The Great Debate on Quitting Smoking

A place to discuss health and fitness, including healthy diets, etc.
shanyin
Posts: 243
Joined: Mon May 14, 2018 4:49 am

Re: Quitting smoking

Post by shanyin »

I wouldn't mind smoking weed instead of ciggarettes. Weed makes me feel good, ciggarettes make me feel bad. I don't like the high of ciggarettes.

Why should I care to accomplish something in with my life? I don't want kids, I don't respect other people because I never get any respect, everytime I try to change my life I end up realizing that there's nothing I can do about it. For example if I wanted to move to another country because I don't want to live in a country that would put me in solitary confinement in a mental insitution, I can't because I can't get a visa.

If I try to get a job, I can't because I didn't have enough money for an education. And I got bad grades all my life and would probably fail big time if I went to school.

I could try maybe doing volunteer work in another country, but how? Wouldn't I need money to support myself? The only thing I can think of to help me is anti depressants, but that's a temporary fix and I'd rather not because of the damage it could do to my body.

Maybe I should just be doing volunteer work or something.
DharmaJunior
Posts: 580
Joined: Sat Jul 15, 2017 4:12 pm

Re: Quitting smoking

Post by DharmaJunior »

It looks to me like you're already in a tough spot and weed would make life harder. Avoid stress and enjoy having a good memory! :toilet:

I think your idea about community involvement is good. This will give your life structure and meaning. You will cover the 3 p's with this: Purpose, Passion and Pleasure. :twothumbsup:

You will also earn your much sought after respect this way. It is not given purely on the basis of existence. Default respect for life seems more idealistic. :pig:
Moha
Posts: 162
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2017 11:20 am

Re: Quitting smoking

Post by Moha »

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread. Just had to get this off my chest ...

It's been 7 days, 3 hours and 19 minutes since I last had a cigarette. I decided to finally quit the day before I was due to be warded for a medical procedure.

This is probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I had my first cigarette when I was 14. It's been a constant companion - a big part of my "identity" for 21 years. I'm still not quite sure why I decided to quit but here I am, a week into it suffering through some crazy withdrawals. It's going to be one hell of a ride ... :?
User avatar
Aryjna
Posts: 1626
Joined: Mon Mar 27, 2017 12:45 pm

Re: Quitting smoking

Post by Aryjna »

I quit around four years years ago after alternating between smoking a lot for a few months and quitting several times. I think the main difficulty is that one is used to smoking, holding a cigarette, etc., while there is no upside as it is obvious that smoking is terrible, it makes you feel worse in general, and also you have to bother with going out to buy cigarettes etc. So if you have something much better to be doing at all times, like being mindful and/or other forms of practice that you can apply at all times during the day, it becomes much easier to quit.
TrimePema
Posts: 366
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2014 1:16 am

Re: Quitting smoking

Post by TrimePema »

I smoked for years and found quitting difficult. Here's what I did:

First of all, I wanted to quit because it was bad for me. Therefore, while I was unable to quit in the short term, I decided to switch to e-cigs because they are less harmful than analog cigarettes. This is true, they are 500x less harmful.

Then I tapered down my nicotine concentrations from 12mg/ml to 6mg/ml to 3mg/ml to 1.5mg/ml to 0mg/ml and then quit the habit altogether.

Took me a long time but I have to say I have never felt better than when I picked up my vape to quit quitting again and decided instead to throw it in the trash. Of course, when I did that I had already been off nicotine for months and just had the oral fixation left.

Good luck! If you need some motivation, maybe check out dudjom on smoking...
amanitamusc
Posts: 2124
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2010 3:32 am

Re: Quitting smoking

Post by amanitamusc »

I was coming down with bronchitis for three months in a row,each time going to
hospital and each time they gave me antibiotics.
On the last month they took a chest xray and found 2 centimeter sized tumors.
I started taking ashwaghanda daily and cut down on the smokes.A short time later
I stopped. I never acted on the tumors except for the ashwaganda.
4 years later i had a chest xray and i was clean.I never had bronchitis again.

