garythehuman - 17 February 2012 12:05 PM

Tyhanks for the support guys.  I did quit for a week and then “fell off the wagon.”  I am going to try again when I finished the carton I bought.

Yeah, I’ve tried to quit many times.  A week was the best I could do also.  It is discouraging and then went to vaping (e-cig).  It’s a lot cleaner and easier to breathe.  Even my younger son noticed it doesn’t fog up the house or smell bad too.  If I’m going to ingest nicotine, he prefers I do it that way and I must admit it tastes better than cigs.

garythehuman - 18 February 2012 11:06 AM

traveler - 17 February 2012 05:05 PM

My faith NEVER works. 

Keep the faith  

I wasn’t aware that we had a constipated emoticon…

Take care,

Derek

garythehuman - 17 February 2012 12:05 PM

Tyhanks for the support guys.  I did quit for a week and then “fell off the wagon.”  I am going to try again when I finished the carton I bought.

Failure can’t cope with persistence!

Stephen

VYAZMA - 16 February 2012 12:04 PM

The only trigger is your psychological addiction. 
Honestly just go about your normal routine…just do it without cigarettes. 

Brilliant example of belief in Libertarian free will, Gary can simply free will himself to do it.

There are no easy answers but asking what needs to change and how to change it, would be a much better approach.

Stephen

Occam. - 17 February 2012 04:41 PM

Sorry, Gary, but that’s a terrible rationalization - I know, I used it myself.  When I finally decided it had to happen, I gave an almost full carton to someone I wouldn’t see often (so I wouldn’t be able to bum them off of him).  Just wiping out the money it cost made it harder to justify spending that again for any more.

Occam

I’ve tried to give up alcohol many times. On numerous occasions I’ve tipped expensive alcohol down the sink, with the same idea in mind.

I’d stop for some time after doing that, so although I didn’t quit for good it worked in a way.

And then one day I did it and found myself going to buy more about 2 hours later.

Stephen

StephenLawrence - 20 February 2012 12:01 PM

Occam. - 17 February 2012 04:41 PM

Sorry, Gary, but that’s a terrible rationalization - I know, I used it myself.  When I finally decided it had to happen, I gave an almost full carton to someone I wouldn’t see often (so I wouldn’t be able to bum them off of him).  Just wiping out the money it cost made it harder to justify spending that again for any more.

Occam

I’ve tried to give up alcohol many times. On numerous occasions I’ve tipped expensive alcohol down the sink, with the same idea in mind.

I’d stop for some time after doing that, so although I didn’t quit for good it worked in a way.

And then one day I did it and found myself going to buy more about 2 hours later.

Stephen

Damn! I hope you win that fight, Stephen. I know it’s a lifelong battle (not personally, fortunately).

traveler - 20 February 2012 12:05 PM

StephenLawrence - 20 February 2012 12:01 PM

Occam. - 17 February 2012 04:41 PM

Sorry, Gary, but that’s a terrible rationalization - I know, I used it myself.  When I finally decided it had to happen, I gave an almost full carton to someone I wouldn’t see often (so I wouldn’t be able to bum them off of him).  Just wiping out the money it cost made it harder to justify spending that again for any more.

Occam

I’ve tried to give up alcohol many times. On numerous occasions I’ve tipped expensive alcohol down the sink, with the same idea in mind.

I’d stop for some time after doing that, so although I didn’t quit for good it worked in a way.

And then one day I did it and found myself going to buy more about 2 hours later.

Stephen

Damn! I hope you win that fight, Stephen. I know it’s a lifelong battle (not personally, fortunately).

Thanks traveler.

Today I went to work at 7am and finished at about 2pm and then had 2 pints of strong beer. (I wouldn’t have done the work without the reward coming at the end.)

Later I wanted to build a fire, wash up and cook dinner for my other half and my daughter. In order to get myself to do this I drank a little port and a couple of cans of strong lager.

Now I’m drinking coffee and won’t want any more alcohol till tomorrow.

So it’s not like I’m drinking amounts that you might normally associate with alcoholism and yet clearly there is an unhealthy relationship there.

