Quit Smoking | 3 Week Quit Smoking Hypnosis Challenge

May 2, 2013 by Maureen

Music Is a Great Exercise Partner

You have probably heard that working out with a buddy is easier than working out alone. Working out in twos can help you stay motivated and stay on track with your exercise program and many people have a training partner for their trips to the gym. But did you know that music can be your training partner too? From aerobics classes to nature trail jogs, many fitness gurus and exercise patrons harness the power of music to enhance their workout program. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why.

Neurologists believe that music is an excellent exercise partner because it increases our ability to perform physical and mental labor. Music helps our bodies forget feelings of fatigue, helps us find balance and rhythm, and keeps our minds in a state of dissociative focus—we know what we are doing but since our minds are into the music, we stay in a mode that is similar to a semi-trance state. We tune in and zone out (in a good way). Music also makes exercise more enjoyable and makes it easier for us to push ourselves longer and harder because we are less likely to get bored. In this day and age, our attention spans are lacking and this makes it hard for people to focus for long periods of time without external stimulation. Is this a good thing? No. But the fact that music can help our minds relax and focus on a task like exercise is definitely a positive. We may be distracting ourselves with a distraction, but at least it is helping us stay focus (if that makes sense).

Word to the wise: music is a good work out partner, but it will not help you lose weight or cause you to lose weight. Music is not a weight loss fad or a weight loss method. It is up to you as an individual to make the healthy choices necessary to achieve the body that you want, and this includes a healthy diet and commitment to exercise. But music is a good compliment to your work out program, so it is a good strategy to think of music as a work out partner—a kind of friend that you can rely on to help you get through each exercise session. If you are feeling like to you need some help in the motivation department of your exercise program then enlist the help of your iPod. Plug in, tune out, and get moving!

May 2, 2013 by Maureen

Get to Know Your pH Levels

Whether you are trying to get healthy by way of weight loss or via healthier eating habits, it is important for you to get to know your pH levels a little better. You may remember pH levels from your high school biology class, but probably know very little about how they work. It is time for all of that to change—understanding you pH levels is integral to keeping your body in health and balance.

What Are pH Levels?

pH is the measurement used in chemistry to determine the acidity in solutions in which the solvent is water (an aqueous solution). In laymen’s terms, pH levels tell us how acidic an environment is and this is important because certain compounds flourish in acidity, and many of these are not the kinds that we want flowing through our systems (i.e. yeast, certain bacteria).

pH in the Body

The acidity (or pH levels) in our bodies is determined by our diets. This is why scientists have created the pH scale—to help us better determine the acidity of the body or any other environment. The pH scale exists from 0 to 14 and when the body has a pH level that is lower than 7 it has become too acidic. High acidity in the body creates an environment in which the following health problems flourish:

Candida (yeast)
Allergies
Chronic fatigue
Leaky gut syndrome
Weakening of skin, bones, nails, and hair
Cramps
Anxiety and panic disorders
Increased risk of the spread of cancerous cells

From the list above, you can see that you don’t want your body to be highly acidic. But how can you protect yourself against low pH levels and their corresponding ailments?

Maintaining a pH Equilibrium

So how do you maintain a healthy pH balance in our bodies? First and foremost drink lots of water. Drinking the recommended 8 glasses of water a day will neutralize your acidity. Second, it is crucial that you eliminate acidic friendly foods from your diet: processed grains, junk food, red meat, sugars, and soda. The third and maybe most important way that you can keep your pH balanced is by taking control of our emotions. Yes it sounds crazy—how can emotions possibly affect the chemistry of your body?! But research shows that emotions such as anger, fear, jealousy, and hate all facilitate the creation of acidic-forming chemical reactions in the body by the hypothalamus while emotions such as happiness, love, and joy create alkaline-forming chemical reactions that neutralize acidity. Your mood and the way you think about things can literally affect your pH levels!

Understanding the importance of pH levels is vital to maintaining a healthy body and serves as yet another example of how we control the health and vitality of our physical bodies not only by what we eat but also by how we think. You are the creator of the environment of both your body and mind—so why not make the choice to live a low acidity life of love, health, and happiness?

Your pH levels have a major impact on your physical and emotional health. To learn more about pH levels and your body, please contact me. Or get involved in the discussion on Facebook and Twitter. We need your valuable input!

December 11, 2012 by Maureen

The Benefits of a Smoke Free Lifestyle

So you’ve finally done it: you’ve quit smoking. Depending on how long you have been smoke free, you are in one of the many stages of recovery, all of which come packed with many different positive benefits to your health. But it is safe to say that overall, you are probably feeling pretty good. So let’s take a look at all of the good things that are coming your way as a result of your smoke free lifestyle.

In general, quitting smoking will boost your energy levels and your immune system. That’s right—you are not going to be so tired and you are not going to be so easily demolished by the common cold. You will start to notice that breathing is clearer and easier, that your skin is looking fresher and more elastic and that, finally, you don’t have that awful tobacco smoke stench following you everywhere you go.

But let’s get even more specific. Below is a healing timeline that starts the second you put out that last cigarette for good—take a look at see where you fit!

