Timer
Step I - set your timer for 60 minutes from now.
Step 2- using the timer tempate, record the time
Step 3- record what is happening (working, sitting, arguing, sad, cold, etc),
Step 4- observe and record your body cues; muscle tension (shoulders, neck,
jaw, abdomen, chest), breathing (depth and speed).
Step 5- identify and enact obvious appropriate nonsmoking responses (deep
breath if you observed your breathing is shallow, stretch to relieve any
needy muscles, etc)
That’s it. Carry on with whatever you are doing until the next time
your timer reminds you to go through the steps again.
All 5 of these steps will take you 1-3 minutes depending on how must
stretching you want to do (figuring on holding a stretch for 15-20 seconds,
each stretch repeated twice including deep breathing. This is less time
than it took to smoke a cigarette and a pack a day smoker goes through
about one an hour.
OPEN OFFER - to anyone who wants to set a timer but isn’t sure how to go
through the steps… contact me and I’ll make sure that one of us meets
with you to walk through the steps 4 or 5 times over the span of about an
hour. At the end of that meeting, you’ll know how to deal with your urges
to smoke. I’m not saying you won’t have to spend more time practicing ‘urge
management’, but you’ll know how to use the timer exercise to access and
identify your body cues and you’ll have some effective responses in place.
My email addy