How did you quit bad habits?

[willybilly30]

I got a lot of addictions smoking tabbaco, drinking soda, and I would say internet but, I seen a recent topic on that. One problem with internet is i don't exercise i spend time on internet. tabbaco and nicotine is the hardest cause I always want it.

[Michael569]

the cause of many addictions is that we are simply not aware of doing it. We go to kitchen and grab candy bar and eat it without even thinking about it, it is mechanical. 

The next time you go for a smoke do it with full consciousness. Be aware of the urgency to light up, be aware of yourself pulling out the box and a cigarette and consciously put it into your mouth and light it (actually tell yourself all these steps aloud) "I need to smoke" -> " I am pulling out the cig" -> "I am now putting it in my mouth" -> "I am no lighting it up" -> I am taking the first puff" -> " I am taking the second puff" -> " I have smoked it all" 

. Make sure you do not do it on autopilot. If you do this every time you engage in a a bad habit, you will notice a radical shift in your behaviour and addictive tendencies in the matter of days

[willybilly30]

1 hour ago, Michael569 said:

the cause of many addictions is that we are simply not aware of doing it. We go to kitchen and grab candy bar and eat it without even thinking about it, it is mechanical. 

The next time you go for a smoke do it with full consciousness. Be aware of the urgency to light up, be aware of yourself pulling out the box and a cigarette and consciously put it into your mouth and light it (actually tell yourself all these steps aloud) "I need to smoke" -> " I am pulling out the cig" -> "I am now putting it in my mouth" -> "I am no lighting it up" -> I am taking the first puff" -> " I am taking the second puff" -> " I have smoked it all" 

. Make sure you do not do it on autopilot. If you do this every time you engage in a a bad habit, you will notice a radical shift in your behaviour and addictive tendencies in the matter of days

I have heard of saying each thing you do as a form of meditation. I tried this and it really is different. I never learned to inhale so i gotta add"coughing" . I listened to Leos video on making a journal and made one. I been exploring healthy things and why i want to do them as motivation. I decided gto explore why i want to smoke and why i want to quit. I will put this exersize in there

 

[Michael569]

@willybilly30 great stuff! Keep it up. Since many addictions stem from early youth, they may take a while to get off. 

Journal ling is an excellent way to keep yourself accountable and track any progress. Mindfulness is the key. Leo talks about this in his "awareness alone is curative" video, that one is powerful. 

[willybilly30]

5 hours ago, Michael569 said:

@willybilly30 great stuff! Keep it up. Since many addictions stem from early youth, they may take a while to get off. 

Journal ling is an excellent way to keep yourself accountable and track any progress. Mindfulness is the key. Leo talks about this in his "awareness alone is curative" video, that one is powerful. 

i need to look up that video. I been thinking of exploring my childhood more I got a note book for memories

[star ark]

Either because I was no longer bored and needed to be full of energy or because I was so desperate I just had to.

[willybilly30]

4 hours ago, Clint Eastwood said:

I think patience is key here. You only have a certain amount of 'discipline'. Try to quit one thing at a time and slowly try to change your lifestyle.

You will have many, many setbacks, as your body and mind will try to get back to 'homeostasis.' You will have to get back on track after you fall back and try again. 

Right now I am trying to quit my sugar addiction and it works out really well, but every now and then I just can't control myself and then I just can't resist sweets or chocolate. But slowly I notice that I need less and less sugar and that my lifestyle really does change. 

So I would advice you to have a little compassion for yourself. 

I will go slowly and have compassion on  myself. good luck quitting sugar

 

4 hours ago, Clint Eastwood said:

 

 

[Privet]

I quit smoking because meditation made me very aware of my feeling.

I started noticing headaches that I get from a lot of smoking.

I started noticing that smoking makes my mood bad.

I started noticing that smoking is just silly and doesn't give much satisfaction.

Then, when I was quitting, when I wanted to smoke I always thought "I will get a bad mood again and a headache, I will better tolerate withdrawal".

Just keep trying, you will have to quit anyway, because bad habits are useless and don't give satisfaction.

 

 

[willybilly30]

21 hours ago, Privet said:

I quit smoking because meditation made me very aware of my feeling.

I started noticing headaches that I get from a lot of smoking.