20 minutes after you quit smoking your blood pressure and pulse rate return to normal.
40 minutes after you quit smoking nicotine leaves the brain
12 hours after you quit smoking your oxygen levels will be back to normal and your carbon monoxide levels will have decreased markedly.
48 hours after you quit smoking your sense of taste and smell are returning to normal and damaged nerves are beginning to heal.
72 hours after you quit smoking your body will be toxin free (nicotine and other harsh smoking chemicals)
1 week after you quit smoking your circulation begins to improve, fatigue begins to fade and lung functions improve, although this is often accompanied by coughing and the loosening of mucus that is clogging the lungs.
2 weeks after you quit smoking most studies suggest the anxiety, headaches, irritability and fatigue that can arise from stopping smoking cease. This may relate to the change from not having the sugar and other chemicals in cigarette especially when you stop suddenly
2 weeks after you quit smoking residual amounts of nicotine leave the body.
2 weeks after you quit smoking your heart attack risk begins to decrease.
1 month after you quit smoking cilia begins re-growing in your lungs and your sinuses begin to improve.
1 year after you quit smoking your risk of coronary heart disease lowers by half in comparison with other smokers
5 years after you quit smoking your stroke risk lowers to that of non-smokers
10 years after you quit smoking your lung cancer risk lowers by half in comparison with people who continue to smoke. (That is if the cancer is not already present) The same can be said for the development of any other smoking-related cancers (esophageal, throat, kidney etc.)
15 years after you quit smoking your overall risk of smoking-related fatalities will be the same as non-smokers—in other words, it will be gone!

Anyone can quit smoking and stay smoke free for good. To learn more about quitting smoking and hypnosis, contact me or get involved in the discussion on Facebook and Twitter.

References:

Maureen’s eBook “Quit Smoking Hypnosis” Healing timeline taken from the book.

November 29, 2012 by Maureen

Smoking and Cardiac Arrhythmias: What You Need To Know

Smoking is incredibly damaging to the human heart. Whether contributing to heart disease, heart attacks, or other circulatory problems, tobacco smoke is a deadly poison for the cardiovascular system and it is imperative that people quit smoking in order to save their lives.

One cardiovascular aspect of smoking that is discussed less often than the others is the cardiac arrhythmia. Cardiac arrhythmias are common; it is quite normal to have the occasional irregular heart beat due to occasionally wacky electrical impulses coursing through the veins. However, cardiac arrhythmias can also become chronic and may signal more serious cardiovascular problems. And chronic cardiac arrhythmias are very often caused by smoking.

Smoking can cause cardiac arrhythmias because it is a stimulant that makes the heart beat faster and more irregularly. Chronic cardiac arrhythmias can be very uncomfortable: dizziness, shortness of breath, headaches and racing heart beats are all symptoms that can be bothersome and even alarming when occurring constantly.

The good news is that cardiac arrhythmias can be eradicated when smokers quit; over time, the body heals and the cardiovascular system gets back on track. In fact, quitting smoking can reduce the risk of death by cardiovascular disease by nearly 50%!

Getting rid of cardiac arrhythmias means quitting smoking, but this can very often feel harder than climbing Mt. Everest. As a psychosocial habit, the need to smoke is deeply habituated and it takes a lot of patience, willpower and commitment to quit.

Luckily, there are a variety of quit smoking methods out there to make tobacco cessation easier. One such method is quit smoking hypnosis, which gets to the root of the smoking habit. It allows smokers to re-wire their beliefs relative to cigarettes so that they no longer depend on them for emotional gratification or stress relief. Quit smoking hypnosis is hard work, but the long-term health benefits, such as reduced cardiac arrhythmias, are definitely worth the effort.

Smoking is a psychosocial habit that contributes to the development of chronic cardiac arrhythmias and cardiovascular problems. If you are someone you know is struggling with a smoking habit, and are concerned about how it could be negatively impacting your heart, please contact me for more details or share your own ideas and experiences with us on Twitter.

November 12, 2012 by Maureen

Asthma and Secondhand Smoke: What You Need to Know

There are millions of asthma sufferers on the planet and if you are a smoker, they need your help: they need you to quit smoking so that they can breathe better. Because secondhand your smoking isn’t only damaging your health—your secondhand smoke is damaging the health of those around you. Let’s take a closer look at the dangers of secondhand smoke in general and vis-à-vis asthma.

There are many ways that second hand smoke harms non-smokers, but it is especially hazardous to those suffering from respiratory illnesses such as asthma. Asthma is a chronic inflammation of the airways in the respiratory system. Cigarette smoke is extremely hazardous to people with asthma. It triggers asthma attacks and increases the severity of the attacks.

Inhaling tobacco smoke allows the toxins and irritating substances in the smoke to settle in the moist areas of the airways. This is what triggers an asthma attack; it also makes the attack more intense than usual and more difficult to recover from since the cilia in the airways are damaged and cannot sweep the toxin and junk away and help the breathing process even out.

Smoking also causes major mucus build ups which can be hazardous to asthma sufferers as this further blocks their airways. Additionally, if someone is suffering from a cold or other respiratory illness, inhaling secondhand smoke makes it more difficult for them to clear out the excess gunk and junk backed up in their airways.

