Around the world health experts agree that the best thing a cigarette smoker can do is to stop. Since I regularly use hypnosis as a way to help people quit smoking, I get asked all the time if I ever smoked. The answer is yes. When I was around thirteen, I began smoking. It was at under my house with my best friend. Later at my friend’s house we smoked with his older sister. One evening when we asked her for a cigarette she gave us one. I guess she though it was cute – her little brother and his friend trying to act so grown-up and cool with her – and over the course of the evening, she let us both smoke several cigarettes.

I didn’t really like smoking but one of the reason I had so many cigarettes is that I had the idea that smoking made me look cool. When I’d get a cigarette, I’d take a big drag or two, cough like crazy for several minutes and then I’d pass it to my friend. He’d do the same thing – inhale once or twice and practically hack up a lung as he waited to be able to breathe again. By the time we had two or three big drags each, the cigarette was gone. But by the end of the evening we were puffing away just like regular smokers. We thought we were the coolest. Of course, at the time I didn’t give any thought about how hard it could be to stop smoking cigarettes when I got older.

I smoked cigarettes all through high school and while I was in the Navy, along with other things. It was the 60’s and 70’s after all. It just seemed to make every event better, make me mellower and feel cooler. I used to love to go down to the pool hall, put some quarters in the jukebox, and shoot with a cigarette hanging from the side of my mouth. After all everyone smoked. No one even thought about it. In the Navy it was another reason to take a break. It was something to fiddle with in your hands when you were feeling socially awkward and an excuse to go outside and take a smoke break with your buddies or just stretch your legs. And it made it so much easier to make new friends and acquaintances.

That last detail is something people that don’t smoke can’t understand. When I finally quit smoking cigarettes I don’t think it wasn’t the nicotine cravings that made it hard. I don’t believe I was ever really physically addicted to cigarettes. It was not having the social contact with the friends that I had enjoyed smoking with before. When you’re outside a building or at a party with other smokers, there’s a natural social bond that forms with other smokers. You can ask for or offer up a cigarette or you can get a light. It makes a good way to start a conversation or to meet new people even though it may seem strange to say.

And besides that, just the fact that you are all smokers not only gives you something in common, but provides you a feeling of camaraderie that’s based on the fact that everyone is viewed kind of like social lepers by the society around them. Among smokers, there’s a certain spirit of “we are all in this together” that can make you nearly feel like your abandoning your family when you stop smoking cigarettes.

If I hadn’t had a cold that was driving me nuts, as well as a girlfriend who nagged me incessantly, I probably never would have searched for a way to quit smoking. I finally used self hypnosis and visualization as my method to quit smoking. I haven’t smoked now for over thirty years, but when I was with some friends a while back I kind of missed the camaraderie and the relaxation that cigarettes furnished.

Today there are many methods you can choose from to quit smoking. From cold turkey to my favorite to using hypnosis for smoking cessation one is right for you. You need to choose your way to quit smoking before your smoking finishes you. I recommend that you choose a method to quit smoking return your lungs to a healthy state today.

Wil Dieck is the founder of Total Mind Therapy, a highly successful method that helps people to stop smoking that uses  NLP and hypnosis. In fact, hundreds of people, just like you, have used Total Mind Therapy to help them quit smoking. His office is located in the middle of Mission valley in beautiful San Diego. Wil is also the author of the e-Course ““Quit Smoking Secrets the Tobacco Companies Don’t Want You to Know”” that you can have at absolutely no charge. CLICK HERE to receive your FREE copy of “Quit Smoking Secrets the Tobacco Companies Don’t Want You to Know”.