Quitting Smoking

I have been a casual smoker for about a decade now. I say casual because I think for the most part, I was never physically addicted to nicotine. I smoked casually – bumming from friends at bars, from strangers outside restaurants after a heavy meal, and buying “emergency packs” that I kept at home in a drawer and smoked during times of stress, anxiety or anger. But mainly, I smoked when I was around other smokers. This confirms to me Vygotsky’s view of human nature – that no one is a sole learner. I doubt that I would pick leaves from a tobacco plant, dry it, roll it in paper and smoke it if I never saw anyone else do it.

I have quit several times by changing environments and “going cold turkey.” But I always returned, most recently because I was in a relationship with another smoker. A sociohistorical theorist like Vygotsky might say that I learned to smoke through participation and being social with other smokers. But for this journal entry I am not going to talk about how I learned to smoke, but rather how I quit.

In mid-November, I signed up for a six-week, holistic smoking cessation program where I met Sandi, a Reiki healer who helped me look deep within to identify triggers and patterns and help me help myself quit. Sandi did this by encouraging me to journal, practice mindful breathing, exercise and practice Reiki and guided imagery. For the first two weeks, I had to record EVERY cigarette I smoked and journal what I was doing at the time, how I was feeling, and where I was. Once I identified what my triggers were (coffee, stress, social, wanting to take a break), she helped me come up with coping strategies and activities that I enjoy that are not connected to smoking. Vygotsky might say that Sandi was helping me deconstruct my pre-established “signs”, or disassociating stimuli from response, which in this case was smoking. When I wanted to do something with my hands I crocheted and doodled. I ate cookies, carrot sticks and pretzels when I needed an oral fixation. Sandi never told me what activities to substitute smoking with, but rather by meeting hourly every week, we engaged in conversation and she helped me come up with the solutions on my own. She also gave me some rules, such as waiting half an hour after drinking coffee, not smoking in our apartment or porch, avoiding other smokers, or doing activities that I enjoy that don’t involve smoking.

What I love so much about Sandi’s technique is that it can be used for things other than smoking! I would love to try her technique (journaling and self-reflection) with my students who might have problems in school with procrastination or fighting, for example. The only downside I can see is that it is quite time consuming for the teacher. The positives include meaningfulness, self-empowerment, and deep understanding.