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Friday, July 24, 2015

Physiological Benefits to Quit Smoking

(This blog was originally posted on April 9, 2014)

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

People have various motivations to give up cigarettes when seek hypnotherapy to quit smoking. With increasingly tighter restrictions on the areas people can smoke in public, it is becoming more difficult and uncomfortable to light up when they are out of the house. Some people hate the smell of smoke in their hair and on their skin and clothes. Others decide that the financial burden of purchasing cigarettes is no longer worth the enjoyment of smoking. (A pack of cigarettes costs more than a gallon of gasoline in most locations in the United States; and health and life-insurance policies can be more expensive for people who smoke.) But the primary motivation people quit smoking is to improve their health. Here is a list of the specific physiological benefits and improvement to your health that you will enjoy after quitting smoking, and an estimated time frame in which these benefits are realized since smoking your last cigarette.

20 minutes: Blood pressure, pulse rate and body temperature return to normal/natural level.
8 hours: Carbon monoxide level drops to normal level; oxygen level in the blood increases to normal.
24 hours: Chance of heart attack decreases.
48 hours: Nerve endings start to re-grow, and ability to taste and smell improves.
72 hours: Lung capacity increases and bronchial tubes relax.
2 weeks-3 months: Improved circulation and increased lung function (up to 30%); it becomes easier to walk.
1 month-9 months: Decrease in coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue and shortness of breath. Also, cilia begin to grow back in the lungs, which increases their ability to clean, handle mucous and reduce infection in the lungs.
5 years: Decrease in lung-cancer death rate for the average smoker (one pack per day): from 137 per 100,000 people, to 72 per 100,000 people.
10 years: Decrease in lung-cancer death rate for the average smoker (one pack per day) to 12 per 100,000 people. This rate is almost the same as that for someone who has never smoked. Other benefits include replacement of pre-cancerous cilia and decrease risk of other cancers associated with smoking: bladder, esophagus, kidney, mouth and pancreas.

Hypnotherapy is an effective tool to help you achieve your goal of becoming a permanent non-smoker. This is because hypnosis enables you to communicate with your subconscious mind to reprogram your previous mental scripts about wanting and needing to smoke, with ones that reinforce your decision, motivations and ability to stop smoking. I offer a 6-week, smoking-cessation hypnotherapy program that is good for people who smoke one or more pack of cigarettes a day. During this time, you will learn how to resist the triggers of your psychological and physiological addiction to nicotine while you gradually stop smoking altogether. I also record and provide a customized stop-smoking track for you client to listen to in order to reinforce this new behavior (lifestyle of a permanent non-smoker). If you are ready to quit smoking, I am here and ready to help you!

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

What Is Your Stragegy?

(This blog was originally posted on April 11, 2014)

Photo courtesy of Sara Fogan

I stopped at a local Starbucks® on my way home from the barn today. It was a hot afternoon so I thought an iced beverage would be a good choice: but, which one? Sweetened iced tea? Iced coffee? Iced tea or tea with lemonade would be refreshing, but I would probably drink it very fast and need something more to completely quench my thirst. Iced coffee was a possibility. Then again, an iced hazelnut latte or an iced caramel macchiato was appealing, but the milk and syrups would make the drinks seem too heavy and less likely to quench my thirst. The line was long enough that I had several minutes to ponder my options. Even though I was going to use a gift card to pay for the drink I still had to consider the cost: iced tea costs less than a latte, a latte is less expensive than the macchiato…what did I want to drink, and did I have enough on the card to pay for a more expensive beverage? (I thought so.)