Aside from secondhand smoke exaggerating preexisting asthma, secondhand smoke can also cause new cases of asthma to develop in small children. Small children have small and delicate bodies and they breathe much more rapidly than adults. This rapid breathing causes them to inhale more toxins form secondhand smoke than an adult or teenager and the damage to their airways can cause asthma to develop or lead to other respiratory illnesses and difficulties.

If you are struggling with a smoking habit then you need not feel ashamed—you need only take action! Quitting smoking isn’t the easiest path to follow but it is among the most rewarding—getting rid of your tobacco habit will set you on the path to better emotional and physical health in the long run. So have courage and quit smoking! Save your life and the lives of those around you!

Smoking is a psychosocial habit that does great damage not only to your body, but the bodies of those around you. If you, or someone you know, are struggling with a smoking habit in addition to anxiety and depression, please contact me. For more details, check us out on Facebook or share your own ideas and experiences with us onTwitter.

November 8, 2012 by Maureen

Smoking and the Muscular System: The Facts

The muscular system allows the body to move, pumps blood and helps human beings have an upright posture. It is comprised of a critically important group of muscles (which are also organs) that are can be terribly damaged when exposed to cigarettes smoke—just another one of the many important reasons to quit smoking.

The muscular system can be divided into 3 parts: skeletal muscles, smooth muscles and cardiac muscles. Smoking damages all three:

Skeletal Muscles: Skeletal muscles or striated muscles are typically long and are attached to the bones; these are the muscles that allow us to move. Smoking, however, both damages the formation and maintenance of striated muscles because it inhibits connective tissue, such as collagen-based tendons, to regenerate or form. This can lead to a variety of unpleasant neuromuscular diseases.
Smooth Muscles: Smooth muscles are found in many of the body’s vital organs: the male and female reproductive system, blood vessels, arteries, the respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, etc. When exposed to tobacco smoke, smooth muscle no longer obtains the oxygen and nutrients it needs to function optimally; this can lead to bad cholesterol and hypertension.
Cardiac Muscles: Cardiac muscles are the muscles located in the heart. Smoking suffocates the cells in these muscles and changes the composition of hemoglobin in the blood, causing the long-term development of cardiovascular disease.

Clearly, smoking is toxic for the muscular system; the only way to avoid the damages listed above is to quit smoking—as soon as a smoker quits, the body gets on the path to healing.

Quitting smoking, however, is not an easy task. It becomes so deeply habituated into the psyche, making it difficult for smokers to give up the emotional gratification that they have attached to cigarettes. But quitting smoking can be done; it is a psychosocial habit that can be conquered. One way to beat the smoking demons is to engage in quit smoking hypnosis. Quit smoking hypnosis uses the principles of hypnosis to re-wire smokers’ brains with new, healthy beliefs so they no longer need cigarettes for psychological soothing; they can learn to sooth and comfort themselves in a way that is nurturing to the body and soul.

Smoking is a psychosocial habit and it will destroy your muscular system—but only if you let it. The power to quit smoking rests in your hands and your hands alone. If you, or someone you know, are struggling with a smoking habit, please contact me. You can also check us out on Twitter and Facebook to ask for advice or share your own tips on how to stay tobacco free.

November 1, 2012 by Maureen

Hypnosis: How Does It Feel

The term hypnosis tends to conjure images of a magician on a stage or perhaps a patient lying on Freud’s couch. Indeed, there are a variety of stereotypes about hypnosis flying around, but do you really know what hypnosis is and how it feels? If not, it’s time for you to find out!

Hypnosis is not magic or mind control. Hypnosis is a safe mental health practice that allows you to take control of your habits and beliefs so that you use them to build a healthy lifestyle. It is an imaginative state of mind that you enter during hypnotic induction; that is, a series of questions and suggestions that are fed to you by a hypnotherapist in order to make your mind open, relaxed and receptive to change.

While you are in a state of hypnosis you will feel deeply relaxed and aware. You will be aware of your surroundings, aware of your thoughts and you will be in full control. The hypnotherapist does not control you—the hypnotherapist simply leads you to this relaxed and receptive state so that you can take control of changing the negative core beliefs and habits that you want to address and change.

Hypnotherapy is an extremely relaxed state of intense focus. This intensity of focus coupled with complete relaxation enables your mind to re-wire even the deepest negative beliefs and patterns of behavior. Consequently, hypnotherapy is a practice that people use to help them heal from or change a plethora of problems that are detracting from their overall enjoyment of life: smoking, drinking, overeating, stress, anxiety, depression to name only a few.

If you are considering hypnotherapy as a cure for whatever ails you, then you don’t need to have any fear: hypnotherapy is not dangerous and it is not possible to be harmed during the process. The worst that can happen is that it doesn’t work.

So if you have a health issue plaguing your life, smoking or weight control in particular, then don’t hesitate to take advantage the healing that hypnotherapy can offer you—it really does give you the power to change your life for the better.

Hypnosis is a safe and painless way to change your beliefs, habits and beliefs from unhealthy to healthy. To learn more about it, contact me or get involved in the discussion on Facebook and Twitter.

