Mindfulness and Craving

[NDC_Team]

Mindfulness is a term one hears frequently these days.  It is associated with an almost unbelievably wide array of self-improvement and relaxation strategies, as one look in the ‘self-help’ section of a bookstore, or a web search can confirm.   While I can’t vouch for the many claimed good effects of mindfulness, it does seem to help to reduce both the intensity and frequency of tobacco cravings.  So what is it, and why would it work?

Mindfulness is the process of directing your awareness to the present moment with an attitude of curiosity, openness, and acceptance.  The mind has a tendency to almost constantly jump around from sensations, to past experiences, to future plans, to emotions, to hurts or joys or thoughts, or imaginings.  Mindfulness is taking a step back to observe the constant bouncing of one’s attention, rather than being unconsciously bounced from thought to thought.

Craving can be understood as a strong desire, usually to consume a specific food or drug that intrudes into awareness.  Cravings develop when rewards from food or a drug are associated to cues, either internal or external.  The craving serves to induce an action/behavior to obtain the associated reward.

There are a number of theories as to why and how cravings are affected by mindfulness.  One that I favor is that being mindful of the present moment inhibits the automatic associations between the cue and the action by occupying working memory.  We really can’t focus upon more than one thing at a time.  The present moment awareness stops the mind’s conditioned leap from cue to action.  By stepping back from the jump from cue to action, one can then choose to attend to other things, like a deep breath, or a happy thought.  This new association begins to diminish the strength of the past reinforced habit.

I would be interested to hear from others about their use of mindfulness to help with craving?

Michael V. Burke, Ed.D

Program Director and NDC Counselor/ CTTS

[AnnetteMM]

Mindfulness and acceptance are crucial for success, in my opinion. Fighting the addiction only intensifies the withdrawal and weakens the mind. You get tired! Instead, I closed my eyes, felt the cravings and knew them for what they were, and remembered what was important to me. Weathering the storm of withdrawal requires us to be well-rested, well-fed, and focused.

[JonesCarpeDiem]

Yep

here's another way to get there

Simple reminders will break the ritual and get you to mindfulness.

Saying "I don't do that anymore" every time you think of smoking will retrain you quickly..

[Bonnie]

Instead of trying to distract from the feeling, acknowledge it, accept it, and FEEL IT, while deep breathing, as Annette says.  Realize it will not kill you, it is "just" a feeling.  Feeling it does not mean there is any action associated with it.  I also used this to feel the strong emotions I would formerly suppress with smoking.  Emotional pain can be very intense but one will not die from it.  I rode it like a wave in my mind, breathing through it, until it diminished.  Faced it.  I might be in a fetal position with my hands on my belly, laying on my bed, but I was not running away from it.  The intense moments/minutes, whatever they were at that particular time, would not last forever.  And I would be smokefree and stronger for the experience.  I still feel things strongly, but I face them without nicotine.  Growth...

[maryfreecig]

    I had no mindfulness at quitting; I was exhausted (sleep deprived for four years), stressed out about real tough problems, anxious. I had no idea how poor my overall health was at the time. By quitting, my mental and physical health were restored slowly over time--out of that came acceptance, clarity, perspective. 

[elvan]

I learned to stop fighting craves and try to distract myself..usually by coming to EX and reading blogs or talking things out.  I agree that "I don't do that any more" has a great deal of power...so does NOPE, Not One Puff Ever.  I remember how surprised I was that after my years and years of smoking and countless unsuccessful quits...that I had never heard that and it was SO SIMPLE that it brought me back to the present and allowed the craves to pass.

Ellen

[DonnaMarie]

One thing that has helped me is "Smoking is not an option." Keeping that as

a truth, I am required to find something else to do that IS an option.

[sweetplt]

I do a group meditation once a week with a group of 12 people for 45minutes...& daily for 5 minutes alone...it has helped so much with my anxiety...& my quit...~ Colleen

[Bonnie]

Thanks for the reminder, Colleen,  I used that, too, then forgot that I used it .  

[Bonnie]

The above reply was for DonnaMarie, not Colleen...I can't edit or delete my replies to comments.  And still can't tag Mark the administrator@@@and on a reply I don't even get a list of peeps to choose from....I am a bit frustrated with the EX site right now

[elvan]

sweetplt‌ and Bonnie You can only edit a response if you go to the original post...you cannot edit if you went to the blog from your inbox.  To get to Mark...there is a new trick type @ and then put Mark in quotation marks.  Mark‌ No idea why that works but they have been trying to find a workaround and this is what they came up with.  Please don't get frustrated, Bonnie...we NEED you here.

Ellen

[sweetplt]

Thanks Ellen, deleted my message...

[elvan]

sweetplt‌ You did not have to do that...seriously. it took me forever to figure out that I could not edit unless it was the original post.

[Giulia]

When my mind was full of cravings, I did my best to redirect it, to make it full of something else, ANYTHING ELSE!    After a while I think there was some actual "mindfulness" going on, maybe? (as you define it),  but it was only after I had a month or so quit under my belt.  I agreed to the journey from the beginning in that I accepted that it was a "rite of passage."  Didn't enjoy it a whole lot - it is a force majeure after all, ridding oneself of an addiction - but my mind was on fire with creative thinking.  That was the exciting part of it all!  What to do with all that craving energy.

What helped me to take that step back was coming at it from a humorous perspective. That enabled a different point of view.  On the breath of thirteen smoke-free years later, I am mindful that I must protect this freedom at all times.  Staying  connected to this community helps me do so.  If curiosity and openness are two elements of "mindfulness," I certainly have that.  Acceptance is the tough one.

Thanks for this post, Dr. Burke.  Thought provoking.  May we all keep aiming for the "happy thought."

[karenjones]

Mindfulness has been a life saver for me.  And the 4 supreme efforts. It is a real shame that this tool is not taught to children in school and that parents do not know it.  Craving as mentioned in this blog did not get a very good explaination.  you could do another blog on craving. basically we crave 3 things.  We crave what we do not have.... to have it.  We crave what we do have...... not to have it.  In your blog you can tell me what the third craving is.  I look forward to reading it.   Karen

[Steelers4]

What I do is talk to a friend and say I am having a craving.  We will talk for a few min. then it will go away.  That works for me

[Frank_Castle]

I just want to quit smoking 🚭. I've been smoking for a few months and a year now and it all started when I went to the hospital on a suicide watch. The clinic offered community cigarettes and since there wasn't much to do I began smoking and vaping. Anyways, encouragement could help. I see my mom saddening over my habit. Please help. Thank you.