GUEST POST – by Jack Marriott
In 1996, I was a volunteer Little League Baseball Coach. After one game, the mother of one of the kids who I wanted to draft onto my West Van Cubs team, who a teacher at the local elementary school asked to speak to me.
She knew I had a local Reflexology clinic and wanted to book an Ear Reflexology session and whispered in my ear “I want to quit smoking.” She said she was a closet smoker, literally, she smoked only in the closet. She confided to me that nobody except her son, knew that she smoked.
As a teacher she wanted to set a good example to her students, and smoking was not the image she wanted to promote, and her health was starting to suffer.
This was to be my very first client working with the smoke cessation protocols from Dr. Paul Nogier the “father of auriculotherapy”.
Dr. Nogier advocates the approach that smoking should be stopped gradually. The first goal is to reduce daily smoking by 90%. Once that goal is achieved – then work on gradually reducing the remaining 10%.
To our surprise and delight the 90% reduction goal was met after the first 3 sessions.
Her next goal was to work on the remaining 10% and to completely stop smoking.
After four more sessions, she had quit smoking entirely. She was a determined person and failure was not an option.
To maintain her new normal of being a non smoker, I recommended 4 more weekly sessions to maintain zero cigarettes. This was accomplished.
About a year later, she was delighted to tell me that she was still free of smoking and was moving to another city for a job promotion.
Ear Reflexology or Auriculotherapy for smoking cessation was first used in the 1970’s and has recently grown in popularity. Smoking is difficult to quit because the body becomes addicted to the nicotine found in cigarettes. Nicotine is highly addictive because it stimulates the pleasure centers of the brain. However, smokers also become psychologically dependent on smoking because of the habits they develop. Both physical addiction and habit must be overcome to successfully stop smoking.
Auriculotherapy can reduce the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. While it does not eliminate the symptoms completely, it does reduce the severity of the withdrawal symptoms that range from irritability to headache and feelings of frustration. Nicotine withdrawal symptoms peak at about 48-72 hours after the last cigarette and less severe symptoms can last for two weeks to one month.
Auriculotherapy can help to reduce the cravings to smoke and gives the person a higher chance of quitting than going cold turkey. However, the person must want to quit and be ready for a lifestyle change to have the best chances for success. When auriculotherapy is used on someone who is ready to quit, the success rate can be quite high.
If this story inspires you and you want to learn more about Ear Reflexology – then today is a good day for you.
Here at the Universal College of Reflexology, we have been busy working out a way to bring to life our brand new Ear Reflexology Certification program.
We have come up with a plan!
November 29th is Black Friday – traditionally a day to save big on purchases – and we have decided to offer our Ear Reflexology Certification online program at a ridiculously low investment for just five days from Wednesday November 27th to Monday December 2nd.
Perhaps you may be interested in learning Ear Reflexology for personal health reasons?
Maybe add Ear Reflexology to your practice?
This will be a once in a lifetime opportunity at bargain basement investment!
Stay tuned for our announcement.