October 30, 2012 by Maureen

You Are What You Inhale: Smoking’s Effect on Physical Appearance

The majority of contemporary anti-smoking discourse centers on the internal effects of the bad habit: cancer, heart disease, emphysema, indigestion etc. However, smoking also negatively impacts the external body in many ways. Sure, it may seem superficial, but one compelling reason to quit smoking is to deter rapid aging. When a person smokes, their physical appearance suffers dramatically. Here are some of the ways that tobacco smoke damages how a person looks:

Skin: smoking causes the skin to age rapidly. Since smoking negatively impacts circulation, the skin becomes discolored, wrinkly and generally unhealthy looking. Bags develop under the eyes and a person generally beings to look 5-10 years older than they really are.
Hair loss and thinning: Smoking causes the hair to thin and even fall out in both men and women. Not a particularly comforting thought for anyone.
Yellowing: Smoking causes both the teeth and the skin to take on a yellow tint. This is because the toxins in tobacco smoke, like nicotine, stain; over time, the yellow can even turn to an unpleasant brown.
Flab and hanging skin: Smoking leads to flab and hanging skin even if some people who smoke also lose weight. This is because smoking decreases the skin’s elasticity and also makes it more difficult for the body to build and maintain muscle.

Above are just a few of the smoking pitfalls related to physical appearance. Together, these issues can make people look light-years older than they are—and in a very short amount of time.

Luckily, the smoking habit can be overcome when people have a willingness to change. There are a variety of smoking cessation methods available to those motivated enough to take this vital step towards a healthier future, but one very good quit smoking option is quit smoking hypnosis. Quit smoking hypnosis is not about going under a magic spell and giving up cigarettes in the blink of an eye. Quit smoking hypnosis is a serious smoking cessation approach that this involves re-programming smokers’ attitudes and beliefs towards cigarettes so that they are no longer dependent on them for emotional gratification, stress relief or any other form of psychological soothing. Hypnotherapists are used during the quit smoking hypnosis process, but it can also be done alone. Quit smoking hypnosis requires dedication and commitment, but to those concerned with smoking’s impact on their physical appearance, the rewards far outweigh the struggle. Quit smoking hypnosis will get any smoker back on the track to looking and feeling healthier and younger, as long as they are willing to work for it.

Smoking is a psychosocial habit that does great damage to the body’s physical appearance. If you are someone you know or is struggling with a smoking habit, please contact us for more details. Check us out on Facebook or share your own ideas and experiences with us on Twitter.

October 30, 2012 by Maureen

A Dangerous Habit for the Mind and Body: Anxiety, Depression and Smoking

Many people who suffer from depression and anxiety are hesitant to quit smoking; a psychosocial habit, smoking provides stress relief and emotional gratification for many people with mental health problems. The problem, however, is that mental illness and smoking work hand in hand to exacerbate all the negative aspects for both disorders. Let’s take a closer look at the ways that smoking impacts the minds and bodies of the anxious and depressed.

Physical smoking risks increase for the mentally ill

According to Kristin Moeller-Saxone of the University of Melbourne School of Population Health, “smoking compounds many of the health problems already experienced by people with mental illness.” People suffering from anxiety and depression very often have higher rates of diabetes, heart attack and stroke. In fact, as Moeller-Saxone points out, “the biggest cause of death among people with mental illness is not suicide, its cardiovascular disease.” And we know that the cardiovascular system is one of the main areas of the body that smoking attacks. Thus, smoking takes the already fragile bodies of the mentally ill and makes them even more delicate and prone to disease and death.

Cigarettes as an Emotional Escape

Aside from the physical harms smoking inflicts on the body, it emotionally damages the mind. People suffering from anxiety and depression are much more prone to using cigarettes as a form of emotional escapism; that is, they transfer experiences like stress relief or happiness onto the cigarette and then use tobacco as a crutch to repeat these emotional experiences. Almost all smokers do this kind of emotional transference to an extent, but smokers with mental health issues do it more frequently and have a harder time quitting.

Smoking is indeed hazardous for the anxious and depressed, but it can be overcome. People suffering from anxiety and depression should engage in assisted smoking cessation methods much like they engage in therapy for their disorders. One method that is particularly helpful for anxious and depressed smokers is quit smoking hypnosis. Quit smoking hypnosis involves re-programming smokers’ attitudes and beliefs towards cigarettes so that they are no longer dependent on them for emotional gratification, stress relief or any other form of psychological soothing. They can learn to transfer these emotional responses onto healthy activities instead.

Smoking is a psychosocial habit that does great damage to both the body and to mental health. If you, or someone you know, are struggling with a smoking habit in addition to anxiety and depression, please contact us. For more details, check us out on Facebook or share your own ideas and experiences with us on Twitter.

