Smoking is regarded by many people as one of the worst habits you can have and yet many people are smokers by choice because their attempts to quit in the past have failed. There are countless studies showing the dangers of smoking and what it does to the lungs. Additionally, cigarette manufacturers themselves post information on their websites about the problems that tobacco causes and how you should seek out professional help to quit if you are addicted to smoking. However, there are still many people who turn to a cigarette in the morning before anything else and who must have a cigarette at certain times of the day and night even if they haven’t had food to eat or proper rest.This is the kind of addition to smoking that is both unhealthy and something that you should be very concerned about. Fortunately, there are some choices that you can take advantage of right away that allow you to stop smoking faster than you may have previously realized was even possible. You’ve possibly heard about some of these methods if you have tried to stop smoking in the past but failed. The good news is that the efforts have continued and so has the research and currently there is a way to quit smoking in 60 minutes. As incredibly hard to believe as this may sound, it is not only very possible but it is the only solution that is creating many successful non-smokers after just 60 minutes.

Hypnotherapy is not something cutting-edge that’s just come on the scene. People have been using it for many years and for many different reasons but the concept of killing your smoking habit in just an hour is something revolutionary that’s making smart sense for many people who have thought in the past that they were prisoners to smoking.

If you are serious about your intention to quit smoking cigarettes and you’re tired of those fly by night promises that swear you’ll quit and never want to smoke another cigarette but don’t deliver as promised, it’s time to try the hypnotherapy technique that helps you to not just give up your habit but to stop smoking for good. Imagine how much better you will feel and how much healthy your lifestyle will be when you aren’t hooked on smoking.

The first consideration after improving the health of your body is that you will strengthen the health of your budget as well. The price of cigarettes has continued to rise year after year. Today, in some places, cigarettes are more than the cost of a full meal at a fast food restaurant. When you start to add up the savings you’ll incur from not having to buy cigarettes, you’ll have enough to take a vacation, build a new wardrobe or do something really nice as a reward to yourself to kicking the habit. So while you’re still thinking about putting an end to the one habit that can shorten your lifespan considerably, don’t just think about it. Put your thoughts into action and take the first step by getting help.

I quit smoking cigarettes about four months ago. That doesn’t sound very impressive but when you consider I’d been smoking for the past 46 years that really is an accomplishment. I didn’t do it because my health was bad, its fine, and I didn’t do it because I stopped enjoying smoking. I did it because this horrific economy had given my business a true and through beating and I could no longer afford the habit.I had tried quitting smoking before and actually quit for about a year and a half but that was back when I was in my 40’s and working for someone else, not myself. In January of 2009, it was painfully obvious that the coming year was going to be a major challenge financially; I started cutting back on everything I could. When I put a pencil to it I was spending close to $75 a week on cigarettes or a whopping $3900 a year. Obviously this was a habit that had to go. If nothing else, that $3900 represented a nearly two year supply of good Scotch!

I live in Los Angeles and the County was providing free nicotine patches to the residents in their smoking cessation campaign. I promptly got my supply and the next morning slapped one on my arm. Day 1 wasn’t bad. I expected worse. I knew if I could get through Day 2 I had a real chance of quitting as I had scheduled myself for a group hypnosis session for Day 3. Day 2 really sucked. I had to get up countless times from my desk and go outside for a walk. The urge was pretty overwhelming but I made it.

So Day 3 arrives and I put on my patch and head out to the hotel where this stop smoking hypnosis session was to be held. The first thing I noticed about the 30 or so people who were there is they looked like losers. They talked like losers. Most of them dressed like losers. Nobody demonstrated anything that came close to self confidence. And then I realized I’m sitting here with them. Am I a loser? Should I look in the mirror?

And then the hypnotist turns out to make his full time living as a professional musician and only does these sessions as a contractor for the firm that puts them on. I hope God loves the stupid because I am assured a place in heaven if he does.

So after four hours of “hypnosis”, most of which was used to sell vitamins and minerals that we will desperately need if we want the hypnosis to work, I leave the place wiser and $65 poorer.

The morning of Day 4 arrives and I put the coffee on. It fills my kitchen with that delicious coffee aroma and my tongue screams out for a cigarette. I resist and try to put myself into a trance like I learned at the hypnosis session. Maybe I should have bought a bag full of those vitamins because the trance is doing squat.

I actually had to go out to the garage and dig around my golf bag to find an old pack of cigarettes. It had three left in it. They were wrinkled and one had a kind of yellowish stain as if it had been wet at one time. They were beautiful.

I took my mug of coffee and one of the cigarettes out to my patio and lit up.

Israel had its Four Day War and I had mine. Israel won theirs, I lost mine. I went and bought a carton as soon as the store opened up and started back with the habit.

And that’s the way it went for the next 8 months.

Then on one of my trips to the smoke shop, the owner surprised me because it appeared that he was smoking behind the counter. Now maybe in some places this would be no big thing but in California, a tobacco shop has to have one designated place to smoke and if you smoke outside of it, you risk losing your license. I knew this guy wouldn’t risk that.

It turns out he was not “smoking” at all. It just looked like he was. He drew on the cigarette and the tip turned red and he exhaled smoke but then I noticed there wasn’t any ash. He was using an electronic cigarette that he just started carrying in the shop.

