Oneistoo

Here's the one I do, with video clips for each pose in the salutation. She does the same addition I do, raising the arms when one leg is back, which gives a great stretch. I used to dislike sun salutations when I attended yoga classes; as I am now doing them at home I have come to realize how incredibly brilliant they are. You can do them quickly or slowly. Doing them quickly gives you a good heart rate, and slowly is great for toning and strength. :) http://www.wikihow.com/Do-the-Sun-Salute

Like DevilDoll says, it could be that the patch is too strong. I've experimented with them in the past, and you can cut them down....like cut 25% off ¨.....like the top of an egg.

Hmmm....I'm getting a bit irritable here. Where's a devil emoticon when you need one??!!! Oh, found it: :diablo: I look at my ticker, or quit meter, and imagine 90+ cigarettes lined up. Then I think of others here on QT, whose avoided cigarettes run into the 1000s. That's a lot of cigarettes. And it's so bizarre to light them up and breathe more than 7000 chemicals into your lungs, repeatedly! I guess I'm at the disbelief stage.Anger, disbelief, disgust. And yes, compassion, too. For myself, and for my fellow hijackees.

Marti, I was never using patches for this quit (although I have plenty of experience with them from other quits). I happened to have some sublingual micro-tablets lying in a cupboard and I'm using those until I run out (which is soon). They're burning me today, sublingually, so I haven't been using as many as I did before. I haven't much thought about whether I felt excited or scared. Usually, I'm not a scared kind of person, if you disregard the very deep existential fear that obviously has kept me smoking for many years. And excited....hmmm.....I think I'm more at the gritting-my-teeth and looking forward to get to where my withdrawal has stopped. My sense of smell has improved. I keep getting sudden whiffs of old cigarette smoke that I can smell in places where I definitely were not able to smell it before.

Good going, Jen. It's a bit of a roller-coaster ride for me, too. :) I just cannot, cannot, cannot see myself as a smoker any more.

Gee, 9,262 cigarettes against my paltry 86 cigarettes!!! Where do you keep such a big mountain of cigarettes? ;) Big congratulations, marti. I'm glad I know you.

That coffee, smoke and internet combo could take HOURS. If I had something scheduled early in the morning, I'd make sure to get up hours before so I could get my fix. It's about time we change things, Jen. We can't be doing this same-old, same-old forever. :)

JUNKIE THINKING HOW TO COUNTER BAD THOUGHTS! ________________________________________ JUNKIE THINKING: "One Puff won't hurt" RESPONSE: "One puff will always hurt me, and it always will because I'm not a social smoker. One puff and I'll be smoking compulsively again." ________________________________________ JUNKIE THINKING: "I only want one." RESPONSE: "I have never wanted only one. In fact, I want 20-30 a day every day. I want them all!" ________________________________________ JUNKIE THINKING: "I'll just be a social smoker." RESPONSE: "I'm a chronic, compulsive smoker, and once I smoke one I'll quickly be thinking about the next one. Social smokers can take it or leave it. That's not me." ________________________________________ JUNKIE THINKING: "I'm doing so well, one won't hurt me now." RESPONSE: "The only reason I'm doing so well is because I haven't taken the first one. Yet once I do, I won't be doing well anymore. I'll be smoking again." ________________________________________ JUNKIE THINKING: "I'll just stop again." RESPONSE: "Sounds easy, but who am I trying to kid? Look how long it took me to stop this time. And once I start, how long will it take before I get sick enough to face withdrawal again? In fact, when I'm back in the grip of compulsion, what guarantee do I have that I'll ever be able to stop again?" ________________________________________ JUNKIE THINKING: "If I slip, I'll keep trying." RESPONSE: "If I think I can get away with one little "slip" now I'll think I can get away with another little "slip" later on." ________________________________________ JUNKIE THINKING: "I need one to get me through this withdrawal." RESPONSE: "Smoking will not get me through the discomfort of not smoking. It will only get me back to smoking. One puff stops the process of withdrawal and I'll have to go through it all over again." ________________________________________ JUNKIE THINKING: "I miss smoking right now." RESPONSE: "Of course I miss something I've been doing every day for most of my life. But do I miss the chest pain right now? Do I miss the worry, the embarrassment, the shame? I'd rather be an ex-smoker with an occasional desire to smoke, than a smoker with a constant desire to stop doing it." ________________________________________ JUNKIE THINKING: "I really need to smoke now, I'm so upset." RESPONSE: "Smoking is not going to fix anything. I'll still be upset - I'll just be an upset smoker. I never have to have a cigarette. Smoking is not a need; it's a want. Once the crisis is over, I'll be relieved and grateful I'm still not smoking." ________________________________________ JUNKIE THINKING: "I don't care." RESPONSE: "What is it exactly that I think that I don't care about? Can I truthfully say I don't care about chest pain? I don't care about coughing and gagging in the morning? I don't care about lung cancer? No, I care about these things very much. That's why I stopped smoking in the first place." ________________________________________ JUNKIE THINKING: "What difference does it make, anyway?" RESPONSE: "It makes a difference in the way I breathe, the way my heart beats, the way I feel about myself. It makes a tremendous difference in every aspect of my physical and emotional health." Author Unknown