October 22, 2012 by Maureen

I Just Quit Smoking—Now What? 5 Things to Remember When You Stop Smoking

Congratulations! Quitting smoking is a major achievement that you should be proud of! But giving up the tobacco habit is only the first step in the long smoking cessation healing process. Your body will now need to recover from the damages wrought on it by cigarettes. To help you along in the process, to keep you from going back on tobacco, here are 5 things you need to remember to do when you quit smoking:

Hydration: As soon as you quit smoking you need to drink water. Lots and lots of water. Water helps detox the body by flushing out the toxins and chemicals that have been deposited into your system by cigarettes.
Fruit: It is important to eat a variety of different fruits, especially if your body is used to taking in a lot of sugar. Fruits contain many of the vitamins and nutrients that your body needs to replenish after smoking.
Deep Breathing: This advice might seem a little strange at first, but it is vitally important to breathe deeply when you quit smoking. Deep breathing oxygenates and exercises the lungs, something that you need to do on a regular basis after having exposed the lungs to tobacco toxins.
Check Your Bank Account: Smoking is not only a dangerous habit, it is an expensive habit. Smoking is a bank breaker for many people. Therefore, if you are struggling with motivation in the first few days after you quit smoking, make a plan to calculate how much money smoking cessation saves you—and maybe plan to use that money for something more healthy, fun or productive as well.
Be Trigger Conscious: In the days after you give up the psychosocial smoking habit, you will need to be very conscious of what triggers you vis-à-vis smoking. What is it that makes your reach for a cigarette? Being aware of your triggers allows you to both avoid and defuse them so you can stay smoke free.

Quitting smoking is not a one day event, it is a lifelong process. This is why it is important to have a plan of action with regard to smoking cessation; having a plan will help you stay smoke free for the long haul. One plan that is worth investigating is quit smoking hypnosis. Quit smoking hypnosis helps you re-program your attitudes and beliefs towards cigarettes so that you are no longer dependent on them for stress relief or any other form of psychological soothing. As a smoking cessation method, quit smoking hypnosis will teach you to transfer your emotional responses onto healthy activities instead. Try it—you will find that it helps you stay off tobacco in order to live a healthier life.

Smoking is a psychosocial habit that can kill you, but it doesn’t have to; quitting smoking will allow you to heal your body. If you, or someone you know, are struggling with a smoking habit, please contact us. You can also check us out on Facebook and ask for advice or share your own tips on how to stay tobacco free.

October 16, 2012 by Maureen

Does smoking increase your chance of ear infections?

Smoking contributes to a wide variety of internal and external health issues; lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema, wrinkly skin to name a few. Smoking, however, can also significantly increase the chance that a common cold will develop into a full blown ear infection, making the decision to quit smoking all the more urgent, especially during cold and flu season. Here is the lowdown on the smoking-ear infection relationship.

Ear infections come in many different forms, but the most common manifestation is the middle ear infection. Ear infections are quite common in children but they can also appear frequently in adults—particularly in adults who are not in the best of health.

Ear infections are caused by bacteria (as well as viruses) that find their way into the ear canal via the nasal passage. The presence of mucus encourages the growth and proliferation of bacteria throughout the body—the more mucus, the more bacteria and thus the higher the chance that the bacteria will spread to the ears.

Smoking is an irritant to the nasal passages and the nasal passages build up a defense of mucus to respond to the threats of the tobacco toxins. Hence, even when the smoker’s body is not sick it still has an excess of mucus. Once a cold or flu hits, the smoker’s body is already primed with enough mucus to make the spread of bacteria and viruses very easy. To make matters worse, smoking damages the immune system and therefore smokers are less able to fight off viral or bacterial infections once they start. This very often leads to smokers developing chronic ear infections over time.

It is necessary to quit smoking in order to avoid the perils of ear infections. But quitting smoking can often feel like a daunting task—and it is. As a psychosocial habit, the need to smoke is deeply ingrained in the psyche of the smoker. It takes patience, willpower and commitment to break the smoking habit, but the good news is that there are many methods that can help. One that is particularly effective is quit smoking hypnosis.

Quit smoking hypnosis gets to the root of the smoking problem. It allows smokers to re-wire their thinking process with respect to cigarettes so that they no longer depend on the emotional gratification or stress relief that they falsely believe they can get from tobacco. Quit smoking hypnosis takes patience and determination, but the long-term health benefits, such as reduced ear infections, are definitely worth the effort.

Smoking is a psychosocial habit that contributes to the development of chronic ear infections. If you are someone you know is struggling with a smoking habit, and are concerned about how it could be negatively impacting your ears, please contact me for more details or share your own ideas and experiences with us on Facebook or Twitter.

October 12, 2012 by Maureen

Tobacco Haze: Smoking Damages Vision

Many people are very unaware of how smoking damages eyesight; generally, people associated smoking hazards with heart disease, cancer, and wrinkly skin. But if there is any compelling reason to quit smoking, damaged vision certainly tops that list: nobody wants to lose their ability to see.

Chronic tobacco usage negatively affects the eyes in a multitude of ways. Here are just a few of the main problems smokers experience with their vision:

Irritation: Cigarette smoke causes redness, burning and itching in the eyes. It can also cause dry eye syndrome and change the tear film in the eyes.
Optic Nerve Damage: Since smoking causes hardening of the arteries and these blockages can damage the optic nerve, leading to reduced vision and even blindness.
Cataracts: Smoking increases the likelihood of cataracts or clouded lenses that, over time, can cause reduced vision and blindness.
Macular Degeneration: People who smoke are four times more likely to develop macular degeneration than non-smokers. Macular degeneration is when the macula, the part of the retina that enables sharp, focused vision, is weakened, causing blurry vision and even blindness.

It is pretty clear that smoking is not going to help anyone see any better. Chronic smoking either creates or exaggerates vision problems. But these damages don’t have to be permanent—when people quit smoking much of the harm done to the eyes can be reversed or at least halted.