I started noticing that smoking makes my mood bad.

I started noticing that smoking is just silly and doesn't give much satisfaction.

Then, when I was quitting, when I wanted to smoke I always thought "I will get a bad mood again and a headache, I will better tolerate withdrawal".

Just keep trying, you will have to quit anyway, because bad habits are useless and don't give satisfaction.

 

 

i can think of all of reasons I want to quit. I been mediating a lot I think it will help. The do nothing meditation I am trying to practice cause when i sit still i usually smoke. I want to enjoy life with out it

 

[alyra]

you replace bad habits by starting good habits. 

 

[YaMayka]

For me quitting something is easier than starting something but maybe principle is similar so I might try to follow my own advice It is in fact a matter of motivation. You must be convinced that it is something you need and want to do - you have to own it internally. To change my diet completely I had to have some health issues to show me the way and then I watched tons of videos on the subjects and read some books to know more about what is going on in my body and what is food in fact doing to it. In the same time I followed an advice of JJ Virgin who might not be an enlightened person but who knows a lot about marketing and about nutrition; she is passionate about what she's doing: you can do anything you want for 3 weeks. So I figured, yeah, I could try it for 3 weeks, I am fairly good short term And I did. Then I had already some results, although first weeks were bad - detox felt horrible, but I knew I had to do it. And after these weeks you don't want to go back (as she predicted ) so you kind of stick to it.

[pluto]

I forced myself to stay away from all had habits for as long as possible then when i become more purified or harmonized(shall we say) that the bad habits were seen for what they are when they did arise. You eventually realize, you cannot stand them because you realize you didn't need em to find yourself. You just needed to let of everything you thought was yourself and surrender to all that is

[George Fil]

On 1/23/2018 at 5:10 AM, alyra said:

you replace bad habits by starting good habits. 

 

Sounds obvious, but i confirm this so true. Most bad habits i have quit, are based on this method. But i could not apply that on eating addiction yet. I eat for comfort or boredom, i quite smoking but eating addiction, damn this is so tricky.

[jennisoro]

it requires a strong control on yourself to quit your bad habits.

[bejapuskas]

Sometimes you have to get the first hand feeling of how severely it affects your organism. I once tried to consciously listen to my ego, gave it all it wanted. (2 chocolate bars) I felt so shit that I dont want to eat chocolate ever again, same with ice cream and other stuff.

[okulele]

On 1/27/2018 at 9:11 PM, George Fil said:

Sounds obvious, but i confirm this so true. Most bad habits i have quit, are based on this method. But i could not apply that on eating addiction yet. I eat for comfort or boredom, i quite smoking but eating addiction, damn this is so tricky.

When I eat like that, it is to run from difficult emotions. I replace emotional eating with directing the emotions towards bhakti/devotion/love for God.

 

 

[Girzo]

Vipassana retreats and daily Kriya Yoga. It willl unwire your habits completly over-time.

.

[bejapuskas]

@Girzo  What is Kriya-Yoga like? I hear so many people talking about it, but there is no specific information on the internet, or very little... How do you practise is?

[Girzo]

You need to dive into books. This one is good:

https://www.amazon.com/Kriya-Secrets-Revealed-Complete-Techniques/dp/1479109517

Here are some free resources:

http://www.kriyayogainfo.net/Eng_Downloads1.html

https://www.youtube.com/user/KriyaYogaOnline/videos

[Phill]

On 1/19/2018 at 10:26 AM, Michael569 said:

the cause of many addictions is that we are simply not aware of doing it. We go to kitchen and grab candy bar and eat it without even thinking about it, it is mechanical. 

The next time you go for a smoke do it with full consciousness. Be aware of the urgency to light up, be aware of yourself pulling out the box and a cigarette and consciously put it into your mouth and light it (actually tell yourself all these steps aloud) "I need to smoke" -> " I am pulling out the cig" -> "I am now putting it in my mouth" -> "I am no lighting it up" -> I am taking the first puff" -> " I am taking the second puff" -> " I have smoked it all" 

. Make sure you do not do it on autopilot. If you do this every time you engage in a a bad habit, you will notice a radical shift in your behaviour and addictive tendencies in the matter of days

Sir, that insight was outstanding! Kudos to you