QUIT SMOKING WITH YOGA

If you are resolved to quit smoking, then yoga is perhaps the best way to begin your venture. Pranayama or breathing exercises are recommended to deal with this addiction. It is often due to stress and anxiety that one wants to smoke. By changing your breathing pattern, you can relieve yourself from anxiety and stress. Pranayama calms your mind and harmonises the functioning of your body mind and soul. Ultimately it reduces your craving to smoke cigarettes. Nadishodhi Pranayama is a very effective yoga breathing exercise.

1. Sit cross legged or in any comfortable position by keeping your spine straight. Close your eyes and relax your whole body.
2. Close your right nostril with your right thumb. Inhale and exhale 5 times through your left nostril. Take deep breaths while breathing.
3. Close your left nostril with your ring finger. Now take deep inhalation and exhalation 5 times through the right nostril.
4. As you breathe in and out, be aware of each breath.

Make sure that you do not produce any sound while taking breaths. Repeat this exercise at least five times.
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All the guys and gals out there who are always reluctant to lend an ear to the benefits of yoga, meditation and other similar measures must relax for a while and see with the what dexterity yoga has altered the lives of Hollywood celebrities.

Mind my facts guys for it is no longer a secret that yogic influence has enabled the erstwhile ‘Friends’ star Jennifer Aniston to get rid of smoking addiction and caffeine intake and now she is utterly free from the clutches of those vices. Hey, it is not a cooked up story; your favorite Jen herself is a witness to the changes in her life. She credits yoga to be the recipe of her success and why not! As you stick to yoga, the peculiar form of exercise which involves meditation, stretching of the hands and legs, your mind attains tranquility and gains the inner strength to ward off your cravings for the harmful chemical nicotine.

Smokers across the world become addicted to cigarette smoking on account of a momentary lapse and after that in spite of their attempts to rescue themselves from the grip of nicotine addiction, most frequently they fail miserably. It is OK and fine if you are out of the influence of nicotine via your own will power. But even after you attain quit smoking success there are immense possibilities that nicotine withdrawal symptoms would trouble you at a certain point in your life.

If such a condition arises, i.e.even after inducing smoking cessation, the withdrawal symptoms of nicotine harm you significantly; at least you would be safeguarded under the protective coverage of yoga and meditation.

Refrain from playing with your own body just for the momentary pleasure given by cigarette smoking!
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ne of the hardest habits to give up is smoking. You may hear a number of people who claim to have given up smoking, but if you check on them after sometime, you will find that they have gone back to their favourite habit.

For twenty years I had been a habitual but a moderate smoker. I used to smoke on average five cigarettes a day, but often I would go on a binge and smoke as many as 15. This went on even after I took to practising yoga.

My yoga teacher had assured me that being a practitioner of yoga I would not keep smoking habit for long. For, according to him, yoga would force me to give up my habit. I did not take that too seriously and continued smoking along with my practice of yoga.

After a few months of yoga, my habit of smoking a cigarette after breakfast started making me uncomfortable. After smoking a cigarette I started feeling sluggish and sleepy. Since I used to smoke while driving to my office, my being sleepy started telling on my nerves. After a few days, I was still lighting up my cigarette but I could not go beyond smoking it more than a half. Later on even smoking half a cigarette was leaving me tired and was giving me headaches. I had no choice but to give up my morning cigarette.

Soon I stopped smoking a cigarette after lunch and even when driving back home in the evening traffic. Smoking in the evening started making me intolerably hungry and I could not help snacking. That was enough to kill my appetite for dinner.

Untimely eating gave me a kind of constipation I never experienced in my life. I started spending working hours with bloated bowels and a mild but continuing headache. My productivity level plummeted sharply and I started losing my temper at the slightest provocation.

First smoking ceased to be a pleasure and very soon it became a nightmare. I really did not have to fight with my age-old habit or exercise restrain.

I realized that yoga just won’t let me go on with this vice of mine. It’s been nine months now since I last smoked. Now even the thought of reaching for a cigarette makes me feel ill.

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y Yoga Might Help You Quit Smoking

by Clarissa Adkins | More from this Blogger

You may have already gone through several cycles of trying to quit smoking just over the past month of forgotten and renewed resolutions of the New Year. Before you resign yourself to just trying again next year, see if anything here gives you motivation to try again.

Becoming more aware of how your body feels and of your breathing patterns is one of the most easily experienced side-effects of practicing yoga. A simple, Gentle Yoga class could provide you with enough body awareness to firm your resolve. The focusing exercises, combined with poses and breath, allow you to better feel how the body is working, or not working. You can experiment with this idea by going to a class within an hour of having a cigarette. After a couple of days, go to your yoga class without having a cigarette in the two or three hours prior. Between the two classes, compare how you felt. You'll enjoy being able to breathe better and the body will feel less toxic. Your body will automatically let you know that your foreign input is not wanted on a deep level. On a side note, also see if the yoga helps you alleviate any symptoms of withdrawal.
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This growing awareness of how deeply just one cigarette affects you, will hopefully help you create more resolve to quit. It's ok to develop disgust about your habit. Getting "grossed out" can grow your will power. Becoming more aware of your senses while you practice yoga reveals weaknesses and imbalances in the body. I believe that part of quitting smoking is experiencing, on as many levels as possible, just how much it affects your body.

