The Anxiety Meditation 
As you walk down the street, one of the things that you will not miss is someone smoking. This is one of the most rooted parts of everyday life, with even people at work taking smoke breaks every once in a while. You most definitely know someone who is addicted to smoking, maybe a friend or family member. It can even be you. Cigarettes contain one of the most addictive substances, nicotine. This substance takes over the reward nerves of the brain and thus creates a sense of dependence on the substance. Once you fall into addiction, the part of the brain that is associated with self-meditation and pleasure-seeking becomes hooked to nicotine. This thus makes you always want to have some of the substances in your body to stimulate the pleasure feeling.
Smoking was most prevalent in the past centuries. This was mainly attributed to the lack of information that was rampant. Many people didn’t know the negative effects that come with smoking. Another aspect that made smoking quite common is the need to fit in. Many advertisements by leading cigarette manufacturers made smoking look like a great activity that everyone should be part of, and it was this that led to many people falling into addiction. Over the years, people have learned the negative effects of smoking and have thus wanted to quit. If you intend to quit smoking, meditation is here to the rescue.
There are numerous ways that meditation can help you quit smoking. These are;
1: Reducing stress, which triggers smoking
Among the main triggers of smoking is stress. Since nicotine stimulates the part of the brain that causes pleasure, smoking has been a great stress reliever for many. This however has resulted in many people becoming addicted as this relief is only temporary. By taking some time to meditate, you or someone trying to quit smoking can benefit from the relief of stress. This will inspire calmness, and with less stress, the chances of smoking are reduced.
2: Meditation boosts self-control
From intensive research by neurologists, it was discovered that the brain of people who meditate often and those who don’t differ greatly. When you begin meditating, the part of the brain that is characterized by negative feelings begins to shrink in size. This is the beginning of the rewiring of the brain. The other parts responsible for calmness, compassion, and empathy begin to increase. As these changes begin to take root in your mind, you begin to become more aware of your surrounding and you become better in handling your situations. This will thus help you in disrupting the negative aspects of your life such as smoking. This will help you counter smoking addiction.
3: Meditation helps you counter cravings
With an addiction to smoking, you will always have constant cravings to smoke. At this stage, whenever you feel like your body needs it, you will just fire up a cigarette and smoke. This can lead you to fall deeper into addiction. Through meditation, you develop a greater sense of self-control. This will help you counter cravings and know how to prevent them from getting the better of you. This will thus help you counter smoking addictions, and in no time, you will revert from your addiction.
Quitting smoking is an uphill task. All you need, however, is an effective technique to help you in countering this addiction, and meditation helps with this greatly.
