How To Stop Smoking The NLP Way
Are you struggling to give up smoking? We all know how bad it is for us but quitting can be one of the hardest things to do. With the help of Andy Austin - NLP expert - we help you to firstly use NLP to change the way you think about cigarettes, then we give you four practical steps to help you beat the addiction for good.
Step 1: What is NLP?
NLP stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming, a name that encompasses the three most influential components in human experience: neurology, language and programming, essentially the study of how you can re-program your mind through language. To program your mind to stop it wanting cigarettes you need to desensitize your brain to stop thinking of smoking as a need or a habit. One NLP method used to do this is called the Swish Pattern.
Step 2: Visualize a new representation
Pick an external cue that makes it apparent to you that you are about to smoke. This might be if you are stressed, hungry, having a drink or after a meal. Picture this representation in your mind. Once you have done this, before you reach for a cigarette, ask yourself what you want to do instead. This might be eating an apple, drinking a glass of water, painting a picture, or going for a walk.
Step 3: Replace the old picture with the new one
Now imagine seeing yourself, dissociated, doing this activity. You are someone who chooses not to smoke, who is confident and enjoys the company of others and yourself, and someone who relieves tensions in constructive ways. Make this image of your future self so that it is compelling to you - something you are naturally drawn to. This will mean visualising this picture so that it is bigger and brighter than the original cue picture that makes you want to smoke.
Step 4: Repeat
Make a picture of the smoking cue, just as you have done before, and then bring the "future self" picture to your mind. This will begin as an unnoticeably small point in the centre, or corner of your cue picture. On command bring the "future self" picture slowly to life-size and position, getting bigger gradually until it bursts through and into the cue picture, and therefore completely destroying the cue picture and your association of that and wanting to smoke.
Repeat this as many times as necessary, and as often as necessary, every time you feel the urge to reach for a cigarette.
