| 09 December 2009
With a lot of legislation starting to restrict smoking in or around the workplace, smokers are beginning to feel ostracized around the workplace. Many claim that smoking helps them relax at work bringing rise to greater productivity.(In reality it results in a 10% diminshed productivity) But if you analyze what goes on during a typical cigarette break you will soon discover that it is not the cigarette that makes smokers feel more relaxed...
Think about it for a moment…
During a typical cigarette break you get out of your normal work environment for five to ten minutes. You then light this cancer-causing stick; you take a big breath in. You hold the breath in and then you take a long relaxing breath out. You repeat this over a five minute period.
Smokers feel that this relaxing effect from a cigarette break is due to the cigarette. It has nothing to do with the stick that you light up. You feel relaxed by the way that you breathe while smoking.
During your next break, consider taking a deep breath in, holding it for a while and then gently blowing the air out. Do it for 5 to 10 minutes and I guarantee that you will feel relaxed.
How can I say that?
That method of breathing has been used in many meditative practices for centuries.
Imagine the difference if a 30 a day smoker did the same inhale/hold/exhale breathing for a few minutes thirty times a day.
My challenge to all smokers who say that they are addicted to cigarettes or that cigarettes help them to relax is this:
Whenever you feel the desire to smoke, start to inhale/hold and exhale right where you are. You don’t need to duck outside or into another room. This breathing method is more convenient, will save you so much more money and will help your health rather than hinder it.
