18. Breathing Exercises
Breathing exercises help the smokers manage their cravings for smoking.
When you quit smoking, there will be moments when your hands fidget to find a cigarette. This will occur most often in situations where you used to smoke.
Instead of thinking that you would have been more comfortable with a cigarette in your current situation,
√ Remind yourself that you have traversed a long path and accomplished a lot.
√ Remind yourself you do not need a cigarette any more.
Probably the best way to get over the cravings for a cigarette is to take a long, deep breath and continue with what you are doing. The cravings will pass without doing anything about them.
Focusing on breathing will allow you to concentrate and will remind you of your commitments.
The urge to smoke nearly always occurs when you find yourself emotionally disturbed. While you smoke, you alter your breathing pattern and this alters your mood as well.
Breathing and mind are closely interlinked - a change in breathing pattern, therefore, changes mood as well. This is the reason that you find smoking comforts you in difficult situations. Instead of comforting yourself by smoking a cigarette, learn the way to breathe that comforts you.
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