Stop Smoking using BodyTalk
by Marita Roussey, Sr. CBI
Nicotine is a stimulant that interferes with the normal production and re-uptake of many hormones and neurotransmitters in the body. When a smoker quits, it takes several weeks to reestablish the natural processing of hormones and neurotransmitters in the brain that smoking has impeded. BodyTalk can facilitate the re-establishment of hormones and neurotransmitters, helping to stabilize the swings of emotions and cravings that are associated with withdrawal.
If someone is trying to quit, it is always helpful to first reduce the number of cigarettes to one or two a day, rather than going “cold-turkey.” Have your client make it a ritual to enjoy one cigarette: that one with coffee in the morning, or maybe after lunch. This will help avoid the ups-and-downs that occur while your brain chemistry is being re-established.
Hormones and neurotransmitters affected by smoking:
Serotonin Nicotine causes release of serotonin, a neurotransmitter, at appetite-suppressant receptors. Most smokers regard this as a benefit, but the effect in turn causes quitters the negative experience of always feeling hungry and overeating, therefore causing weight gain.
Endorphins The term endorphin was created from Latin endogenous and morphine: naturally-produced morphines. These opiate-like peptide hormones are the body’s natural form of painkiller. Inhaling the first “hit” from a cigarette triggers a rush of endorphins, the increased level of which in your bloodstream makes you feel relaxed. Smokers’ brains release more frequent, more highly concentrated bursts of endorphins. Therefore, when they have not smoked for a few hours, they begin to feel edgy, nervous, angry, and withdrawn.
Dopamine Smoking activates the pleasure centers in the brain. Nicotine from the cigarette enters the bloodstream through the lungs, and then binds to receptors to release dopamine–a hormone that is also released during sex, while relaxing with a glass of red wine, or while enjoying food. The effect of this hormone leaves the body craving the same experience of pleasure again.
For the BodyTalk Practitioner:
BodyChemistry? Y. MS?
Microbes? N.
Toxins? N.
Allergies? N.
Intolerances. N.
NEW: Hormones? Y. MS? Y.
