Yoga is said to offer a whole host of benefits to practitioners including the development of long, lean muscles, increased strength and vitality, better circulation and lowered stress levels. But yoga can also have some curative benefits as well including the potential to help you to quit smoking.

A smoking habit is a powerful addiction. Most smokers are very much aware of the dangers of smoking, and have tried to quit many times before. People who want to quit but are afraid to because they don't want to gain weight will be glad to know that using yoga as a way to let go of cigarettes will ensure that you avoid this troublesome side effect of quitting. The weight gain associated with quitting smoking is caused by replacing the habit of smoking with the habit of putting too much food in your mouth. With yoga, we will be replacing the habit of breathing in cigarette smoke with deep cleansing breaths of healing oxygen that will fill your lungs with clean air, clear your mind and rejuvenate your body.

Yoga works in several ways to help you to quit smoking:

• Helps you to cultivate enough willpower and discipline to quit smoking

• Gives you the tools to manage your body's cravings for nicotine

• Puts you deeply in touch with your body and breath; you will no longer want to pollute your newly healthy body with the deadly toxins from smoking.

Specific Yogic Techniques to quit smoking:

• Pranayma (deep, controlled breathing)

The deep breathing pranayma techniques actually heal your body as the nicotine is leaving the body and lungs. Deep breathing exercises also help at those when strong nicotine cravings occur. Practicing these exercises in addition to regular yoga asana practice eventually replaces the smoking habit and the craving begins to diminish until they have vanished completely.

• Jala Neti

Jalaneti is the practice of using a small vessel called a neti pot filled with warm salted water to gently flush the nasal passages. Jala neti works to clean the nasal passages, but it also serves to stimulate the pituitary gland in the brain, which awakens the Ajna Chakra located behind the forehead. Jalaneti, when performed before meditation helps to create a space for clear and unobstructed breathing.

• Meditation and visualization

The practice of meditation brings you to a place of relaxed awareness where you can access your inner strength and wisdom. While in meditation you can visualize all of the stress, worry, tension and negative emotions are flowing away from your body. You can also visualize yourself as you intend to be, a healthy, happy, non-smoker.

Yoga helps you to cultivate a new healthier lifestyle. It increases lung capacity and through practicing the asana, meditation, visualization, jala neti and deep, pranayma breathing the urge to smoke and pollute the body eventually simply fades away.

You are welcome to visit http://www.yogafittoday.com for more articles, books, DVDs, and yoga gear. Namaste.

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