Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Junking the habit

Steps to clear out and clean out promise only one gift—liberation. But to achieve this, you have to decide today to quit all habits that feed your dependency.

Addictions
It is true that people define their own way of living, their lifestyle revolving around their desires and dreams. Often, the stuff that makes life exciting can be addictive as reflected in the expression “if it isn’t sinful then it’s fattening.”

Here is a random list of popular addictions:

Love
Whether you are in a loving relationship, a marriage, a divorce/separation, an argument or a breakup, it is best to stop in the middle of your tracks and say: “It is all about me and where I want to be.”

In the need and search for love, there are certain tendencies—some aggressive, others self-destructive. At this point, it becomes a habit worth breaking.

If any situation/person is toxic to you, it is time to act. The question is how long do you intend to take your poison. Before making any move, try this exercise to know where your heart is.

Heart meditation
Sit quietly in the early morning. Close your eyes. Focus your breathing and attention to the middle of your chest. Find your spiritual heart directly behind your ribcage, in the center of your heart.

Do not listen to your heart beat, simply feel. Find that space where the heart is. Soon you will be aware of peace when you let your breath go into your heart center.

Now visualize soft pastel lights. If you sit and listen, your heart will release emotions you have long kept imprisoned—fears, wishes, feelings, memories.

It is okay if you fall asleep. Just go back to your meditation. Soon you will achieve purification. You have listened to your heart without judgment.

Sweets
A craving for sweets is not bad, but when you make it a daily habit to finish a whole box of chocolates or a plateful of pastries, then your craving has reached addictive levels.Though you may not have diabetes yet, you probably are already a borderline diabetic.

Managing your sweet tooth is possible if, you can:

Substitute a fruit for candy bar, delay the sugar craving when it hits, snack on something healthy before going for the cream puff, eat sweets only during the day, eat in the company of friends and not alone.

Why? Studies show that if you sugar binge alone, especially when you are depressed, you will exceed your limits.

Alcohol and more
The usual combination during celebrations is the explosive duo of alcohol and cigarettes. Any lung or cancer specialist will advise you to drop both habits.

Alcohol is a mood drink. It alters the chemical makeup of the brain and allows you to feel relaxed/exhilarated. But the feeling is temporary. When the mood passes, there is a need to drink more or to raise the happiness level.

To do: Drink moderately. Have a full meal while drinking. It is best to drink with others, not alone. Drinking alone will only entice you to finish the bottle. Do not drink when sad unless you can limit yourself to just two drinks. Instead, be with people that can make you laugh.

Cigarette smoking, while accepted socially, has been found to pose health hazards. If you are intent on quitting, try this:

Change your friends if you want to change your habits. Peer pressure will keep you from quitting bad habits unless you all decide to stay clean. This also applies to drug-related habits.
Without the will to change, bad habits are hard to give up, according to Pfizer that conducted decades of research on the challenge of quitting smoking. Did you know that there are 4,000 chemicals in a cigarette? Some have been linked to cancer.

Within 20 minutes of quitting your heart rate normalizes. And within 12 hours, carbon monoxide levels in your body will drop to normal.

Quitting may be easier for others. Some have the power to go cold turkey. Others will require help. With Champix Varenicline Tartrate, there is about an 80-percent chance you could quit the habit.

The oral medication, that needs a doctor’s prescription, works on the brain to block an addiction. Though it produces such side effects as nausea and sleeplessness, it remains one of the most promising medications for cigarette smokers eager and willing to quit.

So if you were told you could have a healthier body within 12 weeks, would you not let yourself be converted?

Conversion = liberation

When you transcend your self-imposed limitations, you are literally granting yourself permission to convert to a new way of loving and living. Once you have conversion, then you can fly. Then and only then will you earn your wings.

Love and light!
Celebrate life with Cory Quirino, Nov. 30, at Megamall. Free admission.

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view_article.php?article_id=103263

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