Last year I spent alot of time abstaining completely but became depressed, just didn’t get stuff done and was unable to earn money for a while, worse, I’m self employed so was losing money on the over heads. (edit: I would have gone bust if I’d continued abstaining!)

So now I’m just trying to keep it down, which is going OK.

Best,

Stephen

Sorry to hear about your struggles, Stephen. I get a terrible headache if I drink much more than a couple of glasses of wine in an evening now. That unfortunate feature has probably kept me off drinking too much.

dougsmith - 20 February 2012 12:52 PM

Sorry to hear about your struggles, Stephen.

Thanks Doug.

I get a terrible headache if I drink much more than a couple of glasses of wine in an evening now. That unfortunate feature has probably kept me off drinking too much.

And I thought I had problems.

Best,

Stephen

We are the decisions we make in our youth—when we think we know it all…we spend the rest of our lives living with those decisions..good or not so good. 

Alcohol affects each of us differently.  If I was at a party and had too many glasses of wine, I’d be wide awake and talking far too much while everyone else was sleepy and either wanted to go home or wished I’d go home.  I’ve learned that two glasses of wine are fine, but not a third. 

Occam

Just watched Deepak Chopra explain a mental exercise for relaxation, controlling blood pressure, heart rate, and influencing cravings.

He explained a 5 minute p/day exercise which consists of:

a) take off shoes, loosen clothing.
b) assume a comfotable sitting position with spine more or less straight
c) close eyes and take several controlled deep breaths
d) verbalize the words (mantra) “shivo humm” several times
c) then internally verbalize those words, without sound
d) think of a person or thing you truly love, while internally verbalizing the mantra
e) direct this emotion to your heart (your body)
f) think of something you really want (need), such as quitting smoking.

When executed each day for several days the experience of relaxation (and stimulation of biochemical activity in the brain) should take no more than about 5 minutes and can be done in almost any quiet place.

When this exercise is executed properly a state of relaxation will be felt, which helps in fighting stress (blood pressure, heart rate, etc) and also helps in allowing a deep conscious desire (such as quitting smoking) to imprint on the subconscious, where survival behavior resides, and help influence that survival instinct with incorporating a control motive.

Personally I have practised body relaxation for a long time, but in a different way, starting from the toes and working upward. It seems effective for relaxing the body itself, but does not address the a mental participation in particular, except for focusing on the muscles themselves. It works for me at nights before going to sleep.

I have never seen the need for a mantra, but as Chopra explained it, the harmonics of the sounds and later the mental ghosting by internal repetition causes certain chemicals in the brain to become active which in turn stimulate the right parts of the brain which reinforce the beneficial thoughts which are recalled and felt emotionally and eventually amplify the mental wish so that it becomes imprinted.

I know this sounds like woo, but according to Chopra it an acquired skill which in this case can be mastered with a minimum of time spent on practice. There are examples (especially in the far East) of similar meditation practices where the practioner experiences an iternal state of bliss.
This is not a mystical discipline, but a physical and mental exercise.

Anyone else with demonstrable or even experiential skills of this type of meditation or introspection?

Not a Choprah fan. At. All.
(Does he mention ‘quantum’ anything?)

asanta - 21 February 2012 01:58 AM

Not a Choprah fan. At. All.
(Does he mention ‘quantum’ anything?)

  no.  No the only science he used was an assertion of biochemical stimulation in the brain by using the mantra. That did not sound too far fetched to me since any thought activety stimulates brain activity. Apparently he believes we can to a certain extent control which parts we want to stimulate. He called it an “exercise”.

I actually like Chopra. His voice along with the sing song accent have a pleasant effect on me. Also, I have heard him in informaL ( Bil Maher) panels and he can be quite funny. Always a good quality. And for his age he looks remarkably well, he must be doing something right.

Chopra is basically giving you a simple method of meditation. Some people meditate on a word or sound, a ‘mantra’, though it isn’t necessary to use one. Meditation is recognized medically as a good way to relax, though AFAIK there is no good evidence that it can help you stop smoking, or the like.

And I agree with asanta. NOT a Chopra fan. He is up to his neck in woo. For more on him see Skepdic on Chopra.