or … One Brain, Two Minds
In Richard Bean’s play, “One man, Two Guvnors”, an out-of-work skiffle players ends up being employed by two different men and spends his time trying to stop them learning about the other. Anyone who smokes has exactly the same problem – One brain, Two minds
We all know that we have one brain, but what we don’t always recognise is that we have (at least) two minds. We have our rational, conscious mind that thinks it’s in control, making all the decisions. But hidden, outside of our conscious control, we have our primitive mind, that acts like a little child – demanding attention and taking over when it can.
For the smoker, it is the little child that is actually controlling what is going on. Every time your nicotine level drops, there is a small uncomfortable feeling, and your primitive brain spots this. You find yourself reaching for the cigarettes and heading outside, often without even thinking about it – because thinking requires your rational, conscious brain to be in charge and, at this point in time, it’s not.
If you decide you want to stop smoking, your devious primitive brain finds ways around it. It waits for a weak moment and then jumps in. Maybe it’s when you’re stressed, or your friends all seem to be having a good time chatting in the smokers’ area. The primitive brain has a tantrum that is impossible to ignore. Eventually, you give in, you come up with a plausible but erroneous excuse (“Smoking helps me relax”, “I don’t have the will power” etc.) and you’re back smoking again, giving in to the tantrums of the primitive brain.
So if you want to give up smoking permanently, you have to tackle the primitive part of your brain and stop the little child having tantrums. One great way to do this is to use hypnotherapy. It’s fast and effective. One session and you’re done. So when you are fully committed to giving up smoking, give me a call or message me and we can have a chat.
