Take regular, planned timeouts for
yourself. Be realistic and honest: How often did you take a break to
light up before? 20, 30 times a day? More? For 5 or 10
minutes? That inner regular need for a break to change your thoughts or
environment and decompress at regular intervals should not be abandoned
altogether, now should it? Pay close attention to this old existing
need. Substitute a breathing exercise or something relaxing and
self-loving. Set an alarm clock if you need reminding and keep
resetting it. Listen to some music perhaps too, or just pick a form of *regular
distraction and relaxation*, and do it for a couple of minutes each
time. If you take regular 'non-smoking decompression breaks, you may
be pleasantly surprised at the results.
Practice relaxation techniques and adopt some into your
routine. Successful people really do. Here is a simple
breathing exercise when you feel tense: With shoulders back and
tummy in, inhale deeply for a slow count of five, exhale for a slow count of
five. Do five of these at a time. (You can do this at your computer
too)
Each day, reflect on, and study your stress levels. Try to reduce
the causes of other high stress in your life if you can, by altering the cause.
Look at the cause-s. Much of it may be self-imposed.
* Consider looking for another job, in another line of work, if
necessary.
* Learn to say no to the impositions of others. You are presently
enrolled in a Quitting Course. (If you had to pay for a quitting program, would
you not find a way to prioritize it above the demands of other people?)
* Don’t waste precious energy in criticism of yourself and others. Adopt a Live
and Let Live attitude. Focus on your happiness. Anger releases bad hormones
into your body. Work on the opposite.
* Put things in perspective.
Value yourself more. Believe that you are really
something! Quitting is not for sissies. You may not have
arrived yet, but you've left the starting gate. We do appreciate
what you're going through. Start pampering and loving yourself,
now! Talk positive self-talk to yourself. Some people are too
self-critical. Ease up. No one is perfect.
The Canadian Institute of Stress believes that by doing something satisfying or
pleasurable, we can take the edge off. This is so
important! (Ahem, ever hear of making a reward plan?) The
reason is that when we are experiencing enjoyment or pleasure, our body is
pumping out less adrenalin. If you haven't made that reward plan,
better late than never, do it now! (And then when you post your
stats, share your rewards in order to inspire others to add to their plan too.)
Until you can control this anger, (what you say, the way you say it, how you
react) it's better to take a time out than lose a friend or alienate a loved
one. Isolate yourself in the bedroom or washroom until you feel you
can control yourself.
Get adequate sleep and rest. Indulge in an afternoon or evening
nap. There's nothing like fatigue to make us feel edgy to begin
with. In recovery, we need more rest, as every organ in the body is
going through some pretty serious adjusting and withdrawal over a few months.
Anger can be managed. Study up on anger management: Get a
book from the library, search the Internet, or consider getting professional
help.
Improve communication skills. Study up on this too. Get a book
from the library. They give classes in this. Lots of
fun. Really!
If you are a quitter going through this, please explain to your family and
friends that this will pass as you recover. Here's to you!
