Meditation is a ritual we’ve all heard of but can be easily dismissed as pretentious. It’s important though to keep an open mind – if quitting smoking with meditation has worked for others, then surely it’s worth trying regardless of any notions we may have. Once you’ve started on your quit smoking journey, your body begins to navigate the various stages of nicotine withdrawal; meditation will help keep you focussed and effectively quit smoking spiritually.
How Does Meditation Help?
Meditation and nicotine stimulate similar responses in the body. The key difference is that smoking cigarettes is a form of escapism, whereas meditation is about taking control. It has been shown to improve mood and reduce anxiety, and tackle issues such as depression, irritable bowel syndrome, insomnia, and addiction. Self-control and addiction are two areas where meditation has been particularly helpful because meditation stimulates brain activity. Another view is that your brain is a muscle and meditation is the exercise. All our rational and emotional composition is housed in the brain, meaning our mental capacity is increased when the brain is exercised through meditation.
Before Starting
If you can, begin to practice meditation before you have your first cigarette for the day. This will help you maintain control as you work through the stages of nicotine withdrawal. Doing so will give you greater mental strength, so use this clarity to capitalize on the task of quitting smoking with meditation. What you want to experience is a transition from pushing yourself to quit to quitting on autopilot – consistent meditation can effectively provide that transition and enable you to quit smoking without willpower.
How to Meditate
Meditation consists of setting time aside each day – aim for twice a day if you can, around about 20 minutes each – and focusing on your breathing as you rid your psyche of all your accumulated distractions and negative energies, until you reach a state of near-empty peace and tranquillity. Sounds a bit airy-fairy, right? Let me put it into context; you’re focusing solely on the moment. The peace and tranquillity you reach in your mind exists at that moment. It’s like the moment allows a door to open in your mind for negative emotions to pass out, and for positivity to flow in. That doesn’t mean a simple exchange of good and bad emotions, but rather our subconscious communicating with us via images and colors. Ponder as you meditate; what does this color make me feel, what do I associate with it? What can I derive from the images I’m seeing? Sometimes the meaning is clear, sometimes it’s not – don’t overthink it. Just let it flow, your subconscious is doing most of the work, and that’s where most of our mental junk lies.
Quit Smoking Without Willpower
Meditation in the beginning will feel weird, especially if you’ve associated it as an activity of fickle and pretentious people. But stick with it – not only will you get better at it, but you will start to see some more clarity in the images and colors, and start feeling more positive and capable. One of the biggest challenges when quitting is maintaining your willpower, but as mediation becomes a daily routine, you’ll find it easier to quit smoking without willpower, or rather, without focusing on it. Meditation becomes that willpower.
Easy to Do, But Easy not to Do
Meditation is easy to do every day, but also easy not to do. The “easy-not-to-do” trap is the biggest obstacle we face in simple, daily habits. Consistency is king. As you continue to build up mental stamina through meditation, you’ll develop an inner-strength towards your actions and decisions, and can use this to break the hold nicotine has over you. Quitting smoking with meditation is all about embracing the saying “slow and steady wins the race”.
Quit Smoking Spiritually
Continue to meditate as you work through the stages of nicotine withdrawal and make it a daily routine for life. If you find this helps you in the nicotine withdrawal process, then you won’t want to stop. The mind is exceptionally powerful, and it’s about finding a way to tap into that and making it work for you. Arguably, mediation is a way to quit smoking spiritually, but that might be a heavy concept for some, and that’s fine, each to their own. As you gain more confidence with meditation though, you can investigate more advanced meditation techniques. And from there, you might find other spiritual philosophies and practices you can incorporate into your lifestyle and contribute to your journey to quit smoking without willpower.
