Power
of Positive Thinking
Hints
on Quitting Smoking
Hints on Weight
Reduction
The following article appeared in the
Hobart Mercury of Friday July 27, 2001.
Power
of positive thinking battles with cancer
A new study
aims to show what researchers have long suspected- that
positive thinking can help beat cancer.
The power
of a positive attitude will be the focus of the study involving
cancer patients in the NSW Hunter region.
PhD student
Stuart Edser is researching the effects of mind-power on
sufferers in a bid to determine whether positive thinking
aids treatment and recovery.
The three-year
study involving 1500 patients with various types of cancer,
is aimed at helping sufferers improve their quality of life.
Study participants
will meet regularly in small groups where they will share
ideas and learn to identify and rid themselves of destructive
thought patterns.
They will
also be taught meditation, relaxation and self- hypnosis.
Mr Edser
said recent research pointed to the idea that intervention,
ranging from meeting fellow sufferers to empowering patients
into positive thinking, helped to improve survival times.
A study conducted in the 1980's on patient's mental attitude
to cancer diagnosis revealed a direct link between confident
thoughts and survival, he said.
"(Researchers)
found there were people with a fighting spirit, people who
were just stoic and philosophical about it, people who denied
and people who were very anxious, upset and distressed by
it," he said.
"When
they did the follow-up they found all the anxious people
had died, the stoic, philosophical people had died, some
of the deniers were still alive but the ones who had the
fighting spirit were the longest surviving of all."
Me Edser
said there also appeared to be a clear association between
the bottling of emotions, especially anger with cancer.
AAP
This is
an interesting little article.
Anger I feel is one of the negative emotions we all should
all be free of. As Louise Hay said in her book "Heal
Yourself"
My
thoughts are that the negative emotions of anger, fear,
guilt, hate and sadness are the most important ones and
if not removed they can easily manifest into dis-ease.
Check out my "Personal breakthrough"
section.
Darrell
N. Suckling. NPM. IRPH.
Specialist Clinical Master Hypnotherapist.
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Here
are my tips on Quitting Smoking that I know many of you
have been waiting for. Please accept
my apologies for the delay but better late than never
as they say! I hope these hints will help you to overcome
your problem now! Study them carefully and remember, keep
focussed on the positives and change those habits now!
Good luck to you all!
MY
HINTS TO YOU TO HELP YOU QUIT SMOKING NOW!
Quitting
maybe easier than you imagine. Once you begin to be honest
with yourself and look at the specifics about your smoking,
it can become a pleasure to remove this habit and addiction
from your life.
I would like you to analyse your habit. The reasons why you
are smoking. Is it stress? Or is it habit? Or maybe both!
Maybe you took it up years ago with peer pressure that no
longer applies.
Have a close look at the reason why you smoke. If it is anything
other than habit maybe you need some help there. For example
if you smoke because you feel stress. It would be easier and
wiser to learn how to deal with that stress, would it not?
Look at your reasons and analyse them. Taking a poison into
your body to deal with a problem, as stress is most unwise
wouldn't you say?
So, firstly you need to deal with the reasons why you smoke.
If it is only habit. Easy! If not consider getting some help
otherwise any action you take to quit can be like a bandaid!
I would suggest if I may that you look very closely at the
reasons and ask yourself exactly what is smoking doing for
you!
Taking poison into your body creates all types of health problems,
as we are all aware. Unfortunately many of us think it will
never happen to us, then it does and it's too late. Many don't
even get a second chance. Make the right decision for yourself
and your family now! Quit while you are in front!
We all know how short life is and the more mature we get the
more we realise this. I can speak from experience here. I
am a mature guy who has many friends, however out of those
I have two who are very close and very dear to me, and both
of them smoke! It hurts me so much when I see them smoking
however it is not my place to force my feelings onto them.
It must be their own choice to Quit.
Sometimes by forcing our feelings onto others to try and make
them Quit, the more determined they are to smoke. I had a
client who told me that every time he saw the Quit ad on television
with the raft going down someone's throat, he would light
up! He wasn't going to be told what to do!
I mentioned above my two friends, well, one of those friends,
as I write this article is in a Hospital fighting for his
life after having a heart attack some days ago! The Doctors
feel smoking was a contributing factor to his many problems
he now has! So ask yourself what is smoking doing for you?
In men it can cause impotence. So guys is that what you want
as you get older? I feel sure that problem alone would be
good enough reason to Quit. It is a medical fact that smoking
affects every organ in the human body in a harmful way.
