🚀 go-pugleaf

Physicians with years of experience still sometimes claim hypnosis
is worthless for those trying to quit smoking. However, people who
lived in the Washington, D.C. area during the 1970's know better.

A man named M. Michaluk, now deceased, used to hold free smoking-
cessation clinics each Wednesday night at his Institute of Applied
Natural Sciences (IANS). His success made him a local celebrity, and
he appeared on all the local radio and TV talk shows. To schedule
an appointment, you had to book two months in advance, since he was
so popular.

I know three smokers, including myself, who quit cold turkey
without withdrawal after attending one of these sessions. I had
been smoking maybe two packs per day.

The group session with about 30 participants lasted two hours. The
first hour was a lecture describing what hypnosis is, there were
simple demonstrations, and he discussed motivation to ensure we weren't
trying to quit just because someone else insisted we quit. He said the
treatment wouldn't work unless the motivation came from ourselves alone.
The second hour was the group hypnosis.

In a dimly lit room, the session began by our staring at a rotating
spiral projected on to a big wall. Then Dr. Michaluk asked us to
imagine ourselves in a variety of business and social situations,
where smokers often smoke. Someone would offer us a cigarette, and we
imagined ourselves saying, "No thank you. I don't smoke."

At the end of the session, I was uncertain whether I was cured, but
as I left the clinic I noticed two people walking down the sidewalk
with funny little pieces of paper burning in their hands. It took
a moment for me to realize they were smokers, and that was my first
hint that hypnosis had worked.

The next morning, I experienced no craving for a cigarette. I got
rid of the ash trays, and I cleaned my car up nicely, taking pride
in my new lifestyle.

The amazing thing is that I went from two packs per day to being a
non-smoker. There was no withdrawal at all. This happened in 1976,
and I haven't smoked a single cigarette since.

I recommend group hypnosis over individual sessions because in a
group you can remain anonymous, which is helpful if you are timid
about others observing you while suggestions are in progress.