The Easyway Method

Easyway is not hypnosis or reverse brainwashing. It is simple cognitive therapy. It is based on the principle that over the years of smoking we develop a belief system about what the cigarette does for us. For example, we tell ourselves that smoking relaxes us, helps us handle stress, relieves boredom etc. But if this were genuinely true then smokers would be more relaxed, less stressed and less bored than non-smokers. Hmmm…!

The Easyway method demonstrates that these perceived benefits are illusions. Yes, they are powerful and subtle illusions, but illusions nevertheless. If we smoke to relieve boredom, for instance, then why do we also smoke when we aren’t bored?

And why don’t non-smokers, who have the same stresses and strains as smokers, need a ‘crutch’ to get through life?

By demonstrating that there are no genuine benefits of smoking (let’s face it, if there were, it would say it on the pack) we can see that our perceived desire to smoke is rooted in these false beliefs. Once we remove these false beliefs the desire to smoke is eliminated. With no desire to smoke there is no need for willpower (willpower is only needed if you have a desire to do something but won’t let yourself). With no need for willpower there is no conflict.

With no conflict there is no fear, no panic, no anxiety or many of the other symptoms associated with quitting. This is why former smokers quitting using this method christened it ‘Easyway’.

Easyway versus Willpower
We refer to all other methods of quitting smoking as ‘willpower’. The reason for this is that irrespective of whether you are using a patch, gum, acupuncture, laser or hypnosis, there comes a time when you have to confront the real problem: the desire to smoke. You can use as many pills or patches as you want, but if you retain the desire to smoke, you will need to use willpower.

There are many problems with the willpower approach to quitting. The main one is that as a smoker you constantly feel deprived. This feeling of deprivation creates tremendous conflict – you want to quit, but you are desperate to smoke. This conflict creates the rollercoaster of emotions and, in many cases, physical symptoms that smokers associate with quitting. Even people who succeed using willpower (between 2-4%) often remain anxious, frustrated and bitter. Everyone knows at least one of these ex-smokers, and part of our fear about quitting is that we will end up like them.

The only way to be a truly happy non-smoker is to have absolutely no desire to smoke. The Easyway method is the only method that removes the desire to smoke permanently, removing with it the need for willpower and its related struggles.