Years before i had asked Garchen Rinpoche how i could stop smoking and
he said "just stop".
I didn't but after that meeting with him they started to taste horrible and
as time went on they just tasted worse.
When i did stop it was easy.
shanyin
Posts: 243
Joined: Mon May 14, 2018 4:49 am

Quitting smoking

Post by shanyin »

That's all the advice I could ask for. Simply noticing the mind as wandered and return to the belly and continue concentrating. Sometimes I cant tell if what is distracting me is a thought or feeling.
User avatar
Queequeg
Former staff member
Posts: 14462
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 3:24 pm

Re: Quitting smoking

Post by Queequeg »

I smoked for 20 years. I finally quit because 1. I came to loathe being addicted - the compulsive behavior disgusted me; 2. I became more finely attuned to the effects it had on me - the discomfort I had come to tolerate in the act - its the same kind of tolerance I have for spicy foods, or brussel sprouts, or the pinch of pain that makes me want to quit at mile 3 of a 5 mile run, but in this case I was enduring it for... what?; 3. I learned strategies to overcome those impulses.

The physical addiction is kicked after about 3 days. After that, its a matter of dealing with habitual impulses, thought patterns and behaviors.

In the end, what really motivated me to quit was becoming a father and coming to understand that my life was not mine, but rather, I was now someone else's harbor of love and kindness and could not be that well if I was sickly, and could not do that at all if I died younger than I needed to.
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,
User avatar
Hazel
Former staff member
Posts: 2090
Joined: Mon Sep 23, 2019 11:15 pm
Location: she/her

Re: Quitting smoking

Post by Hazel »

Queequeg wrote: Sat Jan 11, 2020 3:57 pm In the end, what really motivated me to quit was becoming a father and coming to understand that my life was not mine, but rather, I was now someone else's harbor of love and kindness and could not be that well if I was sickly, and could not do that at all if I died younger than I needed to.
I feel like this idea/truth is relevant to even non-parents.
Happy Pride month to my queer dharma siblings!

What do you see when you turn out the lights?
DharmaJunior
Posts: 580
Joined: Sat Jul 15, 2017 4:12 pm

Re: Quitting smoking

Post by DharmaJunior »

If there was no memory you would have a craving but not know why and what to do about it.

The ciggy is a memorial, and it has an extra power where every activity is break time. Don't become attached to any activity but me, your friend, ciggy.

At some point you have to put it to bed. You've had 'such a good time' but now it's time to go your separate ways. There's no changing the fact that you think fondly about smoking, even when you know that drawing in smoke is rarely pleasant, if at all. Like I mentioned we're too busy associating the draw with every other aspect of the experience.

Cigarette is just the ticket; it's a memorial. Put it to bed.
shaunc
Posts: 883
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2013 8:10 am

Re: Quitting smoking

Post by shaunc »

I'm 56 years old and started smoking cigarettes at 8 years old I recently stopped 4 months ago using Swedish snus. Yes, I'm still addicted to nicotine but at least I'm giving my lungs a break.
User avatar
Rinchen Dorje
Posts: 1057
Joined: Sat Apr 23, 2011 5:42 pm

Re: Quitting smoking

Post by Rinchen Dorje »

Its also helpful to remember that smoking isnt just one habit..its a lot of little habits. For example: you wake up in the morning and light up, after you eat you light up, just before going to bed you light up, a stressful situation happens, etc. So the idea is to figure out all of your little habits and slowly slowly break them one by one before you try to quit cold turkey. Increases your chances of not going back to it.
"But if you know how to observe yourself, you will discover your real nature, the primordial state, the state of Guruyoga, and then all will become clear because you will have discovered everything"-Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche
User avatar
WesleyP
Posts: 233
Joined: Thu May 30, 2019 10:20 am

Re: Quitting smoking

Post by WesleyP »

Quitting and beating any addiction is possible.
shanyin
Posts: 243
Joined: Mon May 14, 2018 4:49 am

Another cigarette thread

Post by shanyin »

I posted a thread about a year ago about quitting smoking and I went back to re read it and I can only find one or two posts.

Does anyone have advice on quitting smoking? I feel like when I smoke I am telling myself that nothing matters. I cannot seem to get one day without smoking. I have done it before but I almost feel like it is my duty to smoke.

