Lately, I've been learning how to do without cigarettes when I get an urge to smoke. It's a great tool because I can't smoke regularly here at SFNC and I have to be able to control my response to urges to light a cigarette. It's also a great tool because I don't go on a hunt for cigarettes if I don't have any.
Photo Credit: ricoramiro DeviantArt
To help me better control the urges to smoke, I use a mindfulness trick. I allow the urge to become as strong as it can and I just watch it. I can see it floating above my body and I realize I don't have to act on it. Watching the urge becomes the fix.
Of course that's easier said than done and I've failed more than I succeeded... but the successes I've had show me it is possible to change. Mindfulness is about observing something with complete acceptance and without judging which makes it easier for us to understand we have options.