I still hadn’t completely made up my mind when the barista asked me what I would like to order. Ultimately, I settled on none of the drinks that I and I had previously considered and ordered a Starbucks double shot over ice. On the one hand, I wasn’t really surprised about my ultimate choice because it is my favorite, go-to beverage on a hot day. Its strong flavor and the image of milk swirling and drifting to the bottom of the plastic cup are so aesthetically appealing to me as to be temporarily mesmerizing. Also, since I used to prepare this drink at a local Barnes and Noble Café, its sight, smell and taste have become “knowns” in my subconscious mind. So, why did it take so long for me to make up my mind that I wanted this beverage before I ordered it? It’s not like this was a major purchase or anything…

On the other hand, when I really want to do something—when something is very important to me—I just do it. I don’t do too much strategizing about how to attain that specific goal, either. I basically just visualize, imagine, picture and pretend that I have already achieved it and then carry on as if success is a foregone conclusion. When I decided to pursue my postgraduate degree in London, England, I worked hard to earn the requisite grade-point average that would qualify me for a spot on the course; then I just sent in the application and waited for my acceptance letter. Similarly, when I decided that I wanted to fulfill one of my lifelong dreams to own a horse, I simply pitched a couple of offers to my then-trainer, Jim O’Leary, to buy one of his schooling horses that I liked. When Jim and his wife, Connie, accepted my second bid, I bought the horse. (They even let me write the purchase agreement.)

One of the classes in my Neurolinguistic Programming certification course at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute addressed strategies for achieving a goal. It wasn’t until I volunteered to allow one of the instructors, Joe Leeway, C.Ht., and my classmates analyze my horse-purchasing strategy that I realized a lot more thought and planning typically goes into accomplishing a major goal or task. My process seemed to be overly simplistic, similar to the motto I once saw on a Cowgirls Unlimited T-shirt that read: “Cowgirls (Saw it, Wanted it, Had a Fit) Got It.” Surely, there had to be more to my story then just seeing the horse, wanting and then buying him? Didn’t I have to readjust my goal? Did I ever need to recruit help or activate other resources or strategies to attain it? Joe and the other students asked over and over.

Actually, no: Before I actually met or even rode my future (first) horse, I saw his name on a stall door: Jeeves. That was on the day of my first riding lesson in about 20 years. I remember saying to myself, “I have to meet this horse.” I had lived in England for seven years and was a fan of the Jeeves and Wooster novels by P.G. Wodehouse. I had even met and had a photo taken with actor Stephen Frye, the actor that portrays “Jeeves.” As far as I was concerned, this horse was destined to be in my life, end of story. I just sent a picture of myself owning the horse out to the universe, and then waited a few months for that dream to become manifest—no strategizing required, just patience.

And he was worth the wait.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Tune Out the Noise

(This blog was originally posted on July 22, 2014)

Photo courtesy of Fotolia

Even if you enjoy working in a busy environment, sometimes even a little bit of noise is too much of a distraction. The sound of ringing phones, the constant thwack-thwack sound of typing on computer keyboards and the distant din of conversations in the break room are about to send you through the roof. Your project deadline is looming, but you doubt you will be able to accomplish anything at all with all of this chaos going on around you. Help!

One of the most useful techniques I have found to facilitate working in a chaotic office environment is to simply convert the annoying external stimuli into a form of white noise that will deepen your focus and sense of calm. As soon as you enter a busy work environment and before you start to feel overwhelmed, draw several slow, deep breaths through your nose. Visualize, imagine, picture or pretend that you are inhaling the amount and kind of energy you need to focus on and accomplish your task. When you exhale, release the breath through your mouth. Focus on releasing any emotional frustration and/or physical tension you may be carrying in your body. Give yourself the following suggestion: “Every sound and everything I see around me is helping to deepen my focus and concentration and improve my attention to detail on what I am working on. I give myself permission to take regular breaks in my work so I can continue to be creative and energetic. The whole time, I am and will remain completely alert and aware of everything that is going on in my environment so my colleagues and I can and will continue to work safely and efficiently.”

Your subconscious mind is most suggestible to you; therefore, it is important to use positive words and positive energy when you craft this suggestion. Be sure to drink plenty of water and eat meals and snacks that contain protein to sustain your energy, stamina and focus at work. This technique is not designed to help you tune-out to aspects of your environment but will enable you to continue to work well despite the environmental distractions around you. Do not use this technique while driving or operating heavy machinery.