Smoking is a powerful addiction.
World Health Organisation figures indicate that smoking is the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death worldwide, with smoking-related diseases costing the US a staggering more than $150 billion a year.
But the outlook for quitters is good; those who manage to quit can look forward to an almost immediate improvement in their health, with the lungs starting to clear of harmful smoking debris after only 24 hours. After 48 hours there is no trace of nicotine left in the body.
However, psychological dependency can be far stronger than the physical addiction, and cravings can continue well after the initial 48 hours. When facing the battle with tobacco, it is crucial to be aware of the role that the mind plays in any addiction and to try to become equipped with the mental tools to defeat cravings. Stress plays a huge part in quitting smoking, and any technique that promotes relaxation can better the chances of success.
Ancient breathing is on the rise to aid aspiring nonsmokers
Those who practice yoga, whether attending weekly classes, or rolling out their mats daily in the living room, understand and acknowledge the health benefits of their practice. The stretching and breathing exercises found in yoga routines have been shown to have numerous heath benefits including:
- Slowing heart rate
- Dropping blood pressure
- Calming the nervous system
- Relaxing muscles
Psychology Today reports that yoga practiced 20 minutes three times a week can improve the quality of breath, especially when including poses that open the chest and increase lung capacity.
For the National Cancer Institute-estimated 19.8 percent of U.S. adults that are cigarette smokers, yoga might also prove to be a useful tool for quitting smoking.
The Benefits of Quitting Smoking
Before a person uses yoga as a tool to aid in abstaining from smoking, it is important to note the health benefits from quitting smoking. The NCI reports that quitting smoking immediately returns heart rate and blood pressure to normal levels, and carbon monoxide levels in the blood are reduced within hours.
A few weeks after quitting smoking, circulation improves, while coughing, wheezing and phlegm production reduces. Months after quitting, lungs start to function normally, and the extended non-smoker can enjoy reduced risks for heart disease, stroke and cancer.
Exercise and Nicotine Cravings
Exercise has been proven to have a positive influence on those attempting to quit smoking. A 2007 study in Addiction showed that as little as a five-minute walk can help reduce nicotine cravings and help manage withdrawal symptoms. Moderate exercise has been equated to the nicotine patch as far as effectiveness when it comes to quitting smoking, as a Nicotine & Tobacco Research study in 2007 showed exercise can reduce the craving for nicotine, even after exposed to a lit cigarette.
Quit Smoking With Raja Yoga
One possible route to quitting is to learn control of the mind through Raja Yoga, an ancient Indian spiritual practice that requires no physical tools or equipment to learn. Meditation such as Raja Yoga can promote an overall sense of well-being and inner peace that has positive repercussions in every area of life.
Yoga derives from the Sanskrit for “unite,” which refers to the union of the self with the higher self or higher consciousness – the ultimate goal of all yoga. “Raja” literally translates as royal or king. This is because the mind is said to be able to rein over all things.
It is not just the physical exercise that many in the west associate with the word “yoga” but mostly involves meditation and deep breathing techniques. Raja Yoga is the yoga of physical and mental control, with meditation as its focal point.
The Eight Limbs of Raja Yoga
In Raja Yoga there are eight “limbs” that the practitioner must learn in succession, in order to gain complete understanding.
- Yama: This is made up of ethical guidelines that are common to most doctrines, such as truthfulness, nonviolence, etc.
- Niyama: Cleanliness and devotion to practise
- Asana: The only limb which teaches physical Yoga postures
- Pranayama: Breathing exercises
- Pratyahara: Withdrawl from the senses and outside distractions
- Dharana: Concentration and focus
- Dhyana: Meditation
- Samadhi: Bliss or enlightenment
Although it takes time and dedication to learn all of Raja Yoga, there are simple exercises that can be learnt to help still the mind. Pranayama or control of the breath can be especially calming. It may help to try out this simple technique whenever cravings occur.
A Simple Pranayama Exercise
- Find a comfortable position to sit in, with spine erect. With eyes closed, start to pay attention to your breathing. For a minute, simply breath slowly in through your nostrils, and out through your mouth, as you try to clear your mind of all other thoughts and become relaxed.
- Now take in a deep breath very slowly. As you do so, pull in your abdomen while expanding your chest. Try to make your stomach muscles as taut as possible, and breathe in until your lungs are completely full. Hold this for a count of five.
- Next, very slowly exhale and relax your abdominal muscles.
- Wait for a count of three, then begin again.
- Continue this exercise for a long as you want. Simply observe the act of deep, controlled breathing and after a while you will find yourself feeling very relaxed, and you may notice that it becomes a lot easier to control troublesome thoughts such as cravings.
When quitting smoking with yoga, it is the integrated approach of body and mind that is the key to success. Breathing exercises help to improve your lung capacity and cleanse the respiratory system of the physical effects of smoking, and meditation can provide you with the tranquility of mind to alleviate psychological cravings.
Conclusion
In theory, yoga is moving its way up the chain of supplemental treatments for nicotine addiction. A survey from Nicotine & Tobacco Research revealed that 16 percent of respondents would consider yoga in the future to quit smoking, and that 27 percent of those using alternative therapies for quitting smoking found yoga, meditation and relaxation therapies to be effective.
So for a motivation to feel calm, open and to experience deep, clean breaths, a few yoga poses might do the trick, and be an investment for every non-smoker’s future.
Although yoga is not a miracle cure when it comes to quitting smoking, techniques such as pranayama and meditation can help cultivate willpower and create an awareness of the body that has a positive effect on overall health and lifestyle.