I had never seen one of these so this obviously led to a conversation. It all sounded pretty nifty until he mentioned the price. The starter kit, and obviously you can’t start without the starter kit, was $150. The first thing that went through my mind was the sales pitch for vitamins that the musician-hypnotist had made.

So I plunked down my $40 for a carton and left.

But the idea of an electronic cigarette intrigued me and I started doing some research online. The first thing I discovered was the government, specifically the FDA, is not real fond of electronic cigarettes. The Senate called for, but did not get, a ban on their sale because they were a drug delivery system. About the same time, a whole slew of reputable organizations like the American Heart Association and The American Cancer Association and a number of Pharmaceutical companies applauded the efforts of lawmakers to prevent the sale of this new cigarette.

But that got me to wondering.

Essentially every brand of electronic cigarette consists of three parts, a rechargeable battery, an atomizer, and a cartridge that contains water and nicotine diluted with Propylene Glycol. It’s the Propylene Glycol that the FDA is all concerned about. They point out that Propylene Glycol is a common ingredient in antifreeze. What they don’t point out is that they, the FDA, have already approved it for human consumption and that it exists in toothpaste, processed foods and any number of personal care products.

The e-cigarette doesn’t burn anything. It only delivers nicotine in a water vapor. How is this harmful compared to the totally legal “drug delivery system” of a tobacco cigarette?

So I started thinking, there doesn’t seem to be a valid health concern, so who would gain if there was a ban on this product. Or more to the point, who would lose if it took off in popularity like it has in the U.K.?

Big tobacco of course would have a problem, but that means government would have a problem as well. If sales of tobacco cigarettes were to fall substantially, so would the tax revenue from those sales.

Pharmaceutical companies that manufacture smoking cessation aids like the patch would also take a hit.

But enough about that. The thing that I deduced from my research was this device allowed me to continue the habit of smoking without actually lighting up. The need to have something in my hand while I’m on the phone, or something to drag on with my coffee is satisfied with this thing. Yes I bought one. And the good news is, once you get over the start up cost, refills cost about $2 for the equivalent of a pack of cigarettes.

So now I say I quit smoking and technically I have. Once in a while I’ll still get the urge for a real cigarette but a puff or two on the e-cig puts that desire out of my mind. I’m saving a ton of money, I don’t smell like cigarettes, I’m not inhaling the 4000 chemicals that come with tobacco and I can “light up” anywhere I please because I’m not breaking any no smoking bans.

If you are a committed smoker and you want to quit, I would suggest you give this a try. If nothing else you can use it instead of the patch. The cartridges come in a number of different nicotine strengths and you can step down just like the patch advertised on TV.

As soon as you decide to quit the habit, you will experience smoking withdrawal. These nicotine withdrawal symptoms are responsible for most smoking cessation attempts to fail. Why is that? Let’s look at how the whole process works in order to understand the chemical and physical processes involved. With this knowledge one can be better prepared, and therefore enhance his or her chances of successfully quitting smoking despite smoking withdrawal. Your Brain has established neurological paths and chemical processes that pretty much run our daily lives. When you need water, it releases chemicals that trigger the sense of thirst. When you are afraid or mad, it releases adrenalin, and when the body needs rest, it releases serotonin. There are literally hundreds of chemical releases that correlate with our daily activities and with the normal functioning of our bodies. Enter Nicotine! This substance doubles as a stimulant and a highly toxic substance. When it enters the brain it starts to mess with the function of its host. Without reason, the brain releases dopamine which is a hormone that gives us a feeling of enjoyment. The interesting part about dopamine is that it reinforces the activity which triggered its release. So it will reinforce smoking in order to trigger the release again. In addition to dopamine, nicotine will cause adrenalin dumps that speed up your heart rate and stimulate your alertness. It will also affect the release of serotonin. The problem is that all these chemical releases are being triggered at completely unnatural times. Unfortunately, your body gets used to this and accepts this nicotine dependent state as the norm. This “new normal” is what you will be fighting against when you try to quit smoking. Smoking withdrawal is the body’s defense mechanism that tries to force you back into what it sees as the normal state of nicotine dependency. Just like the body triggers thirst when you need liquids, it will trigger cravings in order to force you to take in nicotine. Your subconscious mind will try to influence your behavior. While each individual is different, many people that tried to stop smoking have reported similar thoughts when they were craving a cigarette. Here are a few: – I have been quit for a while. One more will not hurt me. After this one smoke, I will return to quitting. – I have been smoking for years. This is a waste of time. It’s too late to stop smoking. – I have already decreased the amount of cigarettes I smoke, so one or two every once in a while will not hurt – I am stressed right now. I will get a smoke and try to quit again when I am more calm. – I have not smoked for X days. Just one as a reward! There are so many of these internal battles that happen when one is trying to quit smoking. While they seem silly on paper, they are extremely powerful attempts of your subconscious mind to return things to normal. Normal being nicotine dependent.The good news is that the smoking withdrawal cravings do not last very long. Usually they stick around for 5 minutes or so and then they are gone. Whatever you do, do not succumb to the temptation, no matter how rational you make it. Drink water, go for a walk, chew some gum….. Anything but smoke! Our bodies are wonders of nature, however when trying to quit smoking, they can be our own worst enemies. Be ready to deal with Smoking withdrawal and you will dramatically increase your chances of success!