The best thing about this simple mindfulness type meditation to beat smoking is that it doesn’t promise a miracle. It won’t stop you smoking completely. This isn’t one more wild cure in the whole anti-smoking world of charlatans and gimmicks. But it takes about six minutes of your time that will change the way you feel about smoking cigarettes. And after that you will start to cut down.
Before You Start
You will need a quiet room; ideally there should be no one else in the house or flat. Turn off your phone, computer etc. Get a cushion, a cigarette, box of matches and ashtray.
Sit down and breathe. That is all. Make yourself comfortable; sit on the cushion so you have a sense of being upright. Then breathe in through the nose and breathe out through the nose. Do this ten times, count them on your fingers and watch the breath. Watch it as it moves in through your nose, travels down into the lungs and out again.
Focus on the Cigarette
This is fun. Hold the cigarette between your fingers and gently squeeze it. Feel the texture of the cigarette. Notice the difference between the texture of the tobacco part and the filter part of the cigarette. Feel the smoothness of the paper that encases the tobacco. Enjoy this smoothness, run your fingers along it. Enjoy the roundness of the cigarette, enjoy its shape. Then bring it to your nose and smell it. Enjoy the smell of the tobacco, the beautiful perfume of the cigarette. Gently tap the end of the cigarette against the packet, listen to the sounds it makes. Breathe in and breathe out through the nose and study and feel the cigarette.
Smoke the Cigarette
Now sit quietly and light the cigarette. Breathe in and breathe out. Make the breaths as long and deep and slow as you can. And watch the breath, watch the smoke entering the body, moving down the passages, into the lungs and out again. Try and keep your focus inside, watching the smoke of the cigarette. Do nothing else. Think of nothing else. Keep your mind on the cigarette and keep smoking the cigarette. Do not wait too long before you inhale the cigarette again. Then inhale deeply and watch the cigarette moving down the passages into your lungs, into the alveoli and trace it back out again. And keep going until the cigarette is finished.
The Smoking Meditation
This method is described in Osho in his "Orange Book (Meditation Series)'"- published by Rajneesh Foundation Europe.
There has been research into the use of meditation to break the addictive cycle. In 2001 G.Alan Martlatt, Professor of Psychology at University of Washington received funding to evaluate the effect of a 10-day Vipassana meditation on people working with addiction. He worked with both prison inmates and Native American adolescents. Marlatt's work showed that both groups showed a significant decrease in their addictive behaviours and patterns.
A. Gabriel Marcus - Working for magazines and newapapers in the US and UK for over 15 years.
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