Boosting Your Smoking Cessation Efforts with Yoga and Other Helpful Strategies

The Link Between Yoga and Smoking
Smoking Cessation Strategies That Work Well With Yoga

Although smoking cessation is difficult, it’s an important step that you need to take to attain a healthier life. That’s because smoking can increase your likelihood of developing health conditions, including cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Fortunately, yoga is useful in helping you quit smoking. Indeed, researchers from the American University explained that yoga aids in smoking cessation because it teaches individuals how to manage their smoking urges.

In this article, we will discuss the power of yoga in smoking cessation and even touch on other strategies you can combine with yoga to help you quit smoking.

The Link Between Yoga and Smoking

The same journal article published by the American University illustrated that yoga is beneficial in smoking cessation because the practice encompasses breathing techniques and mindfulness meditation activities that help regulate emotions, cravings, and stress. In fact, our previous article on ‘The Effects of Yoga’ similarly shared that among the numerous benefits of yoga is its ability to reduce stress and create mental peace. Because of this, many researchers concluded that yoga, through breathing and mindfulness techniques, can help individuals quit smoking.

For instance, the study entitled ‘Mindfulness For Smoking Cessation’ revealed that mindfulness‐based interventions aid in smoking cessation. This is because mindfulness‐based interventions teach individuals to pay attention to and work mindfully with negative affective states, cravings, and other symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. Through this method, smokers who want to quit can better control their thoughts and feelings rather than be controlled by them. As a result, they can better deter smoking urges when they arise, allowing them to stop the habit. It just shows that yoga doesn’t only promote your physical health but also your mental and emotional well-being, which supports you in your smoking cessation journey. The activity is thus excellent for amplifying the effectiveness of any other strategies you use to quit smoking. Below are a few such strategies that work great with yoga.

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Smoking Cessation Strategies That Work Well With Yoga

Connecting with other people

Changing habits that you’re used to is not going to be easy. That’s why connecting with other people, whether they’re your friends, family, or fellow smokers can help you get through these tough times. If you’re attending yoga classes, you can easily do this by hanging out with people after each session. Apart from connecting with fellow yoga enthusiasts, you can join communities for smoking cessation to meet people who share the same goal as you. With their presence, you’ll be able to keep yourself occupied and entertained, enabling you to forget your smoking urges. They may also give you valuable advice on how to transition to a smoke-free lifestyle using yoga and encourage you to continue when you feel like quitting.

Keeping your hands busy

Once you stop smoking, you’ll start to feel restless since you’re used to having something to do with your hands. If you don’t do anything about this, it may lead to a smoking relapse. Keeping your hands busy can help. Yoga, in this case, is beneficial since doing routines encourages you to occupy your hands and mind at all times. You can also use stress balls while meditating or doing breathing exercises, allowing your hand onto something that will take your mind off smoking and can physically prevent you from picking up a cigarette. If you don’t like rubber, you can choose stress balls made from different materials, such as sand, foam, and gel. There are also stress balls with inspirational messages on them to keep you motivated.

Using NRT products

As they come in different strengths, you can use them alongside yoga to gradually lower your nicotine consumption over time. As demonstrated by the different VELO nicotine pouches listed on Prilla, nicotine pouches are oral NRT products that contain small amounts of nicotine without any harmful tobacco leaves. For this reason, they’re preferable smoking cessation products that will help you gradually stop smoking. They also come in various flavors for a personalized nicotine experience. Another popular NRT product is the Nicorette nicotine gum from Johnson & Johnson. Like pouches, they contain small amounts of nicotine and are available in different flavors, such as fruit, cinnamon, and white ice mint. Since both products are orally administered and smoke-free, they offer convenient and discreet usage that you can use throughout your quitting journey.