First ABC from Susan
I’ve read a few of the ABC’s in the files… actually looking for one
that I could use for this instance! It’s probably there somewhere
but I didn’t find it. I know I need practice at this so I look
forward to any feedback you have.
A: I have company staying with me for a week.
B: I worry that my company will be bored. A cigarette will calm me
down.
C: I smoke a cigarette.
B1: I worry that my company will be bored. They probably have some
things they want to do. There are things I want to do. I can plan a
few activities for us to do. By leaving things flexible we can
change our plans if necessary. Keep a movie or two on hand for
emergencies.
C1: Plan a few activities. Find out if they have anything they want
to do. Leave things flexible. Rent a couple movies.
April 16th, 2005 at 5:47 am
Susan,
This is excellent. The situation is a ‘life event’, having company
and worrying if you’re being a proper hostess. But the physical cues
that trigger a craving are those of anxiety that your company might be
bored. Two ways to deal with a situation like that are 1- find a way
to ensure that your company is taken care of and/or deal with the
physical sensations you were feeling. Taking care of your company
changed your sensations and effectivily removed the anxiety. In a
situation where you couldn’t ‘take care of teh company’, for whatever
reason, you’d have to deal directly with your physical sensations. Try
to incorporate that into your ABCs.
Good work,
Steve
April 17th, 2005 at 7:03 am
Steve/Pam…thanks for the feedback.
Another question if you can bear with me. The answer is probably in
the files somewhere (I’m slowly reading them as I have time) but
haven’t found it yet.
Do you have any recommendations on how to deal with the physical
sensation of anxiety? My first thought is to have a cup of soothing
tea or take a 5 minute “time out” to gather myself. Would be
interested in your thoughts.
Thanks,
Susan
April 18th, 2005 at 2:46 am
Susan,
Trust your first thought, tea (herbal) and time out, are right on
course. Anxiety is usually felt in tense muscles. Tense areas can be neck,
shoulders, face/jaw. It can include abdominal tension and less than relaxed
breathing. There’s an excellent book called ‘Stretching’ by Bob Anderson.
Simple stretches that you can do anywhere will help you release the tension
in muscles and ease your breathing.
Steve
April 18th, 2005 at 3:13 pm
Hi Susan - breathing exercises helped me a lot (and continue to do -
I still get anxious times, as we all do - I just choose to respond
differently as a nonsmoker). I went to Yoga classes and learned how
to breathe deeply and relax. In a tense,anxious situation nowadays
Warren gets me breathing properly (btw, have you ‘met’ Warren yet?)
best wishes
Pam
— In CognitiveQuitSmoking@y…, “Susan Gray” <susan_gray363@y…