Acupuncture – An Alternative to Assist in Breaking Your Smoking Addiction
One of the most difficult things you can ever do is try and quit smoking. Fortunately, there are quite a few tools you can use in trying to accomplish this goal. Acupuncture is actually one of the more helpful tools you can try, and it’s quite effective in helping you break your cycle of addiction.
Foundations of Acupuncture
Acupuncture centers around very fine needles being inserted in particular points on the human body. These needles are supposed to stimulate the flow of chi or Qi throughout the person’s body, helping them and their natural systems be better regulated. A lot of folks are rather fearful of needles; however, the needles used in acupuncture are very thin, as the thickness is usually no more than a strand of hair, meaning the insertion is often unnoticed.
These needles get inserted quite superficially into the skin, and they stay inside the body while the patient is in a state of rest. Acupuncture works because it helps regulate the natural energy flow of the body, which can help calm down the mind, ease anxieties, reduce nicotine withdrawal and cravings, and even make the lungs stronger so they can have an easier time clearing tar, phlegm, and nicotine residue out.
A lot of smokers light up so they can deal with energy that is stuck in their body which might reveal itself as feelings of grief, anger, tension, or anxiety. Smoking cigarettes draws in warm air deep into a person’s lungs before the nicotine involved hits the blood stream, where it can work its way into the brain, providing a temporary release from negative emotions, leaving a person relaxed. Acupuncture can help regulate all this stuck energy by moving things along in many of the same ways that deep breathing or a few minutes of silent meditation might do.
Smoking lets someone feel relaxed, and quickly, although it’s a rather false benefit considering how the impact of smoking is far more harmful then the anxiety someone might undergo otherwise. In traditional Chinese medicine, it’s believed that grief is the emotion related to the lungs. Grief is a heavy energy, and a sad one that can easily get stuck, although puffing on a cigarette can alleviate it because the lungs are moving. It’s crucial to find different ways of getting this stuck qi moving. If you still smoke, take notice of how you’re feeling when you have a craving for something to smoke. Observe your feelings for stress of sadness. Spend a bit of time doing analysis to get to the root of your feelings.
Acupuncture, in particular auricular acupuncture of the ear, helps minimize nicotine cravings because it stimulates brain receptors where nicotine typically binds, meaning the patient gets a break from their cravings. Ear acupuncture might be done by a trained acupuncturist, but you can also buy ‘ear seeds’ that are small morning glory seeds placed on medical tape that get stuck on certain spots of the ear. You can also look into auricular acupuncture charts on the Internet and even look into the addiction clinics your community offers. Such clinics are typically free and might offer you a short acupuncture session or ear seed application in order to manage may various addictions.
One of the best benefits that any acupuncture session might offer you is how it calms down your mind while easing your anxiety. People frequently smoke in order to mask any feelings they don’t want to feel or deal with. Acupuncture can help move such feelings safely from the body. People often comment that after acupuncture, they have an easier time falling asleep, get more rest in their sleep, and even sleep longer.
Cleansing
As a final benefit, acupuncture can help the body physically remove nicotine and tar residue from within itself. That lets the lungs start feeling lighter, coughing happens less, digestion improves, and the voice gets less gravely. Your acupuncturist might prescribe helpful herbal formulas that can also help the lungs heal as you refrain from your smoking. One formula that any smoker, quitting smoker, or ex-smoker might want to take is known as Yang Yin Qing Fei. This particular formula is balanced perfectly with herbs that can help the lungs clear out and coughing to stop while lungs and sore throats experience less dryness thanks to the moistening effect.
In the end, the one thing that most accurately predicts someone quitting successfully is their genuine desire to give the habit up. Like many other addictions, the very first step is admitting that you actually have a problem, followed by the desire to change it, and then taking things one day at a time. I frequently ask my patients why they want to quit smoking. That might sound like a rather silly question. However, when a patient responds that they really want to make this life change, then their results are a lot better than anyone who answers that they’d like to give it up just because a spouse wants them to. The same goes for when they say it’s gotten too expensive or they just say that their doctor said they should. All of these are great reasons why someone should quit smoking, but it eventually comes down to an individual’s personal desire to change their life for the better.
This particular personal desire to have better health and quit this addiction is a very powerful force which can move a patient in a really good direction.
You need to ask yourself just why you would like to quit. There might even be multiple reasons that you should post where you can see them.
Remind yourself every day why you’re making this particular choice. All the hypnosis treatment, nicotine gum, and acupuncture in the world isn’t going to make you tobacco-free unless you have genuinely reconciled that this is going to happen. Even when you truly dedicate yourself to quitting smoking, you might still have an occasional relapse and smoke again.
Go easy on yourself, because this is definitely a process that is going to take a while. Consider yourself a practicing non-smoker instead of thinking that you are going to quit cold turkey and won’t ever smoke again. It’s good to avoid having any unreasonable expectations of yourself.
Some studies indicate that people can crave cigarettes as long as 25 years after they smoke. Instead of feeling like quitting just isn’t possible, think about cutting down on how many you smoke and changing your life slowly. Eventually, smoking won’t fit into your self-image or your life. Addictions happen thanks to an evolutionary feedback loop necessary for survival. If a person has a pleasant experience, then their brain will record that positive feedback, sending them looking for even more of that pleasant experience.
People who get addicted to smoking usually don’t have less self-control than others; in truth, they might even have a memory feedback loop that’s stronger than others.
