Christopher Vincent
Music Teacher/Professional Musician
Austin, TX
I was a smoker for 30 years and I haven't had a cigarette for six weeks now. I was smoking around a pack to a pack and a half a day. I've tried stopping smoking with the the gum, the patch, and Zyban. I chewed a lot of gum, but I still wanted a cigarette. It was really expensive and it seemed ridiculous to me. The Zyban worked well, but it really messed up my sleep patterns. I quit for a couple of days, but I wasn't sleeping at all. The patch was useless and I would end up taking it off and smoking. I felt out of control and I knew it was ridiculous. I didn't like the fact that I wasn't able to quit.
Going through this process brought the reality of what smoking can do to the forefront. Every smoker knows that it's not good for them, but I realized that I was screwing myself up by continuing.
I found Laura on citysearch, I decided to call because she was the closest office to my house and she looked nice in her picture. I know that I did the right thing and I feel like I really lucked out. She made me feel very at ease and comfortable with myself doing it. I've been telling my friends how much I've loved doing this. I'd done hypnosis in the past with a guy in Dallas and found that Laura's approach was much better. I sleep better and I have more energy. I can ride my bike longer and my lung capacity has gotten better. I no longer have a smoker's cough.
My friends can't believe that I quit. I have a friend who lives in L.A. and we usually talk three times a year, but he's been calling me every week since I quit to see if I stuck with it. I still think about smoking every now and again, but then I just ignore it and I forget about it. It has become easier to stay quit.
I feel more in control now. I'm more confident that I don't need cigarettes and know that I don't have to be dependent on things. I just pay more attention to the things that I'm doing now. Stopping smoking was probably the most difficult thing I've had to do in my life, but hypnosis helped to eliminate urges, cravings, and the desire for the cigarette. It has been a good experience for me. I would definitely recommend A New Day Hypnosis to anyone who wants to stop smoking because it worked and also because Laura is very good at what she does.