One of the first things I was thinking of doing to become more of who I want to be is to quit smoking. Besides the cost, I have been feeling worse than usual for the effort. I have done several things to try to curb my intake over the 23 years I have been smoking. There is always the “cold turkey” method and I have been successful for short periods of time with this but they seem to be most effective when accompanied by a religious experience, and while that's fine if it works for you, I am currently uninterested in this approach although I have found success this way in the past...
I have also stopped in the short term for a cash reward system. I took on one of the smoking studies you may have seen in the newspaper or online. The deal was to quit smoking from day one of my entrance to the study; in exchange I would get cash. It made the challenge more of a short term goal thing. I would go in every day and they would make me blow into this tube that would tell them how much Co2 was in my lungs and if there was an increase it was assumed I had a cigarette since my last test. I did well enough, I stopped smoking for the 2 weeks of the study and made like $500 for my effort. The problem was I quit for the study, not me.
One time I quit to go to Washington to experience an intentional community. I was supposed to be learning organic gardening, alternative building and a hand full of other cool stuff but, I was supposed to be a non-smoker. Well I of course waited till the last minute to quit, I had a bus ride that was going to take me like 73 hours so I figured that would be plenty of time to go through the detox period, when I find myself less than sociable. Let me tell you that was a bit of an experience I don't wish on anyone.
I got there pretty much as on time as Greyhound will allow, with my bag in my hand and the monkey off my back. I was actually fine for a while but I started getting a little aggravated that nothing was as advertised at the “community”, but I don't want to get into that now. Lets just say I was ready to smoke again, so I did. I had lasted 4 weeks or so this time, and when I started again I really didn't find the satisfaction I remembered from when I smoked before.
I guess it was the idea that I was a long way from anything I knew and I wanted a friend, and as sick as that may sound, cigarettes were something that had been with me for a long time. I found a sense of comfort with the familiar feeling I had with them. Well I stayed on the west coast for a few years and had the opportunity and interest to learn a little about the local plant life in the Pacific NW.
I started seeing reference to the native peoples uses of plants as tobacco. I don't mean the stuff packed into a Marlbro I mean things like sage, coltsfoot, and raspberry leaves. There were all kinds of things that people used to smoke. I always thought Indians smoked pot and tree bark, and they may well have but they smoked other things to. Some of this stuff even for health reasons. I had to do a bit of research to find out what were wive's tales and what modern science could confirm, but after a little studying I started trying some of the stuff out.
I got there pretty much as on time as Greyhound will allow, with my bag in my hand and the monkey off my back. I was actually fine for a while but I started getting a little aggravated that nothing was as advertised at the “community”, but I don't want to get into that now. Lets just say I was ready to smoke again, so I did. I had lasted 4 weeks or so this time, and when I started again I really didn't find the satisfaction I remembered from when I smoked before.
I guess it was the idea that I was a long way from anything I knew and I wanted a friend, and as sick as that may sound, cigarettes were something that had been with me for a long time. I found a sense of comfort with the familiar feeling I had with them. Well I stayed on the west coast for a few years and had the opportunity and interest to learn a little about the local plant life in the Pacific NW.
I started seeing reference to the native peoples uses of plants as tobacco. I don't mean the stuff packed into a Marlbro I mean things like sage, coltsfoot, and raspberry leaves. There were all kinds of things that people used to smoke. I always thought Indians smoked pot and tree bark, and they may well have but they smoked other things to. Some of this stuff even for health reasons. I had to do a bit of research to find out what were wive's tales and what modern science could confirm, but after a little studying I started trying some of the stuff out.
First thing I tried was something called uva ursi and I thought this tasted a bit like cloves, which I really have no taste for but it was interesting. Then I went on to try other things till I found a few herbs I did like to smoke. Some of them have benefits in their use as smoked herbs. Some were expectorants, some were sedative, and others were soothing. I have decided I actually like to smoke. What I don't like is the negative side effects of smoking commercial tobacco. I guess there are herbal properties to its credit like appetite suppression, and it's a bit of a stimulant, but the juice just isn't worth the squeeze.
I guess all this has lead up to the point that I have had better results from smoking beneficial herbs mixed with commercial tobacco to curb my desire than any other method. It's less noticeable to gradually use smaller amounts of commercial tobacco while increasing the amount of other herbs till I don't even notice the missing element.
Besides I like some of the effects I get from herbs. I have now reduced my commercial intake to less than a third of what I normally smoke and don't miss it.
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