The Great Debate on Quitting Smoking

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rose
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Re: Quitting smoking

Post by rose »

Please note both 'Quitting smoking' topics have been merged with 'Another cigarette thread'.
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Queequeg
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Re: Another cigarette thread

Post by Queequeg »

justsit wrote: Sat Jan 18, 2020 4:58 am lick an ash tray. It might help.
:twothumbsup:
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
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Brunelleschi
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Re: Quitting smoking

Post by Brunelleschi »

Are there any recommended prayers/mantras/practices for assistance with qutting tobacco/nicotine/addictions? I started with tobacco like three years ago pretty much out of boredom - and man is it hard to quit. Tried going cold turkey but only lasted like two days.
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Queequeg
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Re: Quitting smoking

Post by Queequeg »

I sometimes chanted. I don't know which specific one suits you. The one that centers your attention on the mind-moment.

To quit successfully, you just have to keep quitting. Don't think about a cigarette as the termination of your effort. It's just a glitch. Just rededicate again. Like meditation - acknowledge the blip and let it go. Soon you'll find yourself not having smoked for days, weeks, months. Then it's a matter of habit- undoing the impulse to smoke to celebrate a coffee or beer, or accomplishing a task or simply to pass time. Eventually you'll forget about the smokes.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
amanitamusc
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Re: Quitting smoking

Post by amanitamusc »

Mulungu is also traditionally used as an antispasmodic for asthma, bronchitis and coughs. Studies indicate it is useful for quitting tobacco, as it appears to block nicotine receptors and acts as a competitive nicotine antagonist.
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Johnny Dangerous
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Re: Quitting smoking

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

Brunelleschi wrote: Sun Sep 13, 2020 2:53 pm Are there any recommended prayers/mantras/practices for assistance with qutting tobacco/nicotine/addictions? I started with tobacco like three years ago pretty much out of boredom - and man is it hard to quit. Tried going cold turkey but only lasted like two days.
I think Tara might be appropriate, particularly because addiction is a kind of disease or malady. I think there are Guru Rinpoche prophecies regarding tobacco use, so I imagine if you've learned it/recieved the lung the Vajra Guru mantra is also powerful here.

Once you resolve to quit, I would actually recommend some kind of breath practice, just based on my personal experience quitting, above anything else. Replace the times you smoked with the breath practice, go somewhere else than wherever you used to smoke, shifting up habits is vital. Even something simple as deep controlled breaths or safe breath retention practices. The thing is, I'm convinced that a part of what people get addicted to with smoking is actually sitting down somewhere and deep breathing, you are just deep breathing smoke in the case of smoking.

Also, smoking cessation is not so much about physical craving due to withdrawal. It's out of your system in 3 days if you just stop. The cravings all come from habit and triggers after that point. The difficult thing is that nicotine addiction is so interwoven with daily activities, you have to alter the daily activities that revolved around it. Not trying to discourage you from stepping down using nicotine replacement products, but really--three days. I tried nicotine replacement for 10 years trying to quit, I finally kicked a 17 year smoking habit with more cognitive-behavioral approaches, so that's my bias. I smoked a lot too.

People -way- overestimate the physical addiction to nicotine and underestimate the conditioning that you do yourself over years with a serious smoking habit.

Beyond that, you can also try a prayer wheel, it helps with the hand-preoccupation thing that comes with smoking.

Also what QQ says, it takes most people something like thirteen tries I think, it took me fifteen serious attempts. Don't view relapse as failure, if you make it a little more time every time you quit, you are building the right habits. Keep doing it, don't give up, eventually you can build the habit of being a non-smoker.

https://med.dartmouth-hitchcock.org/doc ... urfing.pdf

This is just clinical meditation stuff, but it's geared towards specifically experiencing urges without acting on them. This is the basic relapse prevention approach used in addiction treatment, and it applies just as easily here.
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Meditate upon Bodhicitta when suffering occurs

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Re: Quitting smoking

Post by Bundokji »

I am a heavy smoker, i don't think of quitting, i like smoking. I stopped smoking few times in the past, but without much struggle.

Taking the whole thing personal makes quitting more difficult. What stops you from quitting is just another cigarette, this is how the logic goes. It seems more about the drama than the bad habit itself that most people struggle with.

It is strange how seeing that all of our choices are inherently imperfect provides us with higher degree of self control.
The cleverest defenders of faith are its greatest enemies: for their subtleties engender doubt and stimulate the mind. -- Will Durant
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Re: Quitting smoking

Post by Brunelleschi »

Thanks for the tips guys/gals. No real success yet, mostly due to the immense irriation I feel when abstaining. :smile:
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Johnny Dangerous
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Re: Quitting smoking

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

Brunelleschi wrote: Thu Oct 01, 2020 8:03 pm Thanks for the tips guys/gals. No real success yet, mostly due to the immense irriation I feel when abstaining. :smile:
The general advice is to take a break for sanity, set a new quit date and try again.
Meditate upon Bodhicitta when afflicted by disease

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when sad

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when suffering occurs

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when you are scared

-Khunu Lama
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Johnny Dangerous
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Re: Quitting smoking

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

Just heard a radio article about this app:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/icanquit/id1205729312

It's based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. For what it's worth, from the standpoint of addiction treatment (and my own experience quitting smoking after a 17 year or so habit) I think this is one of the best approaches you can take to dealing with the frustration of cravings and generally feeling crappy when you quit.
Meditate upon Bodhicitta when afflicted by disease