Morning quitfriends, I pledge NOPE. And may this day be a great day!

What a great decision you've made! :) Welcome to QT. There's a ton of information and friendship here. I keep the site open on my computer during most of my waking hours so I can quickly access it and read a bit in-between the other things I do during the day.

One year? I plan to be here for many years! I'm addicted, and that's not going to go away. I need a place to help me stay quit, and that's for life.

I was wearing the lazy pants again today. I did sun salutations (the ones I do are a bit harder, I think it's the warrior pose I include but I'm not sure, and I also do the full chaturanga) and I stretched. I also walked the half mile or so to the supermarket (I live in a city center) and walked back with heavy stuff in my backpack. But hey, it's not running and weight lifting so it doesn't count as much.

:)

"In large amounts" was perfect English! Perfect and humorous English. :)

That's funny! :)

Nope from me! :)

Thanks for all of your support! :) I was lazy as sin today. The most productive thing I did was to take a shower and wash my hair. Well, and I finally did do some slow and deliberate sun salutations after an inexplicable month of not doing them. Man, am I stiff! Not being regular in your workouts is as stupid as going through endless quits instead of quitting cigarettes for good. It repeatedly hurts a LOT instead of being a bit hard in the beginning and then progressively easier. Oh, i discovered another trigger for me: when I get down from a sugar rush. Yet another reason not to eat sugar. Another revelation is that I'm rapidly gaining weight.No wonder, I've really been stuffing my face these past several days, and it was just Christmas. I weighed myself, and I'm heavier than I've been in many years (stand aside, folks, it's not a freak show: my body weight is quite normal, I just prefer to remain slim). So I expect some veggie-smoothie days in the very near future. And whatever happened to my fantasy about fasting one day every week to give my overall system a break? There's definitely room for improvement here. Onward and upward toward Day Three! :)

Invictus BY WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.

Sure, I'd honored! And as for the exercise you mentioned....I've joined this thread: http://www.quittrain.com/topic/118-daily-exercise-log-for-everyone/

You guys put me to shame! Today all I did was sun salutations. :(

Congratulations, Pippa! Awesome accomplishment. :)

Congratulations, Jess. I wish it were me! :)

Hi Laura, I'm on my first couple of days, too. I've had many attempts at quitting over the years, but I've never before used an online support group to quit cigarettes. Right now, I feel as if I'm walking around in a strange, new land, or some kind of altered reality. I try to stay away from where I used to smoke (for me, it was in the kitchen with the window open nomatter how cold it was outside), and when I'm there I try to do something else than I would do before. I now only make healthy foods or clean/do dishes when I'm in the kitchen. I want to break my association with smoking in that room. Wishing you well on your quit-journey! :)

