The Hindu Business Line : Don’t crave in!

When the urge to light up a cigarette hits you, get up and go for a walk, do some gardening or cleaning. Keep both your hands busy and mind absorbed.

Bharat Savur

It’s a pity that though we want to break off with our bad habits, those bad habits still dog us! Smoking, drinking, gambling, overeating, overworking, shopping excessively are proverbially tough to shake off. I would include not-exercising as one more bad habit that too many eagerly embrace.

To the tamasic mind, almost anything seems loaded to return us to our unhealthy old ways — change of weather, having a disagreement, hearing bad news, somebody we are expecting not showing up… The craving is strengthened by a helpless feeling of “Oh well…” — it’s that inch of defeatism, that moment of futility, that fraction of emptiness that gives that one nudge and we succumb.

A bad habit is nothing but a learned behaviour that seemingly offers pleasure and solace. That’s why you can’t just toss your packet of cigarettes out, you have to unlearn these old behaviours and replace them with new behaviours to throw off an old habit permanently.

Defeatism must be replaced by a deep, unshakeable commitment to become healthier. Commitment puts you in a position of power and powers your good intentions. Futility must be replaced by a sensible, robust flexibility that pushes you to do something good for another less-fortunate person than to indulge yourself with waves of self-pity. Emptiness must be filled with inspiring, uplifting thoughts, not with materialism.

As soon as you feel the craving rise, concentrate on your commitment to good health, will yourself back to physical equilibrium. Craving brings on physical disequilibrium. When you pit your commitment against the craving, you may find it a little uncomfortable for a few moments. Continue to be firm and soon the force behind the craving joins the force behind your commitment. This is called the law of Grace.

Simultaneously, have handy little strategies to ride over that urge to down a peg or gorge on food. They are:

When the urge to light up a cigarette hits you, get up and go for a walk, do some gardening or cleaning. Keep both your hands busy and mind absorbed.

Surf the net, play a musical instrument, warm up and weight-train. The trick is not to keep even one hand free as it is liable to itch to hold the cigarette.

Tension often triggers the urge. So, you must dissipate the tension instantly. Put on a relaxation/visualisation tape. Lie down and relax completely to it. Visualise yourself in a peaceful scene: You are walking up the mountain. All around you is a divine silence. You breathe in the fresh, fragrant air. You spot a cloud and climb on it. It moves and you watch the birds flying all around you…

This is a beautiful long-term technique to relax and, more importantly, to detach you from the tension-breeding ordinary, everyday circumstances and lead your mind into higher realms.

You must set up a schedule of new healing habits. Here, the attitude must be a pragmatic: “I am opening myself to better ways of being, I am widening my horizon, I am evolving.” Then, when you start an exercise programme, it feels like a calling. Or when you do deep diaphragmatic breathing and meditate, you feel like a divine yogi. Practise these activities regularly, sincerely. They change you in a very deep way. That inner impetus to drink or smoke now becomes a burning aspiration to cycle, pick up weights, breathe pure air, experience the cloud-ride over and over again…

To practise new habits regularly, relentlessly, unceasingly puts you in a perpetual state of choice. In every situation, you realise that you can make a choice between the habit that pushes you down and the habit that pulls you up; between the habit that makes you progress and the habit that makes you regress. And when you consciously, consistently choose the healing option over the degenerating one, you will know that no more are you a slave to your old addictions.

Get rid of the idea that you must eat until you feel full. Get rid of the idea that you must feel full to be happy. Adopt a new attitude: “I shall enjoy being hungry.” This way, you eat more moderately without getting unduly tempted to go for the second helping. The fact is: the body is happy when it is only two-third or less full.

The body is happy when it has space to digest, when it is light. Throughout the day [except when you’ve just eaten], you should be able to suck your tummy in easily. You won’t want to ruin this wonderful feeling by eating unnecessarily.

Finally, stop thinking in terms of “I deserve a drink”, “I need a cigarette”, “I have a sweet tooth” or “I’m a shopaholic/workaholic.” These are mind-made lies. Don’t deceive yourself. Instead keep your commitment to improve, to progress burning brightly. Only this way will you know your true masterful magnificence.

The writer is co-author of the book ‘Fitness for Life’

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