My clients often ask if I have ever smoked. So maybe you are wondering the same thing. And the answer is yes. I smoked from the time I was 26 years old until I was 37 years old. I know what you are going through.
I remember when I first started smoking. I tried to inhale just like all my friends and it wasn’t pretty. I coughed and choked. The smoke seemed to get caught in my throat. It felt like my throat had a spasm and closed or something. It was really embarrassing. Everyone laughed. I was the youngest and most naïve of all my friends. I felt like if I could just get used to smoking, I would seem older and more sophisticated, like them. Smoking was popular in those days. So I was persistent. The next time I tried to inhale I took it slower. I practiced at home until it became easier and easier. I never thought that I would smoke for the next 10 years. Friends had come and gone, mostly, but I was still smoking.
I learned to inhale deeply. I don’t usually do something half way. In fact, I specifically remember when I learned to “French inhale”. Somebody showed me how at first. French inhaling, in case you don’t know, is when you inhale and let the smoke flow out of your mouth back up into your tender nostrils. Now it sounds disgusting. What was I thinking? It couldn’t have been a pretty sight! I also remember trying to blow smoke rings. What fun. Not!
I knew I should quit and I really wanted to quit smoking because I was beginning to feel sick and dizzy each time I inhaled. But I just kept smoking, thinking I will stop tomorrow, or soon, or later or after this happens or when I am on vacation or whatever. This went on for years. I would get my resolve up and then break down when I was with someone who smoked.
How did I finally quit? I had begun taking singing lessons and really enjoyed it. I was going to a very well respected and expensive singing coach in Hollywood, CA. I felt I had made some great improvement and I was beginning to sing in public places. But one time I came to my appointment after having smoked a cigarette. My coach said in effect, “You can sing, or you can smoke, but you can’t do both. Come back when you decide what you really want to do.” Ouch!!! I was stunned. I wanted to quit but I just kept going back and bumming them from all the people around me and then I would get embarrassed about bumming them and would start buying them again. That day I drove around thinking about what my coach said and trying to figure out how I was going to quit. Logically, it was an easy decision but stopping was not easy. Then I decided to give it another try. I really love to sing. So every time I had the urge to smoke, I said to my self “sing or smoke, which one do you want most?” Singing won out. Thank goodness.
I must say that I only had one relapse. I went to visit my parents who lived in a small house in Phoenix, Az. They were both smoking and in the past, I was smoking right along with them. But this trip I had quit smoking and as they smoked and the room filled up with smoke, I began to feel nauseated and thought, “I never got nauseated before. Maybe I should just have one and I might feel better”. WRONG! I was so nauseated that I had to lie down for about 3 hours before I recovered. I have never had any desire to smoke anything since then. I have packs of cigarettes that people leave in my office, even my favorite brand and I have absolutely no desire to smoke. Not at all.
I am so glad I quit smoking when I did because to this day, I have had no health problems due to my smoking habit. However, I wish I known about an easier way to quit, like hypnosis back then. If I could have quit in one or two hours without any cravings, I would have paid anything to do it without the years of struggle and continuing cost.
I can help you stop smoking the easiest and most effective way in about an hour or two.
Give me a call if you have any questions. 951.443.5083.