I am sorry that I post about my problems so much. Cigarettes is life and death and I view Buddhists as wise. The best thing I can do for myself I think is try to get back on living the four noble truths.
User avatar
WesleyP
Posts: 233
Joined: Thu May 30, 2019 10:20 am

Re: Another cigarette thread

Post by WesleyP »

Drink water and cuts back on the addiction.
shaunc
Posts: 883
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2013 8:10 am

Re: Another cigarette thread

Post by shaunc »

I haven't had a smoke for 4 months using Swedish snus.
Yes, I'm still addicted to nicotine but at least I'm giving my lungs a break.
User avatar
PadmaVonSamba
Posts: 9441
Joined: Sat May 14, 2011 1:41 am

Re: Another cigarette thread

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

The easy way is to marry someone who tells you that if you don’t stop smoking, you’ll sleep in the garage. That made me stop immediately, almost 30 years ago.

I have a method I think would work. The thing is, you “really absolutely have to want to quit”. That’s 90% of it.

The problem is, we think of smoking as one thing in itself.
But, the buddha teaches that things have no intrinsic reality. Rather, they are composed of other components.
So, you can break down smoking into
three things that are required for you practice the habit:
1. Your hand
2. Your mouth
3. Your mind

They work together like a camera tripod.
So, undo them one at a time.

FIRST WEEK
Step one: you cannot put the cig in your mouth.
You can light it as you would a stick of incense, inhale it
as it sits in an ash tray. But no mouth. Think of it as a piece of cat poop. No mouth.

SECOND WEEK

Step two: you cannot put it in your hand. Somebody else has to light it for you. You can still inhale through your nose. You can enjoy being around others who smoke.
If you fail at step two because the urge is too strong,
it’s okay. Just go back to step one, no mouth.

THIRD WEEK

Step three: no mind. You have already conquered mouth and hand. They can no longer help your uncontrollable urge. You have taken control of your mouth and hand.
Now, controlling your mind will be much easier.
If not yet, then stay with step two.
And you can always go back to step one.
But you can never put the cig in your mouth.

I hope this will work for you.
I was recently diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis,
which means my lungs are gradually becoming covered with scar tissue. It’s an autoimmune thing. I’m probably exposed to something that my lungs don’t like. Then, I’ll die. The only way out is a lung transplant.
And the really “samsaric” thing is, most of the good lungs come from people dying from gunshots and drug overdoses. Talk about the cycle of suffering! The more messed up the human realm is, the better my chances are of living longer! Is that frak up crazy, or what?

The lungs are amazing. The wall separating the air pockets and where the oxygen enters the blood is only one microscopic cell thick. Reading about lungs, or watching YouTube videos about how lungs work may also help you to “really, absolutely want to quit.”
.
.
.
EMPTIFUL.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.
User avatar
justsit
Posts: 1466
Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2009 9:24 pm
Location: Delaware

Re: Another cigarette thread

Post by justsit »

PadmaVonSamba wrote: Sat Jan 18, 2020 4:49 am I have a method I think would work. The thing is, you “really absolutely have to want to quit”. That’s 90% of it.
^This.

You have to really really REALLY WANT TO QUIT. Just thinking, "Gee, I should quit" absolutely does not work.

Every time you want a cigarette, go lick an ash tray. It might help. The only thing that worked for me was cold turkey.
But by then I was so disgusted it was pretty easy. I substituted hard candy for the hand-to-mouth habit. After the first week the cravings went away.
Drink lots of water.
Good luck.
rose
Site Admin
Posts: 6278
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2009 7:59 am

Re: Another cigarette thread

Post by rose »

shanyin wrote: Fri Jan 17, 2020 9:45 pm I posted a thread about a year ago about quitting smoking and I went back to re read it and I can only find one or two posts.


Quitting smoking
Image
DharmaJunior
Posts: 580
Joined: Sat Jul 15, 2017 4:12 pm

Re: Another cigarette thread

Post by DharmaJunior »

Did you forget about this one from last week?

viewtopic.php?f=77&t=32719
Post Reply

Return to “Wellness, Diet and Fitness”