“Marlboro Man” dies from smoking related illness!

Smoking Related Illness

At least four Marlboro Men have died from smoking  related illness.

On January 14th this year 2014 Eric Lawson, an actor who appeared in the Marlboro Man advertisements, died of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) age 72. He was one of various professional actors and actual cowboys who were hired to depict the all American healthy, tough and rugged male smoker of Marlboro cigarettes through the 50’s into at least the 90’s and beyond in one or two countries.

The Marlboro Man adverts were brought about in 1949 to help reposition the brand as a cigarette that men as well as women could smoke. The Marlboro brand had, since it’s introduction in 1924 been marketed as a cigarette for women but by the late 40’s as the dangers of smoking became more apparent it was thought (mistakenly) that a filter offered some protection against the toxic dangers of smoking tobacco. While other manufacturers were busy promoting the supposed health benefits of filter cigarettes Philip Morris used the ingenious marketing ploy of making the whole idea of smoking their brand masculine and depicting freedom. By using the image of the healthy outdoor life coupled with the iconic masculine image of the cowboy the Marlboro brand began to appeal to men and from 1955 to 1957 sales rocketed achieving a staggering 300% increase.

It is interesting to see a clip of one of these original adverts (youtube). Notice how the ad hooks the viewers unconscious attention from curiosity to confusion, through frustration and then to resolution. This advertising trick is designed to hook us in and then rely on our natural unconscious need for resolution. Having been drawn through curiosity, confusion and frustration unconsciously we are looking for resolution and here everything we are being sold along with the promised experience (freedom, masculinity, the great outdoors and nature) is linked at the end to what is being sold – cigarettes. Very clever when we realise that freedom, masculinity, the great outdoors and nature has anything to do with smoking a cigarette! (Cigarette advertising has been banned in the UK since 1970 and is also banned or restricted in many other countries)

I have been using hypnosis for the last twenty years to successfully help hundreds of clients quit smoking. Now that we are all so much more aware of the dangers of smoking and smokers are hit with the ever increasing price of a pack there is really nothing left to imagine can commend them. If you are ready right now to stop smoking just call or email me and I will be happy to help you kick this unpleasant and dangerous habit. It may have looked attractive all those years ago in the adverts but there is nothing attractive about the dangers to one’s health that we are now so much more aware of. I aim to help everyone I see to quit in one session.

Many see the unfortunate deaths of some of the “Marlboro Men” from smoking related disease as an apt irony to the way cigarettes and smoking has been depicted in the past. Now we are all a lot wiser about the dangers of smoking than we ever were and have much more knowledge and information available to help us make our own informed decisions.

If you are ready to make that decision I look forward to hearing from you.

rogerfoxwell.therapy@gmail.com

07970218451 01415711138

Tap on your face to help dieting? Try EFT

Face Tapping

“Beat yo-yo dieting – by tapping your face”

A really interesting article about a technique to help weight loss appeared in the Mail On Sunday. “Beat yo-yo dieting – by tapping your face” (Link below)

Tapping on your face? Well that is EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) a technique that I use virtually every day to help many of my clients in my hypnotherapy practice in Glasgow.

So let me tell you how my experience of using EFT with clients (and for myself) makes it such a valuable technique that therapists and public are beginning to incorporate into their clinical practices and daily lives on an ever increasing basis.

EFT is an energy psychology therapy which really means that it harnesses the natural energy and resources of the mind and body to aid healing and transformation. If you have not seen how it works before it can look a little strange at first as we literally tap on “energy points” or meridian points around the body with the fingers. This in effect is exactly what an acupuncturist would do but they will gently place a needle in these points thereby helping to energise these points and promote the body’s  natural healing resources. This is something Chinese medicine has been doing for thousands of years to great effect.

EFT is now becoming much more mainstream thanks to it’s founder Gary Craig’s generosity and enthusiasm in promoting it’s use, not just for practitioners but for the general public to have access to. I have worked with numerous medical professionals demonstrating to them how to use it and I know many who use it to help their own patients. Not only can it help with issues such as stopping smoking and weight loss but  also anxiety, confidence and, in the USA it is used to great effect helping servicemen recover from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

One of the major advantages with EFT along with how effectively and rapidly it can get results is it’s simplicity. As we tap on each accupressure point we will basically be just reciting out loud or to ourselves how we feel about any particular issue and as we tap the on these points this helps calm the part of the brain, the amygdala, that triggers our “fight or flight” response. The beauty of this is that clients can then take home a simple process that will help them continue their progress with whatever they are working on, thus accelerating their recovery and also empowering themselves at the same time.

A great starter book if you would like to know more is “EFT in your Pocket” by Isy Grig (available from Amazon, Kindle just £3 08p) and the title really sums up how EFT can become something that you literally can have “up your sleeve” or “in your pocket” wherever you are.

To learn more about how EFT could really help you with weight loss and how you can use the technique to help release yourself from yo-yo dieting here is the article link.   Mail on Sunday Beat yo-yo dieting

If you would like to know more about EFT and also how it can help many other issues  just email
rogerfoxwell.therapy@gmail.com or call me on 07970218451 and I will be happy to chat with you.

It can be really valuable to initially work with an experienced practitioner to get the very best understanding and results using EFT. However it is a wonderful way to not only help yourself but to put yourself “in the driving seat.” This then sets you up with a technique that you can use for the rest of your life whatever the situation. And there are not many techniques out there that are any simpler or more effective than EFT. A technique  that virtually anyone can use at any time for any situation.

Avoid the unconscious smoking trap.