Quitting smoking is not always the easiest path, but it is the best path to better health. Of the many smoking cessation methods out there, smokers who are worried about damage to their vision should consider quit smoking hypnosis. Quit smoking hypnosis addresses the root of the smoking problem—the fact that it is a psychosocial habit. Quit smoking hypnosis allows smokers to re-wire their thinking process vis-à-vis cigarettes so that they no longer feel dependent on the emotional gratification or stress relief that they believe tobacco provides. Quit smoking hypnosis takes willpower, but the long-term health benefits are definitely worth the effort.

Smoking is a psychosocial habit that damages vision. If you are someone you know is struggling with a smoking habit, and are concerned about how it could be negatively impacting your eyesight, please contact us for more details or share your own ideas and experiences with us on Facebook.

October 10, 2012 by Maureen

Save Your Skin: The Facts About Skin Cancer

Quitting smoking is especially important because the bad habit exposes you to a variety of different cancers, skin cancer included. While most people associate smoking with lung cancer, the carcinogens in cigarettes can contribute to the development of skin cancer—the most common form of cancer in human beings.

Skin cancer can be deadly, particularly when it is not detected earlier enough. It can therefore spread throughout the body until it essentially destroys all systems in its path. Aside from cigarette carcinogens, skin cancer can be caused by over-exposure to the sun, radiation, and ageing.

There are three types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, melanoma, and squamous cell carcinoma. All three pose a serious risk to your health, but melanoma is the most dangerous.

Skin cancer is relatively easy to detect because it appears as skin discolouration and/or abnormally coloured or shaped moles. Most skin cancer victims discover the condition on their own just by examining their skin. A diagnosis, however, can only be made by a doctor. But the problem is not that skin cancer is difficult to detect; the problem is that people simply forget that skin cancer is a deadly threat and thus do not get treatment for their cancerous growths until it is too late.

So is there a cure for skin cancer? A study conducted by researchers from Rush University Medical School in Chicago showed that a vaccine had been developed that was able to completely cure 16% of users infected with advanced melanoma. For the rest of the group, the vaccine greatly improved the user’s chance of remission. Still, this number is relatively small. So banking on a cure is not the way to go when dealing with skin cancer. The best way to avoid skin cancer is by staying out of the sun, wearing sunscreen regularly and avoiding exposure to unnecessary carcinogens like cigarette smoke. Checking your skin regularly as well as slathering yourself in aloe vera and vitamin D cream also helps.

Are you looking for more information about avoiding the perils of skin cancer? Want to find out how to live a more healthy life in general? Then get involved in the discussion on Facebook and Twitter. We’d love to hear you out and help you out!

October 1, 2012 by Maureen

Pot Fries Your Brain: Stay Away From Marijuana

Quitting smoking is especially important because the bad habit exposes you to a variety of different cancers, skin cancer included. While most people associate smoking with lung cancer, the carcinogens in cigarettes can contribute to the development of skin cancer—the most common form of cancer in human beings.

There are three types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, melanoma, and squamous cell carcinoma. All three pose a serious risk to your health, but melanoma is the most dangerous.

Are you looking for more information about avoiding the perils of skin cancer? Want to find out how to live a more healthy life in general? Then get involved in the discussion on Facebook and Twitter. We’d love to hear you out and help you out!

September 30, 2012 by Maureen

5 Reasons Smoking Wrinkles Your Skin

Most info relayed about the hazards of smoking centers on the internal effects of the bad habit: cancer, heart disease, emphysema, indigestion etc. But smoking also affects the external body, the skin in particular. Thus, a good reason to quit smoking is to keep the skin looking youthful and healthy—smokers tend to have skin that looks as wrinkly as a dried up prune!

So why does smoking contribute to early wrinkling? Here are 5 of the main smoking factors contributing to baggy, saggy, splotchy skin:

Decreased Collagen: Smoking decreases the collagen levels in the skin; collagen is a group of proteins responsible for the skin’s elasticity.
Decreased Oxygen: Smoking contributes to lower oxygen levels in the body which in turn causes the surface area of the body, the skin, to be poorly oxygenated.
Poor Circulation: Smoking negatively affects the body’s circulatory system and therefore prevents blood capillaries from reaching and nourishing the upper layers of the skin.
Nicotine: The blood capillaries that are able to reach the upper layers of the skin are constricted by nicotine, making them smaller in size and less nutritionally effective.
Slow Healing: Smoking meddles with the body’s ability to heal, the skin included. Hence, skin wrinkles easier and is more prone to sores and scarring.

It may seem a bit superficial, but smoking’s negative impact on the skin is a very compelling reason to quit the dangerous psychosocial habit. While many people claim that it is too difficult to quit smoking, that line of thinking is utter nonsense; in fact, the core belief that quitting smoking is impossible is what makes it impossible. Quitting smoking is a very attainable goal for people who are willing to put in the time and effort.

One method that is particularly helpful vis-à-vis smoking cessation is quit smoking hypnosis. Quit smoking hypnosis helps smoker’s identify the core beliefs and thought processes that keep them smoking, enabling them to re-wire such faulty thinking so that they no longer depend on cigarettes for emotional gratification or stress relief. Quit smoking hypnosis is no easy task, but it is a worthwhile task; the long-term health benefits, such as healthier, younger looking skin, are very much worth the effort.