The Serenity Prayer has helped me a lot during the years (btw, it's great when you're trapped in an evil dentist's chair and have to resign to what's going on), but I've never seen it used for nicotine. I want to put it here so I can refer back to it. The Serenity Prayer for Nicotine Users “God, grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” * Selected from text written by Reinhold Neibuhr - 1926 God, grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change... As nicotine users, we cannot change our craving for nicotine, but even if we can't change the craving for nicotine, we can accept it. The truth is that until we can accept our craving for nicotine, we will not stop the repetitive behavior. Using some form of a nicotine delivery system is what we will do if we decide we cannot accept the craving. It’s that simple. If, for example, you are a cigarette smoker and you will not accept the craving, then you will surely light a cigarette. Or maybe you will have “one puff” or “one pinch” if you chew to get you through, but even one puff or one pinch is not accepting the things that you cannot change. Accepting the craving does not mean we want the craving or like it. Accepting it means, first, recognizing the craving for what it is: a strong desire, physical and psychological, not a real need, for nicotine. That’s all. We do not fight the craving; rather we look at it, letting it be, not getting panic stricken or feeling sorry for ourselves, but saying, “Yes, I really am craving nicotine right now.” We do not practice self-deception and try to trick ourselves into thinking we don’t want nicotine. This is an honest program. Nor do we try to hate the “habit” (or ourselves) so much that we quit. While we are actively using we cannot make our bodies stop craving nicotine, but we can live with a craving until it passes, and so we pray for... Courage to change the things I can... The thing that we can change is our unwillingness to live, even for a short time, with the craving for nicotine. We can, with God’s help and the support of the group, change our old way of dealing with craving, and deal with it in a new way: We become willing to live with the craving; we no longer use nicotine to get rid of the pain of craving. If we light a cigarette to relieve the craving, this shows we have not accepted what we cannot change and have not acted with the courage to change the things we can. Of course, living with the craving is hard, sometimes very hard, but you are not alone. With the help of a Higher Power you can do it. That is what the Serenity Prayer is all about. So we ask God to help us accept the craving, and then we ask God to give us the courage not to take care of this craving - as we have always done - by using nicotine once more. Thus, we need the serenity to accept the craving, and the courage to just let it pass... And wisdom to know the difference. The wisdom we ask for here is to become aware of the difference between our old way of handling the discomfort of craving in the past (for example, by compulsively lighting up) and the new way of dealing with cravings: accepting the craving until it passes, uncomfortable though we may be for a few moments, understanding that a craving will pass whether we use nicotine or not. The strength and courage to live as former nicotine users with this initial discomfort does come if we ask for it, even though it may take time. What we receive is not raw will power, but a Power that comes from our Higher Power, from the group, and from our innermost self. The power we actually want is love! It is only with this kind of power that we can become ex-nicotine users and receive a new life free from nicotine addiction. The reason we did not become ex-nicotine users years ago is that we chose not to live with the craving. Every time we craved, we gave in and used nicotine. We kept hoping that in some magic way a day would arrive when the craving would disappear or we would find an absolutely painless way to stop being addicted. That day never came. Each of us kept repeating our favorite rationalizations or excuses for using tobacco, our own justifications for not living with the craving. And we kept craving and using, craving and using, year after year. But now we can change all that. The moment we can accept what is -“I want nicotine” - and face it with the courage God gives us, we can say, “I choose not to handle this craving by using nicotine,” then we become ex-nicotine users! If you continue to use nicotine even though you say this prayer, then say it again, and again, and keep saying it while you reflect what it means to you, a nicotine addict. Eventually it will work. It will not work if you are not sincere, but if all you can do at first is to say the prayer without believing it, then at least do that! Some time may be needed for you to receive the power to live with the discomfort that comes from craving, but eventually it will come. In time, the craving will diminish greatly, and someday, we trust, it will disappear altogether. However, if you have a slip, and for example, you are a smoker and light one up, accept yourself reverently and say the prayer again the next time! Remember, it is not really the stress, frustration or even the craving that causes us to keep using nicotine again, but rather our lack of serenity and courage to deal with the craving. Help comes from your Higher Power, from the group, and from your own healthy inner self! May God be with you now! Taken from Nicotine Anonymous World Service Publications http://www.nicotine-anonymous.org

I stayed up until five this morning, watching old Hollywood movies on Youtube, doubtlessly fuelled by eating sugar late in the evening. I slept for about five hours, and woke up refreshed. Surprisingly, I had no cravings for cigarettes or nicotine when I woke up. Usually the first thing I head for is a cigarette and coffee. Well, cigarette, coffee, and the web, truth be told. Instead I pledged here, and made a good breakfast. Now I'm watching more OHM on YT. I feel very good that I have joined QuitTrain. I was an active part of another addiction support website for ten years (We Quit Drinking, or WQD), and I know the value of ongoing support from fellow....well, "sufferers" is not the right word, so I'll just call it "friends." If you really use it, it can provide you with a virtual backbone, and a strong one, too. I can see now how stupid it was for me to attempt my endless cigarette quits alone. And, given my previous success with online support forums, it makes me wonder why I didn't go this route a long time ago. Perhaps I really wasn't ready to quit, and that was why I stayed away from online forums? Really, the thought of joining an online forum for smoke quitting didn't even occur to me, which is kind of proof that that this kind of addiction stuff works on very deep cognitive levels. I'm going to run out of nicotine replacement sublinguals pretty soon (though not today, and perhaps not tomorrow), and then I'll go for the nicotine withdrawal. At least now I'm withdrawing from the 7000-odd other ingredients. I'm looking forward to getting all of that crap out of my body and replacing it with simple, healthy and vibrant foodstuff. I'm so glad I'm here, and I thank you for all of your help in this most important part of my life. Thank you. :)