As I said earlier, it has to be your choice to Quit and I
apologise if I am sounding a little like a recording, however
I am speaking from experience here, and if I can help you
to Quit it has been worth it! Not only for you but your loved
ones and those people who are near and dear to you. Remember,
we all care! I care, that is why I am putting this article
here. Having said my piece it is now time to get on with the
suggestions and hints to help you to Quit now!
Look at quitting cigarettes as giving yourself a present or
reward-a very big present to you and your family. To your
loved ones and those who are near and dear to you.
Remember you will be giving yourself a better quality of life
and, also possibly, a longer one!
· You will be giving yourself a much healthier body.
· Your breathing will be better
· Food will taste nicer.
· Your skin and your complexion will look and feel
much younger!
· Your hair will feel better
· You will be more socially acceptable
· You will have more energy
· You will have more money, and we all need more money,
don't we?
· Also you will be able to feel good and proud of yourself!
Remember, these are only a few of the benefits of Quitting!
Set a date if you wish. Make a commitment to yourself to give
it a go. It is ok if you find it a little difficult at first.
That can be a challenge, which will give you more satisfaction
when you overcome it. Just keep at it. If you fall off the
rails it does not mean you cannot get back on again! The only
way you can fail is by giving up.
Look on Quitting as a benefit and a challenge. A challenge
you are going to succeed at. A challenge you can win at! A
challenge to be positive about! After all, this is one of
the most positive things you've ever done. Focus on all the
positives that will flow as a result of Quitting Now! Focus
on what you want rather than what you don't want!
Many tend to focus on the negatives and negatives will only
sabotage your efforts. Remain positive. Remembering that old
saying, "whatever the mind believes, it can achieve."
Positivity is just so important to your achievement here.
Also if possible keep away from negative people and worry
situations during the initial Quitting period.
You maybe saying to yourself there are too many pressures
in your life right now to give up cigarettes. If you are smoking
this itself can be a pressure. There is no time like the present
to Quit! Each day is a gamble and your health and life is
at risk here! Remember by erasing nicotine from your life,
other things will become easier to do. Keep focusing on those
things and the fact that you will feel better about yourself
and you will have more energy. You will have accomplished
something more meaningful than all the money and material
objects you could ever acquire. You will have given yourself
what no one else could give you. You will be free!
Often people use the excuse that they may gain weight to justify
themselves continuing to smoke. You may gain a little at first,
however the fact that you will become more active as you feel
healthier, you will get more exercise and as you become more
active and do more exercise that should counteract any weight
gain. Remember, it is overeating without exercise that causes
weight gain, not the quitting.
Change your habits. Plan to do things that will keep your
mind off smoking. Sometimes our minds can be our worst enemies.
They will tell us that we need a cigarette for just about
any reason.
When you get the urge to smoke you may feel a little craving
in your stomach. Some people over come this by imagining the
craving is a little poisonous snake and that they are now
starving it by refusing the urge. Some never experience that
craving - others do. We are all different but a good way to
help yourself is to take a deep breath whenever you experience
this craving feeling.
Take a nice deep breath and slowly blow it out like you would
a cigarette and at the same time think to yourself how wise
you are now. Experience that clean fresh air and you may even
experience a clear tingling feeling inside as you realise
that yes, you are now taking care of your body. You may even
say to yourself, "Relax" and feel good and proud
that you are starving that poisonous snake. And at the same
time knowing that craving will get less and less and believing
it!
Believe in what you are doing! Then very importantly, change
your thoughts by doing something to take your mind off cigarettes.
Go for a walk, go for a swim. Remember, change your daily
habits. We are all creatures of habit so we need to change
those habits. Do different things to break the habit. Go to
work a different way.
When out in public, utilise non-smoking areas for a few days.
Get rid of all ashtrays and anything that reminds you of the
old habit! Go to the movies. Do anything to get your mind
off cigarettes. Often we focus on our problem and this makes
it worse. Focus on the benefits and other effects and before
long and within a few days or a week you maybe surprised at
what you have achieved.
By changing your habits like going to the movies, sitting
in the non-smoking areas in public places, doing things differently
will help keep your mind occupied and change your pattern.
You are accustomed to holding a cigarette. Some miss this
and they need something in their hand and often playing with
a paper clip, a rubber band, a small rubber ball or even children's
play dough is great to overcome this feeling. Also wearing
a rubber band on the wrist and snapping it when the urge to
smoke occurs. And please remember to take that nice deep breath
as I mentioned above. Practise that and you will find it is
very satisfying!
Some people also chew on a lifesaver and that is cool. Please
avoid unhealthy foods like cakes, chips etc. You may even
experiment a little while you are still smoking to see what
will relieve your craving. If Life Savers work, then stock
up. Remember though; use only this type of replacement for
a short time.
