, she is ready to quit. And does successfully.

Is it that easy for everyone? No, of course not. But with EFT you can eliminate not only the cravings as they come up, but also the emotional drivers behind the addiction.

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Author's Bio:

Jeanne “J.R.” Ranger has a business background, and was a National and International Seminar speaker for years.  She is an EFT Advanced Practitioner, Ordained Minister, Certified Hypnotist and Reiki Master. Because of her traumatic childhood, she received much counseling, took several college level courses in psychology and counseling. Now, her passion is working with those who’ve experienced trauma, using her proven techniques to assist clients collapse limiting issues, empowering them to experience peace and harmony in their lives. She specializes in Smoking Cessation, Weight Reduction, Trauma, and Chronic Pain. Website: www.rangereft.com. She may be reached by calling: (336) 775-2660.

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Disclaimer: All information on this website is for educational purposes only, and the content is not intended to suggest that it is a substitute for proper medical care or good common sense.

While EFT has produced remarkable clinical results, it must still be considered to be in the experimental stage and thus practitioners and the public must take complete responsibility for their use of it.

In addition, the articles on this site represent the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the founder of EFT, Gary Craig, nor the owner of this web site, Stefan Gonick.