Fight Nicotine Addiction

The habitual use of tobacco in any form constricts the arteries to such an extent that the blood flow gets affected.

All those who try to quit smoking experience at least one or more of these symptoms: cravings to smoke, difficulty concentrating, nervousness, restlessness, irritability, anxiety, cognitive impairment, increased appetite and, eventually, weight gain. So much so that it becomes a constant struggle to overcome this addiction. Many times, people shift their addiction from one substance to another. A tried and tested way to reduce all these symptoms is to practice Sanatan Kriya.
The habitual use of tobacco in any form constricts the arteries to such an extent that the blood flow gets affected. To unclog the arteries, you need to ensure that the prana (life force) is appropriately distributed in your body. For this, you need to learn yogic breathing.
So, first sit in vajrasana. As you inhale, you fill your breath in the abdominal region, move it to your thoracic and then to your clavicular region. Your exhalation takes place first from your clavicular, the thoracic and then from the abdominal. At the time of inhalation, you can internally chant the mantra ‘so,’ and ‘hum’ while exhaling. In the beginning, your eyes should be in the kaki mudra (tip of your nose) and in the shambhavi mudra (between your eyebrows) at the end of inhalation; and then going down towards kaki mudra during exhalation.
Along with this eye movement, your internal awareness should move between the seven chakras in your body, taking the Mooladhar to correspond with the nose tip, a little above that Swadishthan, followed by Manipoorak, Anahat, Vishuddhi, Ajna, and the Sahastrar. Keep your eyes closed throughout this kriya. One inhalation and exhalation completes one cycle. Repeat this seven times.
This kriya will ensure redistribution of prana in the body, thereby eliminating all withdrawal symptoms and help the body fight the addiction and nicotine dependence. Those who do this kriya regularly also experience a sense of balance that makes the process of de-addiction smooth and permanent.
During this time, include a lot of liquids and fresh juices in your diet. You can also chew on sugarcane sticks every time you feel a craving for smoking.
Yogi Ashwini is an authority on the vedic sciences and the author of ‘Sanatan Kriya—The Ageless Dimension.’ He can be reached at dhyan@dhyanfoundation.com.