Drink plenty of liquids to help flush the poison out of your
system. Orange juice is said to be good because smoking can
deplete the vitamin C in our body. When you go to the toilet
imagine the toxins are leaving your body! Also drink plenty
of water!
When you are quitting keep looking for the benefits, like
how much better you feel, how your breathing is improving.
Focus on those positives! Focus on changing those habits to!
I feel all this is just so important to your success now!
Also EXERCISE!
Please remember to get your Doctor's permission before commencing
any exercise regime.
Walking Walking
is one of the best exercises and I feel sure your doctor will
confirm this however, please discuss it with him before commencing
any strenuous walking. Any exercise will help with your thinking
and it will help your movement and agility. It also puts you
in touch with nature that is often missing in our day to day
living. Look at the sky, the trees, and the birds and hear
the sounds of nature whilst walking. At the same time continuing
to think positively to yourself including how wonderful it
is to be doing something for yourself! For your body! And
for your health!
When walking, swing your arms. Extend them in different directions
from your body. Exercise for the good it is doing you. Every
little bit helps and look at extending your walks as you start
to feel fitter and healthier!
Most studies have shown that a kilometre walk is a minimum.
I feel whatever you do is a plus. Even if it's only half when
you start and continue to build up or extend gradually. Whatever
you do has to be a step in the right direction! (Pardon the
pun!) I would suggest, if possible, that you possibly have
3 or 4 different walking routes, and to alternate them, as
keeping your walk interesting is consistent with changing
your habits as mentioned previously.
Remember the old saying, "fit body-fit mind." I
feel nothing can keep that urge or craving away more effectively
than exercise! So if you get the craving- take a deep breath-relax-go
for a walk, a swim whatever, do it now!
At first be cautious -: More so if you intend to do other
exercise other than walking. No heavy or excessively long
workouts just after you quit smoking. Often for the first
few months, your body can be undergoing many changes in which
your metabolism is changing.
Remember also before any exercise. Warm up! It is important.
Please check with your Doctor.
I have placed these free hints and tips on quitting smoking
here because I care. I care because, I feel that many people
are addicted to smoking and I believe it is a sorry state
of affairs when so many are dying as a result of their addiction.
Remember,
it you cannot Quit on your own I would be delighted to
help you! I am a qualified Master Hypnotherapist and I
am available for personal consultations at the Alternative
Centre, at Suite 7/1A Nerang Street, Southport. Telephone
07 5571 1505
or e-mail hypno@iprimus.com.au
Darrell N. Suckling NPM. JP Qual.
PS. Please feel free to copy
these hints with my compliments for future reference.
Remembering they are not meant to take the place of any
Medical Advice! Please, always consult your Doctor before
commencing any exercise routine.
PPS. My friend that I mentioned is now out of Hospital
and has given the habit away. He has a long road back
to full recovery but with the power of good positive thoughts
and exercise I feel sure he will make it.
PPS.2007. He later had to have a quadruple by-pass however
with the help of some brilliant Doctors and positive thinking
on his part he is going very well and in fact doing ballroom
dancing.
The second friend saw the light and stopped cold turkey!
My
hints on weight reduction!
Possibly many of you have or are thinking about weight
reduction as one of your new year resolutions. I prefer
to call it weight reduction rather than weight loss! The
reason being is if we lose something we tend to want to
find it again!
Really the answer to successful weight reduction can be
simple! If you eat less and exercise more you will burn
off your excess weight. However, this is often easier
said than done but with a positive attitude, visualisation
and continual regular exercise I feel you can achieve
your goal!
Many diets have been tried overtime and failed but nothing
is better for us, I feel, than good old fashioned exercise.
We all need it - even those who are not carrying excess
weight! So, if you want to reduce your weight you need
to eat less and exercise more! Then when you do this you
burn up the excess. You get yourself into a minus situation.
However, at the same time you need to be more aware of
your food intake. In other words I suggest you replace
high-fat foods with low-calorie ones and there is nothing
better than nice fresh fruit and vegetables.
At the same time, watch your sugar intake. By exercising,
eating good food and maintaining a positive outlook I
feel sure you will have a successful weight reduction!
As I mentioned above, exercise will help you burn off
that excess and also increasing your physical activity
will help modify the way your brain regulates hunger.
This in turn often makes you less likely to experience
food cravings.
Remember though you need to pay strict attention to any
anxiety and/or stress in your life. You can try to seek
relief from your stress and anxiety by eating healthy,
exercising regularly and having a positive mental outlook.
Also remember to deal with your anxiety with relaxation
exercises rather than with food. By eating healthy, regular
exercise, and thinking positively you will be almost certain
to lose weight.
Darrell
N. Suckling NPM. JP Qual.
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