Good Morning!
I need to hear that everyone is doing okay, it has been so long
since I have heard from Lauren and soon be a week for the rest of
you. Let me know, could be it is just a busy season, could be the
flu, take care, donna
Welcome to all the newbies hope you are enjoying the techniques you
will learn here to to cope with the quitting. For me it has been a
truly wonderful experience. Kind of like learning how to be an
adult, hadn’t realized how I had used smoking to delay solving any
type of strife in my life and now know that there are more
appropriate ways to do this. :<) take care, donna
January 17th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
hi steve, pam and everyone else –
well, i guess i’m the proverbial bad penny! have been trying to quit
again this past year, with less than perfect success. i keep coming
back to how this group helped so much years ago, so here i am again.
i’ve printed off the info from your site, steve, and will be reading
over it and doing the exercises, starting today. my quit date is this
coming sunday — or is it saturday? i’m aiming for sunday to be my
first smoke-free day.
looking forward to reading the posts and to all the support i know is
in this group.
cheers!
peg in the yukon
finally back again, looking for that “focus”!!!
January 17th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
Peg
I’m glad you’ve come back to us, have wondered how things were
Set to work on those timer
going with you.
You know what’s needed - back to work
exercises and keep the logs, and let Steve and I help you get
comfortably and permanently quit.
take care,
Pam
January 18th, 2007 at 10:34 am
thanks, pam — yep, i know what’s needed and i’m back at it. will post
as i go — good to be back!
cheers!
peg.
January 19th, 2007 at 8:19 am
hi steve –
i think my relapse was due mostly to a combination of stress and pain.
i had hurt my back (won’t tell you how; suffice it to say that a weak
person can still lift and move heavy objects if they get mad enough
<g
and i had to leave to do a course in alberta. needless to say, i really
didn’t want to go, my back was paining me and i had a 12-hour drive
that day. five hours into the drive, i was overcome with the strongest
urge i had ever had, totally unprepared for it as i had thought i was
past that. and i succombed — stupid, stupid, and i’ve been kicking
myself ever since. however, what’s done is done, and i’m moving on.
i think the lesson worth noting here may be to always be vigilant, and
perhaps not overload oneself, be a little more aware of being in over
one’s head, etc. etc. — all things i’ve always tried to ignore. and i
honestly did think any urges were long past and so wasn’t consciously
thinking of my quit at all at the time. i was almost four months quit
at that point.
i have been reading over all the material, and the foundation
statements are right at the beginning. i’ve written them out and spent
some time thinking about them. i’m willing to work hard at this, and
once i’m at the point where i’m starting to feel “normal” again (i
recall it was at about three weeks), i’m going to make a point of
reminding myself i still have to DO THE WORK. i WILL NOT let this
wonderful feeling slip away from me again — I WON’T!!!
in short, i want my life back …
and my focus ….
peg.
January 19th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
excellent point about learning to recognize body cues, steve. i do need
to work on this as i tend to go blithely along without paying much
attention, in general.
the link you sent was really interesting, and boy, that limbic system
must be pretty strong in me: i’ve always had a problem with tense neck
and shoulders, i hold my break a lot, and have tmj — hmm, sounds like
i need to focus strongly on learning to kick back!!! i can see more
spinning in my future … (that’s with a wheel and wool, not a bicycle
or rod and line).
and i think i’ll start the timer exercises right now …
peg.
January 19th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Hi Peg-
Focus on your body. Focus on the tense neck and shoulders. and then do
good.
something for them like stretch. The timer is going to help with that focus.
Aside from a mental picure of someone spinning, I really don’t know what
muscles or repetitive movements are involved. But I’m pretty sure there are
some. Peg, how often will you take breaks to address the body parts that
are ‘worked’ when you’re spinning?
Steve
January 20th, 2007 at 6:03 am
found some good sites with stretches and will do them regularly. i’ve
always had problems in these areas but do stretching at very infrequent
intervals. i’ll be more diligent.
as for spinning, it’s actually very meditative — i tend to “zone out”
when i’m at my wheel so plan on using it as a relaxation tool. yes, i
take breaks often as i have to empty bobbins and get more fibre — i
usually spin for an hour at a time, give or take.
i can already see where the timer exercise will be beneficial. will
post my log in a day or so — thanks, steve!
peg.
January 20th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
okay, steve, here’s what i have so far today — i’d like to make sure
i’m on the right track …
11:30 — just up — stiff neck; clamped jaw — stretch; deep breathe
12:30 — at computer — slightly stiff neck — stretch
1:30 — knitting — rumbly stomach — eat something
2:30 — printing patterns/laundry — shoulders stiff — stretch; walk
around
i don’t seem to notice any difference in my breathing — it usually
seems slow and shallow to me;
comments, please …
peg.