Cigarette advertisements first entered the American alveoli in the late 18th century. Snuff and tobacco products were the way to go, and being able to spit tobacco like the lone western cowboys provided a keen sense of having achieved a status of cool.
Too cool almost, until it was not so cool anymore. Three centuries later, when science and medicine exposed the emotionless and sexless face of the modern tobacco industry and the millions of lives it was strangling every year, it’s difficult to imagine that people still willingly dance with a devil they have come to know so well. It seems as though science and medicine need better PR since they have still not reached every person who still lights up in the name of socializing.
Emotional stressors tend to trigger risky behavior; like stuffing your face with raw cookie dough after waiting all day for a text back from that certain someone, which never comes. You know that cookie dough will do nothing but make you pass out in front of the T.V. again, but you’re angry and sad, and only cookie dough will do! The mind wants what it wants, right? Wrong! Being able to resist digging into that cookie dough requires the same amount of willpower as resisting that cigarette. All you need to know is how to take that deep breath and de-stress. You need to know how to control your cognitive brain so it doesn’t getting usurped by your primitive desires.
Below are 5 great ways to de-stress quickly and effectively, allowing you to get past that desire for that cigarette.
Written by Maria Schumann for bodono.
Maria Schumann is a writer living in NYC.
About Maria Schumann: “I love writing poetry, breaking a sweat at bikram yoga, and reading serial killer books while cooking. I love watching documentaries and I am always game for a crazy night of poker. Understanding the importance of a healthy relationship with my body and mind inspires me to help others come to a symbiotic relationship with their bodies and minds as well. Through writing I am able to reach people with my words and hopefully inspire positivity and change.”