Stopping smoking is a subject that's usually approached with a sense of grim foreboding when in reality it's one of the best changes you can undergo, in my last article I covered the NLP swish technique for dealing with nicotine cravings and changing unwanted behaviour patterns, in this article I'd like to tell you about a technique called anchoring.
This technique involves anchoring thoughts and feelings when you perform a specific action such as squeezing your thumb and finger together. The anchor can be a sound or a gesture, it's totally up to you, so in the instance of a smoker who is quitting, if they crave a cigarette then by performing the anchor action the craving is relieved, below are the steps to follow to successfully practice the anchoring technique of chaining 1 positive and 1 negative anchor together, By doing so, whenever you start to feel the negative state it will flow to the positive state.
Step 1.
Get yourself in a calm and relaxed state, this is easily done by getting yourself in a quiet, comfortable place where you won't be disturbed. Either sit or lie down in a comfortable position, without crossing your arms or legs and begin to take slow, deep breaths and with your mind scan down over all your muscles, loosening and relaxing any that you feel tension in (usually the shoulder and neck muscles). Slowly close your eyes and let yourself relax, don't try hard to relax because this will keep your mind in a state of effort, just let it come naturally with your slow, deep breaths.
Step 2.
When you feel at your most relaxed, do your first (positive) anchor, pressing your thumb and forefinger together is a good one, but it's up to you.
Step 3.
Open your eyes and break the state and repeat what you've just done a few times.
Step 4.
Now close your eyes and visualise yourself really badly craving a cigarette, you've not had one for hours and somethings just really annoyed you and this makes you want one even more! experience the sense of tension and frustration.
Step 5.
At the peak of feeling frustrated do your second (negative) anchor, allowing yourself to do the anchor and remain in the frustrated state for twenty seconds or so.
Step 6.
Repeat a few times.
Step 7.
Now chain both anchors together. Start by visualizing yourself almost screaming out for a cigarette, then do anchor number two. Visualize yourself as you start to feel tense and short-tempered, then change to anchor one, suddenly you feel a calm and relaxed feeling. Bingo. Always make sure your positive anchor is stronger than your negative one.
Anchoring is one of the best ways to stop smoking because with a little practice you can turn your annoying cravings into a feeling of calmness, good luck.
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