Smoking is a psychosocial habit that contributes to the development of wrinkly skin. If you are someone you know is struggling with a smoking habit, and are concerned about how it could be negatively impacting your skin, please contact us for more details or share your own ideas and experiences with us on Twitter.

September 10, 2012 by Maureen

Why You Shouldn’t Smoke: The Basics

Smoking is one of the worst things that you can do to your body; there is not benefit to smoking, no silver-lining. Yet despite the ubiquity of information on why smoking is bad for you, many people still do it. Thus, it is always worthwhile to remind people of the quit smoking benefits. We will discuss a few of the major reasons why to give up cigarettes below.

Smoking is one of the leading causes of preventable death; that is, smoking deaths occur solely because of smoking. This is the great tragedy of smoking: nobody that smokes needs to die—they die because of a psychosocial habit. There are a variety of adverse health effects associated with smoking. The most prominent are:

Cardiovascular disease
Cancer
Lung disease

In addition to the deadly side effects listed above, smoking has an impact on nearly every aspect of your body and mind. The over 4000 toxins found in tobacco assault the body, leaving the skin looking worn and wrinkly, depression and anxiety disorders aggravated, teeth yellow, muscles loose, nails and hair brittle, and the immune system destroyed. Smoking is a habit that can only bring pain and death. There is no sugar-coating this one—smoking is fatal.

The good news? As soon as you quit smoking, the body begins to heal; in fact, the healing begins within 20 minutes of quitting. But quitting smoking is not a 20 minute event. Indeed, it is a lifelong process. This is why it is important to have a plan will that will help you stay smoke free for the long haul. One way to do this is to engage in quit smoking hypnosis. Quit smoking hypnosis teaches you to stop using cigarettes for psychological soothing and start living a healthy life.

Smoking is a psychosocial habit that can kill you, but it doesn’t have to; quitting smoking will allow you to heal your body and build the life that you want. If you, or someone you know, are struggling with a smoking habit, please contact us. You can also check us out on Twitter and ask for advice or share your own tips on how to stay tobacco free.

February 16, 2012 by Maureen

Cigs and Zits: The Synergy Between Smoking and Acne

Young or old, there are a good number of reasons to quit smoking; there are an endless variety of health issues connected to the bad habit, from heart disease to lung cancer to emphysema. One little discussed, yet widespread, health condition related to smoking is acne. While many view acne as primarily a teenage plague, acne affects adults in large numbers—particularly if they are smokers.

Acne is a skin condition characterized by the blocking or inflammation of the skin’s sebaceous glands or hair follicles) resulting in blackheads, whiteheads, pimples and cysts. It occurs, primarily, on the face, upper chest and upper back; namely, the areas where the hair follicles are densest.

Acne is typically hormone fluctuations; this is why it is most common during the teenage years. However, hormone shifts can occur at any time during adulthood and acne can also be brought on by environmental factors, including skin products, food and, relevant to our interests, cigarettes.

The British Journal of Dermatology published a study which stated that 42% of female smokers struggle with acne whereas only 10% of non-smokers struggle with symptoms like oily skin, pimples and blackheads. Furthermore, research has shown that smoking causes a very particular kind of acne: while smoking doesn’t always lead to cysts and inflamed red whiteheads, it certainly causes the surface area of the skin to be covered in bumpy blackheads and an oily sheen.

Acne is a condition that contributes to low self-esteem and general discomfort; it surely doesn’t allow people to feel comfortable in their own skin. Therefore, quitting smoking is the only way to steer clear of smoking induced acne. If you are ready to take this step—ready to quit smoking—then make sure you are well prepared by researching smoking cessation methods. Our recommendation would be that you check out quit smoking hypnosis –a surefire way to keep you away from cigarettes for good.

There is no other way to say it: acne is a major bummer, a major bummer exaggerated by smoking. If you are a smoker and have a strong desire to get your acne under control then take the time to contact us or get involved in the discussion on Facebookand Twitter. We’d love to hear you out and help you out!

January 30, 2012 by Maureen

Wading Through the Methods: Finding the Best Way to Quit Smoking

The decision to quit smoking is an important step in the direction towards better health—but the decision to quit is only step 1. Step 2, then, is finding a smoking cessation method that is best for you. But with so many quit smoking methods out there, it isn’t necessarily so easy to choose. We’ve compiled a few of the top options in hope of pointing out your choices and then hopefully pointing you in the right direction: quit smoking hypnosis.

Cold Turkey

If you are shopping around for a quit smoking method then you have no doubt hear about quitting “cold turkey.” Cold turkey doesn’t require any aid or assistance; you just give up cigarettes plain and simple. Sound easy right? Unfortunately it is not; between 30-50% of cold turkey quitters relapse within a year.

Nicotine Replacement Therapies

Unlike cold turkey, nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) require you to invest more thought and money into your smoking cessation endeavor. The way that NRTs work is quite simple; they administer nicotine to the body of the smoker, typically via nicotine gum or nicotine patches. The idea is that if smoking is a physiological addiction to nicotine, then small doses of the toxin will keep the smoker from smoking. Yet a study conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health shows that at least one third (approx. 30%) of NRT users relapse.

