China Tried to Stop Smoking For the Olympics - What Happened?

Pubs and restaurants in Beijing were supposed to stop smoking. Then there was a big uproar and China had to allow smoking in the end, despite the Olympics.

Clearly this was a PR exercise that failed. But the point is, most people do not associate athletics with smoking. Just like you would not associate healthy living with smoking. Put it this way, if you were to choose a new doctor, would you feel confident choosing a doctor who smokes? If you were to visit a hypnotherapist, would you feel assured of the outcome with a hypnotist who smoked?

Although smacking of Big Brother, it does actually make sense to stop smoking in restaurants and bars, I have just come to Cape Town in South Africa from London in the UK. In Cape Town, smoking is allowed in bars and restaurants. Some restaurants make an attempt to make a non-smoking section, the rare coffee bar is non-smoking, but most bars and restaurants frankly stink. In London, smoking was banned in all public places last year, and it is a pleasure now to go out for a drink or a meal. There was initially much worry about going smoke-free. Businesses were worried about losing custom. However, in the UK most people are non-smokers now, and so this was a great deal easier.

And despite the health risks, in Cape Town, just like Beijing, there is a need for a drug. Nicotine happens to be a perfect drug. It calms you when you need calming, wakes you when you need to be alert, is easily delivered into the body, and is legally available.

Smoking is a coping mechanism. Smoking takes the not-Fun out of life and the smoker is left with Fun. Smoking takes the not-Happy out of life so the smoker is left with Happy. Without smoking, the smoker is faced with a great deal of not-Fun and not-Happy, and life is very grim indeed. People need to be healthy. However, they also need to be happy. Sometimes being happy is more important than being healthy. Why should it matter if you die early of cancer or a heart attack, if you have lived a happy life? And who actually wants to live a long and miserable life?

This is why nicotine replacement and various wonder pills alone fail. When the smoker is given ways to be naturally happy, such as with EFT, hypnosis, or meditation, then they can finally be calmly free from smoking. And when a nation is healed, when it becomes stronger from within, you get smoke-free restaurants. It really is a holistic matter.

China has a great deal of trauma from the past, as does Cape Town. The pain of the people needs the balm of nicotine. I sincerely hope that one day, this pain will release. With this release, there will no longer be a need for cigarettes. And then China can rest assured that its bars and restaurants will be smoke-free.

Complementary and alternative health education and empowerment is my passion. My name is Suzanne Zacharia and I am committed to empowering people to take control of their health and wellness. A virus caught along with 5 other students at university at the end of 1986, plus medical negligence, meant that I got smokers lung at a relatively young age. In desperation for help with my symptoms and quality of life, I turned to complementary therapy, and this is beyond a decade that I have outlived one doctor's prognosis. I am now a complementary therapist, author and trainer. My big passion is to help others stop smoking, as in my http://www.stop-smoking-ebooks.com

Little Known Tips For Using Acupuncture to Stop Smoking

Every year, the number of people who make the decision to quit smoking increases. Some choose to quit because smoking costs them too much money. Others quit due to concern over their health. Regardless of their initial motivation, many of these would be quitters soon realize that quitting smoking is not as easy as they thought. Smoking is an addiction, and like giving up any other addiction, quitting is a difficult task. Even popular methods like a medication or the patch may fail or become too expensive. A viable alternative treatment for the smoker trying hard to quit is acupuncture to stop smoking.

Acupuncture which has been practiced successfully for centuries is now commonly used for a number of ailments, including nicotine addiction. Acupuncture to stop smoking can help smokers to conquer their addiction to nicotine and relieve withdrawal symptoms. Acupuncture assists people to quit smoking by treating symptoms specific to each individual, which creates balance within the body. A physical exam is often done to learn each person's needs and to develop an individualized treatment plan.

Acupuncturists can help people who want to stop smoking but the number of treatments and frequency of the treatments will depend on the individual diagnosis. Most smoking cessation treatments last between fifteen minutes to a half an hour and a majority of patients visit an acupuncturist once or twice each week. Patients who seek the help of an acupuncturist to stop smoking will receive about four to six 30-minute treatments during the first few weeks. The number of treatments varies, but one or two per week are generally recommended. As symptoms of nicotine withdrawal decrease, patients need only attend one session per month.

A patient's unique symptoms will determine the exact treatment that he or she gets. For those who are trying to quit smoking, however, certain spots on the body will usually be the focus for the acupuncturist. Many acupuncturists work with the body's shen men point to relieve tension, the kidney to improve self-control, the master point zero to stimulate homeostasis, and also the lungs to alleviate nicotine withdrawal symptoms. To help patients quit smoking they may also turn their attention to a point in the wrist referred to as the tim mee along with the four gate points to relax the nervous system.

Acupuncturists have also been known to prescribe herbs and supplements along with their treatments in order to control symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. For example, many acupuncturists prescribe green tea during the detoxification period so that the body is discouraged from experiencing nicotine cravings.

Other acupuncturists recommend tonics to moisten the lungs and mouth, thus preventing cravings, as well as herbal preparations in order to relieve anxiety and irritability.

While on the road to quitting smoking, smokers are urged to eat plenty of fresh fruit, citrus fruits, leafy greens and vegetables and to exercise to flush out the toxins from their system. Foods such as sugar, chocolate, coffee and junk foods are to be avoided.

Smokers should drink a lot of water, practice breathing properly, do daily exercises. Developing a strong support system to help them quit smoking is a good idea as well as having a plan in place to help them fight cravings. For example, when they crave a cigarette, smokers should instead call a friend or take a walk to shift their focus.

Searching for an effective method to stop smoking? There are a ton of products that claim to be the best at showing you how quit smoking but how do you know which is junk? Visit the How To Quit Smoking website at http://www.howquitsmoking.com to learn more about the most effective ways to get that monkey off your back.