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when sad

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when suffering occurs

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when you are scared

-Khunu Lama
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Re: Quitting smoking

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

Brunelleschi wrote: Thu Oct 01, 2020 8:03 pm Thanks for the tips guys/gals. No real success yet, mostly due to the immense irriation I feel when abstaining. :smile:
Have you tried lighting the cig and then afterwards only inhaling the smoke through smell, but not putting the butt in your mouth?
EMPTIFUL.
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DiabloRojo
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Re: Quitting smoking

Post by DiabloRojo »

If you have a hard time not smoking in part because social aspects are drawing you in then one odd tactic to try is making a commitment to no longer purchase packs of cigarettes. For a time this will allow you to smoke socially with friends or family who might lend you a cigarette but overall you will be significantly tapering down. As you taper down you may want to ask less and and if you never have your own smokes they may want to give less.

This is not the cold turkey method but if you do indulge a little cannabis it may help you during some of those times between. Weed smoke is less bad for your lungs than tobacco smoke so perhaps those who don't like the notion can accept it as a lesser evil. THC in my opinion is also less addictive than nicotine, so while breaking that habit may not be without adverse reactions you are on the path of lesser and lesser evils.

At present I don't smoke either of these but have had my dance with both for short stints.

Maybe you will perfect every human flaw and become completely without all possible evils... in the meantime, remember, don't be too hard on yourself and if nothing else lesser evils are a decent start.

DR
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Re: Quitting smoking

Post by angstg »

shanyin wrote: Mon Jul 16, 2018 9:08 am Is anyone here an ex-smoker? Can anyone give me some advice to quit smoking. I am a pack a day smoker or more and my parents smoke so it's hard to quit. Wondering if there are any practices that I can do to quit smoking. Once weed is legal in Canada I can try to replace smoking ciggarettes with pot.
hi have faith in yourself.
shanyin
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Re: Quitting smoking

Post by shanyin »

Yes I also wonder if quitting smoking with the patch is a racket.

I smoked alot with the patch on because my addictions counsellor said it was OK. I smoked ALOT with it on. I probably got sick and I still feel sick. Now my other counsellor says yes it's not OK to smoke with it on.

OK, cold turkey. Here we go. That way I won't look back on myself as being a weak willed jellyfish.

I am a little crazy when it comes to online forums, as you can see. Maybe because I do not practice religion most of the time, and Buddhism is not a part of our culture.

Anyway, I have not been smoking pot much at all for about 5 months now. I am not going to replace ciggarettes with weed.

Cold turkey here we go.
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Tills ljuset tar oss
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Re: Quitting smoking

Post by Tills ljuset tar oss »

I've managed to cut down smoking to one pack a week with the help of something called snus. You put it under your upper lip and it will give you nicotine.

The good thing about this product is that it has no bad effects on your health. Especially the all white slim pouches with no tobacco in it but only plant fibre and nicotine. The minty flavors makes it feel rather fresh compared to other nicotine administration strategies. It is also way better than patches. I feel that snus is what nicotine patches and gums were meant to be. And there are so many flavors and strenghts to choose from so you can find your sweet spot and end the craving for cigarettes forever.

The one i use is called volt dark frost and it tastes like forest berries and mint.
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Re: Quitting smoking

Post by Malcolm »

Tills ljuset tar oss wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 11:37 am I've managed to cut down smoking to one pack a week with the help of something called snus. You put it under your upper lip and it will give you nicotine.

The good thing about this product is that it has no bad effects on your health. Especially the all white slim pouches with no tobacco in it but only plant fibre and nicotine. The minty flavors makes it feel rather fresh compared to other nicotine administration strategies. It is also way better than patches. I feel that snus is what nicotine patches and gums were meant to be. And there are so many flavors and strenghts to choose from so you can find your sweet spot and end the craving for cigarettes forever.

The one i use is called volt dark frost and it tastes like forest berries and mint.
Tobacco takes up an isotope of plutonium, called polonium 210. This what causes cancer. Using tobacco in any form is just freaking stupid.
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Re: Quitting smoking

Post by Norwegian »

Tills ljuset tar oss wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 11:37 am The good thing about this product is that it has no bad effects on your health.
This is just silly. It's quite unhealthy. And have you ever seen the mouths of long-time users?

https://tidsskriftet.no/en/2020/06/kron ... restimated
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snus#Health_effects
https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/pr ... -mean-safe
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Tills ljuset tar oss
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Re: Quitting smoking

Post by Tills ljuset tar oss »

Oops. I meant to say less harmful compared to cigarettes. The new tobacco free white variety does not discolor the teeth. But yeah. It's a bad habit to use any kind of drugs. I agree.

So compared to smoking it is almost harmless. At least from what i have heard. I'm just glad to cut down on my smoking. Not advocating the use of any drug.

I stand corrected.
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Re: Quitting smoking

Post by KristenM »

The FDA recently approved vaping to help smokers quit as a harm reduction method. Most of the complaints regarding vaping are about how kids get into it because of fun flavors. Vaping nicotine does not include tobacco and for a person who can't quit cold turkey, they may help. Nicotine lozenges seem to work for some people, too. Also, Wellbutrin seems to have an effect on the pleasure receptors that smoking targets and people like my aunt quit using that, and she wasn't even depressed! Just some ideas...
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Re: Quitting smoking

Post by confusedsoso »

I smoked for 20 years and quit. Came down with exercise induced bronchospasm. When you start to suffer it might already be too late...........Just quit as soon as you can.
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