As you move along in your practice, while perhaps adding other fitness activities to your routine, you'll see how cigarettes fit in with your lifestyle less and less. Feeling your body get stronger is one of the best motivations to make your body as healthy as it can be. Harming the body goes against our instinct of survival. Yoga can be a wonderful, non-competitive way to find resolve, strength and intuition about your soon-to-be, ex-smoking habit.
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05 Jan 2007 02:02 PM
Yoga Cues: Listening to Your Body

by Clarissa Adkins | More from this Blogger

It is normal to hear a fitness instructor cue inhalations and exhalations, left or right sides of the body and water breaks, whether you are in a step, kick boxing or cardio pump class, but if you try a yoga class you may hear instructions that take body awareness to another level. Most of yoga's principles seem simple enough at first glance, but let's examine the implications of the cue, "listen to your body."
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Listening to the body requires that one is prepared to quiet the mind of external thoughts long enough to pay attention to each physical sensation experienced during a practice. If you are preoccupied with moving onto the next item on your checklist of things to do that day, or perhaps some interpersonal conflict that you are trying to work through, then you are bound to miss out on the valuable mind and body connection that you could be experiencing.

The quieting of the mind allows you to more deeply recognize what muscles you are using to hold a pose. Being present at your yoga class will remind you to question whether or not holding your jaw tight is actually going to help you maintain your Triangle. You may notice that you are also holding your breath to maintain your Tree or Warrior Three pose when you stop comparing your practice to that of the other students around you.

The body also tells us if we are doing too much or too little in our yoga practice. When we challenge ourselves beyond our physical abilities, the body sends us a friendly pain message. Yoga is based on a principle of ahimsa (or nonviolence) which is to be applied to ourselves while we practice. Certainly we are encouraged to challenge ourselves, but we accomplish this more fully by limiting our experience to "this is somewhat uncomfortable," rather than, "this makes me want to cry." Likewise, the body can become overly relaxed (in a challenging pose like Extended Side Angle) by collapsing the torso onto the side that is supporting the stretch.

Being more mindful and present during any exercise routine can seriously enhance your experience and make your work more productive.

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Because nicotine is so addictive, it is very hard to stop smoking. But you can. The single most important factor for people who successfully quit smoking was the belief and confidence that they could do it. There is no magical quick fix. Do it when you really decide you want to do it.

AYURVEDIC APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM -
Ayurveda does not rely on one or two techniques. It combines as many as possible and addresses the life of the entire person -- body, mind and spirit. Ayurveda views the roots of addictions as mental inertia, which is caused by excess mental activity. An addiction grows because we attempt to calm these excesses through artificial, external means (drugs, food, tobacco etc.) rather than through natural or holistic measures. If one is anxious, angry, worried, impatient, lethargic or uncaring, Ayurveda sees this as an excess of one of the three basic Dosha (Vata, Pitta, Kapha).

AYURVEDIC TREATMENT
To deal with nicotine, tar and other toxic compounds in the channels, consider these recommendations:

* Drink plenty of water, better yet if it is kept in a container made of copper, which scrapes away ama (toxic deposits).
* Perform neti kriya morning and night (with the help of a neti pot, allow room-temperature normal saline solution to enter one nostril and flow out the other; then, reverse.).
* Practice bhastrika pranayama, morning and night, to expel contaminants in the upper airways (any good hatha yoga manual will have simple instructions).
* For nicotine, tar and other toxic compounds already deposited in the dhatus: take three tablets or one tablespoon of triphala every night, before bedtime.
* Toning herbs include Ashwagandha, Shatavari, Bala, and Ginseng. Take a constitutionally appropriate rasayana every morning, which will help detoxification. Rasayana 'Chyavanaprash' is suitable for person of any constitution.

DIET -
Do your very best to stay away from alcohol, sugar and coffee the first week or longer, as these tend to stimulate the desire for a cigarette. Avoid fatty foods, as your metabolism will slow down a bit without the nicotine, and you may gain weight even if you eat the same amount as before quitting. So discipline about diet is extra important now. No one ever said acquiring new habits would be easy!

Take vegetarian low fat diet to increase the Sattvic quality of mind. All fresh foods contains, prana and they increase ojas.

Nibble on low calorie foods like celery, apples and carrots. Chew gum or suck on cinnamon sticks.

EXERCISE -
Exercise is an obvious way to help avoid gaining weight after you quit. Studies show that smokers have an easier time quitting when they add exercise to their smoking cessation plan. There are some other benefits of exercise including: stress reduction

HELP FROM YOGA -
Yoga is a form of relaxation and exercise that incorporates stretching, meditation and the knowledge of the body's full potential. It helps relieve tension and stress, and helps increase your strength and vitality.

corpse pose (Shavasana) -
The corpse pose, or Shavasana in Sanskrit, is the classic relaxation Yoga Pose, and is most restful pose in yoga. It's the final pose used in most yoga classes, but can also be done on its own to facilitate meditation or relaxation. It looks deceptively simple, but it is in fact, one the most difficult Yoga Asanas and one which changes and develops through practice.
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Yoga to Quit Smoking?

Answered by Kathleen Kastner, owner of Maya Yoga studio, in Kansas City, MO.

Are there any poses to help someone who’s trying to quit smoking? -Kate

All the poses combined in a yoga class can have a great impact on helping you to quit smoking, especially Camel pose, bow pose on your belly, standing bow, and backbends, which all help to open your lung and heart area. Your healthy goal will also get a boost from lying quietly in Savasana, because it works on your mind, just like meditation. Addictions begin in the mind, so you want to spend time in the silence, training the mind how to be still. A quiet mind can help you cancel out the thoughts that are causing cigarette cravings.

Also, a daily pranayama (breathing) practice could help you quiet the mind, clear out your lungs, and increase your lung capacity and your ability to carry oxygen to your body. To do it, sit upright in a comfortable cross-legged position. Close your eyes and rest the tops of your palms on your knees, with your elbows straight. Inhale deeply thru the nose and throat for 5 counts, pause, and slowly exhale for 5 counts while contracting your lower belly to your spine.

Kathleen Kastner has been teaching ashtanga, vinyasa and power yoga for ten years and is also the owner of Maya Yoga studio, in Kansas City, MO.