Leon Bell

I had an enlightenment experience 2-3 months ago, with direct access to infinity. It scared me, so I stopped meditating, but it changed me in some profound way. Like a spark of the divine remained. Then I was watching Leo's live stream and it triggered those memories to return. And since then I feel this intense energy about a foot above my head. I have no idea what any of this means. If you can point me in the right direction or even link me to a video to help me understand this further I would appreciate it.

I am on week 6 of being smoke free. I want to thank everyone for their great advice and support. I believe I got through the worst of it. I did it through at first avoiding triggers like caffeine and alcohol, also people associated with drinking and the like. I also used a Gym Boss set to 3 minutes. That's how long each nicotine craving lasts. But when you first start it feels like hours. So keeping the timer in my pocket for a month helped. I would just press it whenever I felt the urge. The craving kept decreasing as I went. Also I used positive reinforcement by checking my progress with this: http://whyquit.com/whyquit/A_Benefits_Time_Table.html This website also had the best information for quitting.

Thank you for the helpful link. I read the whyquit.com E-book. What helped me the most is knowing that the withdrawal cravings last no longer than 3 minutes each time. It's been 5 days since my last cigarette and I am doing fine. I carry around a timer and every time i get the craving it lets me know when 3 minutes has passed. So far this technique worked the best for me!

Thank you for your informative comments. It actually helps a lot to hear a logical and uplifting story like yours. I had to quit coffee as well. Turns out caffeine turns off GABA as its main action. And when you are already withdrawing, that's not what you want. And as for alcohol and all bars for that matter. Well that is the quickest way to fall off the wagon. Because it lowers your Glutamate, so your inhibition goes down. And it takes a lot of willpower and determination not to start smoking again. At least right after quitting. The last two weeks I attempted to quit cold turkey twice. Usually around the 4th day I would feel so panicked that I would run out to get a cigarette. Avoiding triggers is probably going to be the only way for me to go cold turkey. There is a grocery store near my house that sell single cigarettes. So I took a week vacation to stay home and not have that temptation haha. Hopefully third time's the charm!

I think I was demonizing things I didn't like about myself and over-blowing things that I did like. Specifically about my appearance. So my self image was inaccurate. Doing the self acceptance practice taught me how to look at both the good and the bad. So now I like the good a little less and the bad a little more. But overall it's a more truthful and honest perspective.

I agree with both points of view. If you quit cold turkey the side effects are that you feel like you are having a panic attack, only it doesn't go away. On the other hand you can slowly decrease your cigarettes until you can quit. I found that both ways don't work. Cutting down cigarettes didn't work for me, because it would only take one cigarette for me to buy a pack. And I couldn't really control the amount at any point. And shocking my body didn't work because I would run to the store and get a cigarette. It's different from person to person. Some people get really bad side effects. What did work is quitting and taking calming supplements like L-Theanine, GABA, L-Tryptophan, and Taurine.

Another side effect of this experience is that I see my appearance accurately now. Before I would try to picture what I look like and it would look like a caricature. Now it's still blurry, but it actually looks closer to what I see in the mirror. And it has nothing to do with confidence, it has all to do with acceptance. I rather see what I actually look like, then a better or worse version in my mind.

I have been experimenting with more types of mediation. Like the Do Nothing technique and Mindful mediation. So breaking it up into different patterns made me more comfortable with the process. When I said I was losing my personality. I think what I meant is that my inner voice was gone for a while. Even when I was walking around doing things. I've grown accustomed to it and associated my personality with that inner monologue. But life of course doesn't give you breaks and my inner voice is chattering away. Next time I will appreciate the break and look at the bugs as long as I can haha.

I was looking at an ant. And it was going about its life. And what I felt was that the only difference between us is scale.

After watching Leo's video on Self Acceptance and doing the exercise maybe for the third time I've had a breakthrough. Don't know if I can describe it correctly. But I actually felt real love for myself. Not just like a positive good feeling emotion. I mean the actual chemical high that you get from new relationship. I didn't even know that was possible. I read somewhere that you need to be touching another human or like a pet for oxytocin to release in your brain. Has anyone had similar experiences with this exercise?

Thank you, I want the same thing. I tried the neurosciences approach and saw major changes in the brain machine. I have no way of proving that these neurotransmitters exist or do what they are supposed to. But through trial and error that has been my observation. Your advice was very helpful. It made me reexamine my way of thinking. There was some resistance to accepting both opposing views. Honestly that is growth in it's own right.

Actually I do have first hand experience of what I spoke about. I don't want to get too deep into it, but I have created supplements that use these principles and have helped many people. I don't really want to argue about it, because I have seen the positive impact of my work on others and also your view is as valid as mine, they are both beliefs. Even your belief about beliefs. But to change focus back to your main point. And that I completely agree with. The ability to change how you perceive and react to life is amazing. Without meditation I would have never tapped into this world of actualization and growth. I like what Leo said about mastering emotions. How you can become a super conductor for them. So I will attempt to do something similar with my withdrawal symptoms. To channel them. I hope one day I can get to the level where I am content with them.

I look forward to returning to places and people that were associated with my nicotine addiction. But also would like to add that nicotine and alcohol have a codependent activity in the brain. Mostly due to Dopamine levels, the neurotransmitters responsible for "Reward Feeling" and all addictions. One of them increases the Dopamine level and one makes it so it stays in the brain longer. So it is very important to not drink Alcohol while quitting Smoking. To learn more: http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/i/i_03/i_03_m/i_03_m_par/i_03_m_par_nicotine.html#drogues

Nicotine addiction has a very real impact on your brain. Your brain even has special receptors for nicotine, that during withdrawal cause your body to experience discomfort. The receptors raise a "Brain Storm" or neurotransmitter activity overload in your brain. No amount of mindfulness will completely eliminate this process. Ego does not play a role in this mechanism. What meditation can offer is a way to cope with the withdrawal. There is a very real distinction between the body and mind. So when I say the "Body" I mean biological processes you have no control over, and when I say the "Mind" I mean physiological processes you do have control over. Higher Consciousness does not change your Biological structure. I do believe we have Mastery over how we react and perceive messages the brain sends. To learn more: http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/i/i_03/i_03_m/i_03_m_par/i_03_m_par_nicotine.html#drogues

I agree that mindfulness cuts down on mind noise. Just being aware of all the dirty tricks your Ego plays on you to get you to give in to addiction. I have replaced Nicotine with MSG before and it really didn't work out. So yeah, quitting Smoking requires quitting every addiction for a short time, because it's the most addicting one.