Unconscious Smoking Trap

The hidden reason people often quit smoking and then start again and how to avoid that trap

Most of the clients who come to see me for hypnotherapy to stop smoking have at various times in their lives attempted to stop without success or have in fact stopped for a period of time but started again after a few months and sometimes even years later. They invariably report that as non smokers they felt healthier, fitter and did not miss smoking at all. But that is until a voice in their head said “one won’t hurt” or “just this once to help calm me down.

I am sure we all recognise this scenario from personal experience or from someone we know who has fallen into this trap. What we don’t know is that this trap has most likely been set the moment we gave up! In fact when we stopped we actually hypnotised ourselves unconsciously to give ourselves permission to start at a later date. So how did this happen and how can we avoid it?

First I will ask you a question. How often do you talk to yourself? “Most of the time I think” is the standard answer that we would probably give. When we talk to ourselves we are using what sounds like our own voice. Now think of it this way, there are occasions when this inner voice sounds like someone else’s voice. For instance if we are internally mimicking what someone else has said to us.

So who’s voice is this? It’s your old smoking voice, the one that used to say “I’m getting a bit low I’ll just go out and get another pack to make sure I have enough.” It’s the voice that said “I’m feeling really stressed I must have a cigarettes.” Remember? It was telling you what to do all the time and just popped back up when you were least expecting it. When we stop smoking there is often a minefield of excuses left behind waiting to trip us up at at any moment we are not paying attention.

In a session will suggest to my clients that they never listen to that voice again and now they are aware of it,how it works and what it does they will be able to deal with it. So if you are about to quit or are already well into your new life as a non smoker make sure you are prepared for that old smoking voice if it tries to hijack all your good work in the future.

Some people may think that being hypnotised means that they have no control and someone is going to tell them what to do. The only thing a hypnotherapist will suggest to a client is what the client really wants to do and experience (as long it is for their own good) and that will always be prearranged between both parties. But isn’t it interesting how we are doing so many things on a daily basis without conscious awareness? Yes, we are very good at putting ourselves into trance without even knowing it.

If you would like to stop smoking with the help of hypnosis and the power of your own mind please call me on 07970218451 or you can rogerfoxwell.therapy@gmail.com to either book an appointment or for more information.

Does smoking help those with mental health issues?

Smoking

Smoking, stress and mental health issues.

There is an interesting recent article from Stanford School of Medicine relating to research into smoking and it’s effects on patients who are in mental health care. Contrary to the long held assumptions that smoking can help some psychiatric patients with their recovery new research comes to the conclusion that this is not necessarily a valid assumption.

The article Psychiatric patients given smoking-cessation treatment less likely to be rehospitalized, scientist finds is worth reading and some of the points it raises show very much the thinking going on in every smoker’s minds before they quit.

  • It was interesting that the research showed that patients who quit smoking using the programme were actually less likely to be hospitalised again for their psychiatric conditions. What I see here is that smokers often say that without cigarettes they would not be able to cope with life yet here we have people with serious mental health issues actually coping better without cigarettes.
  • It was noted that the long held view that patients would not be able to cope with their stress without cigarettes did not hold true and in fact the daily cycle of nicotine and withdrawal actually caused even more stress. This is what a smoker does on a daily basis. They are on a constant cycle of stress/relief/stress that takes a real toll on the body’s physiology and nervous system.
  • Perhaps not surprisingly the tobacco companies have supported this “smoking whilst in therapy” idea and sponsored their own research into it!
  • The idea that smoking calms the nerves holds up only when a smoker is in a state of withdrawal. However this only lasts momentarily and the smoker is back on the destructive highs and lows that do nothing for the long term health of psychiatric patients or for that matter anyone else.
Help for Stopping Smoking

 

If you are ready to Stop Smoking my unique programme has given hundreds of clients the freedom from cigarettes that they always wanted. For more information or to book an appointment just call or email and I will be happy to help.

Help to Stop Smoking

Stop Smoking

Hypnotherapy can help you to stop smoking

Did you know that smoking just two cigarettes a day can still leave you in danger from smoking related illness? Research by The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta found that there was still calculable risk from casual smoking even at two cigarettes a day. And apparently living with a smoker can leave a non smoker vulnerable to inhaling up to a third of the smoker’s smoke! smoker’s smoke!

When working with clients who are ready to quit smoking for good, the easiest thing about stopping is that unlike food, if one is trying to lose weight, there is no to ever smoke a cigarette again. This in effect makes it a simple change to make. We all have to eat but none of us has to smoke.

So there really is no need to hang on to those one or two “now and again” cigarettes. They are still harmful and stopping completely helps the ex smoker let go of a lot of unconscious guilt and anxiety around cigarettes.

Another important psychological change is that once we stop doing something it tends to become less and less present in our conscious mind. If you don’t like a certain food you probably won’t even notice it when out shopping because it simply is no longer in your awareness. The same with cigarettes. Once we don’t “do them” any more we begin not to notice them.

Roger successfully helps clients to Stop Smoking. If you would like more information just call 07970218451 or email rogerfoxwell.therapy@gmail.com

Planning to Stop Smoking. Then make a plan!

Stop Smoking

When you are ready to stop smoking an important part of the process is to make a plan. Making a plan and writing it down will greatly enhance your chances of success. If you intend to cut down gradually mark the numbers you decide on in your diary and tick each success off. To stop smoking completely and immediately mark down the day you made or are going to make that decision so that it becomes registered in your mind. Some people like to tell friends and family to help focus on taking responsibility for getting a result and others just like to quietly go about it with no fuss or peer pressure. It is your choice and the clearer in your mind the steps you take the easier you will find it to get your result.

Planning will make it a lot easier and will help keep you focused. If you would like more help to quit smoking using hypnosis then call me on 07970218451 or email rogerfoxwell.therapy@gmail.com and I will be happy to help you kick the habit.