This article appears in the November issue of http://healthandwellnessmagazine.net
by Charles Sebastian
The many studies and mind-boggling statistics of smoking related to cancer and other life-threatening illnesses should come as no surprise in 2010. If you have lived with or been close to anyone who has suffered through addiction and illness related to smoking, the subject of tobacco misuse is perhaps all the more poignant. Anti-smoking campaigns beginning in the 1980’s with Yul Brynner and continuing with films like The Insider, began to awaken the public to the grave dangers of abuse and the law-bending tactics of big companies trying to turn a buck at the cost of many lives.
I could go on and on with the many tales surrounding stopping smoking and the disastrous effects caused by this ravaging addiction. I could inundate you with the glaring statistics against smoking and the questionable ethics that allow tobacco companies to thrive, mislead and kill. Mind you, the right to smoke should be afforded everyone; liberty means one can make a choice for themselves. Liberty, however, does not mean foolishness, rather liberty is based on responsibility for self and others and transcends self-absorbed behaviors. For those desperately trying to quit in the face of statistics against it and the host of health problems they may have already contracted, my hats off. For those seeing the bigger picture: maybe your loved ones want you around, maybe your family cannot afford your addiction, perhaps each drag is taking you away from your full potential to help others; I agree. It is this deeper dimension one must question if the addiction is truly to stop, not the statistics and ongoing rationale for acting out patterned behaviors. After all, the most absorbed addicts often spend their last days smoking through trachea holes and dragging around oxygen tanks and still, quitting is not an option.
There are two elements that need to be addressed in the quest for true freedom. The first deals with the stress and anxiety we all live under. As stress goes up, whatever the root cause may be, addictions tend to increase. There are two ways of handling this: eliminate or diminish the stressor and be less affected by the stressor. If work has you so stressed that you function under constant duress, get another job or find a calming and strengthening discipline like meditation, yoga, tai chi or swimming to calm the body and allow the excess energy built from stress to dissipate and streamline. This applies to any other stressful lifestyle that urges the body to create more energy through stress without the physical release of the energy. This unused energy becomes dark and resides in the body until the body screams for relief. Energy is the true currency of our lives and must be regulated through an understanding of its nature and how it animates us, affects moods, and allows us to do what we need to do to survive. Smoking darkens and clouds the energies of the body, our physical vessel, and this vehicle of consciousness further disengages from us. Whatever discipline you need to find, find it. It will be essential to reclaim your true and healthy self.
The second major factor has to do with self-image. Most addicts start their long trial of addiction innocently enough, by seeing a picture of themselves participating in the activity leading to addiction. This, then becomes part of identity and life experience to be replayed again and again to remind oneself of the identity creation. Media helps this along with ads like the Marlboro Man and macho beer campaigns, all pocked with subliminal and not-so-subliminal sexual imagery, aligning tobacco and alcohol with the body’s natural desires. These toxic ads are created by people who know the mind will associate the product with innate cravings, linking smoking, liquor, food, sex and even prescription drugs with desires inherent. What was once meant as moderate usage is suddenly brought to an extreme through the mind-loop of false-need.
The way out of the chasm of dependence and desperation is to change the image of self. When we all can envision ourselves not as the slaves of addiction because we feel insignificant with no control over our lives, but as heroes in the charge of making lives better, we have found our way. When the focus shifts from self to others, from “me” to “us,” we are on track with our true purpose: service. It is service and a moment-by-moment surrender to the needs of others that resolves us to the One, whatever form that may take on a personal level. It is with this revelation of our oneness and its companion symptom, service, that addictions are shed as faint memories and our deeper, inexplicable purpose can be met for our collective destiny.
Charles Sebastian is a dance instructor, massage therapist and martial artist. He teaches a free Tai Chi class at Arthur Murray Dance Studio every Thursday at noon. Newcomers welcome.
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