Hypnotherapy or quit smoking hypnosis is a smoking cessation method that may require a small financial investment, but the rewards are well worth it: over 90% of hypnotherapy quitters stay smoke free for life.

The success of quit smoking hypnosis is based on the fact that it addresses smoking as a psychosocial habit and not a physiological addiction. This means that quit smoking hypnosis helps smokers get to the root of their smoking problem: smoking as a habit they have built on a foundation of false beliefs about, and unhealthy emotional attachment to, cigarettes. Quit smoking hypnosis helps smokers re-shape their attitudes and beliefs towards cigarettes so that they can stay smoke free for good; additionally, it helps smokers build new, healthy habits so that they can enjoy a better quality of life.

So given the information above, which smoking cessation method do you want to choose?

Quit Smoking Hypnosis is a successful, holistic approach to smoking cessation. Get involved in the discussion on Facebook and Twitter.

January 15, 2012 by Maureen

I Believe Therefore I Don’t Smoke: Quitting Smoking With the Power of Your Mind

It’s a new year, but for smokers it’s still the same old question: why is it so hard to quit smoking? Despite the fact that many would claim that this is an unanswerable question, there is an answer and we have it: smoking is hard to quit because most smokers never address the psychosocial issues underlying the habit.

Mainstream knowledge tells you that smoking is a physiological addiction. It tells you that the only reason you smoke is because your body is physically addicted to nicotine. It tells you that smoking is hard to quit because you are chemically dependent on cigarettes. Pharmaceutical companies and the medical community sell you these ideas so that you will look to their quick fixes to solve your smoking problem: nicotine gum, the nicotine patch etc. These are the fixes that are profitable for them, but costly for you. Because even if you spend all your money on pharmaceutical solutions, the truth still remains: nicotine gum or not, smoking is still hard to quit.

But quitting smoking is only hard if you don’t address the real issue at hand: smoking is a psychosocial habit. Smoking is a habit that develops because you transfer emotional needs onto cigarettes and habituate yourself to using them, whether you do so to look cool or feel de-stressed. Smoking is used as a means of emotionally gratification and until you find a way to get to the core psychological issues behind why you smoke, you will keep believing that you need to.

Luckily, there are methods out there that take a holistic approach to smoking cessation. Hypnotherapy is one way to rid yourself of the smoking habit because it helps you transform your beliefs and attitudes towards cigarettes so that you no longer need them. You learn to find emotional gratification in healthier ways and you free yourself from tobacco smoke. With the help of hypnotherapy, you will no longer believe you need cigarettes and therefore you will not need or want them. In essence, hypnotherapy produces this maxim: I believe therefore I don’t smoke. So if you find that smoking is a hard habit to kick, then it may be time you tried a new approach. It may be time for you to harness the power of your mind to give up smoking for good.

Quit Smoking Hypnosis is a successful, holistic approach to smoking cessation. To learn more about its many benefits, contact me or get involved in the discussion on Facebook and Twitter. Your input is needed!

January 1, 2012 by Maureen

Quitting Smoking: A New Year, A New Plan

Every year millions of people across the globe make New Year’s resolutions. The beginning of a new year is a new chance, a new promise, a new day to change life for the better. One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions (in fact, it ranks consistently among the top ten) is to quit smoking . That’s right, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… NO MORE CIGARETTES!

But quitting smoking is much more than making a New Year’s resolution at a friend’s party. If you want quitting smoking to go from New Year’s resolution to reality, then you need to have a plan of action. Statistics show that around half of people forget about their New Year’s resolutions by the end of January; by the end of February, more than 90% of New Year’s resolutions go by the wayside. Translation: New Year’s resolutions don’t have a very good success rate. But you can be successful in your endeavor to quit smoking if you make it more than a resolution: make it a way of life.

Again, the key to quitting smoking is to have a plan of action. Quitting smoking without a plan means relapse, plain and simple. So you need to be ready to greet the New Year with a method for kicking cigarettes.

One way that you can quit smoking for good is by utilizing Quit Smoking Hypnosis. Quit Smoking Hypnosis is based on the fact that smoking is much more of a psychosocial than a physiological addiction. It rids you of smoking by helping you create new beliefs and associations related to cigarettes. With the help of a hypnotherapist, you re-program your brain into believing that cigarettes are dangerous and deadly and in doing so you learn to take charge of your own health and your own mindset on life.

Quit Smoking Hypnosis will not only rid you of the smoking habit, it will help you build an entirely new healthy lifestyle because it is a holistic approach to smoking cessation; this means that you will learn how to avoid smoking triggers, how to eat right, how to exercise right and how to be a more positive thinker. They say you are what you eat—but you are also what you believe and Quit Smoking Hypnosis will help believe a more positive reality into existence for yourself.

If you’d like to make quitting smoking more than a resolution, if you’d like to make it a way of life, then sign up for a brand new programme coming out soon. Fill in your details in the comments below.

References:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2012/01/19/8-reasons-your-new-years-resolutions-didnt-stick-and-what-to-do-differently-next-time/