It’s been almost a month now since I wrote about my current struggles and plans to overcome them in Yo Yo Healthy Living. It’s time for an update and although I have some disappointments to share, I also have some super exciting news on my next adventures!

First, let’s start off with some good news. This weekend is a long weekend for Canadians, Victoria Day is tomorrow (I hope everyone’s enjoying it everywhere!) and I’m happy to report that I’ve had a lovely balance of responsibility and fun. Which is what healthy living is all about, isn’t it?

Lovin’ Right Now

For starters, Honey and I took care of the first step in fixing a current housing situation (borderline crisis!) and had fun doing it together, enjoyed the beautiful weather with some gardening (mmm… sustainable, healthy and cheap eating), decluttering (with a good chance we’ll get back to renos tomorrow!), physical activity AND tons of good times (yes, partying and fireworks) with family and friends! Whoo Hoo!

Setbacks on the Plan

As for the plans to get back on the healthy living wagon that I outlined in Part 1 and in cleaning up my finances mentioned in Healthy Finances are a Part of Healthy Living, well, it’s been a bit rocky. I’m still slacking on the exercise and eating, plus I overspent (just a bit) and failed to budget for the costs of fixing our housing situation. Boo.

Positive Changes (Literally!)

Despite these minor setbacks, there are some amazing positive changes already undergo and coming up! There are two main changes that I’m certain will help me take back my control of my life:

1. I’ve applied for a part-time job (with two employers, so far) that will help increase my income – probably the most prominent factor contributing to my current financial reality. (By the way, if you have ANY money management issues and still haven’t checked out Til Debt Do Us Part, please do! It continues to inspire me to take responsibility for my financial health and because I’m watching it with my Honey, it’s even helping strengthen our relationship.)
2. Remember this week’s guest post on The Benefits of Hypnotherapy? I had a free consultation with Positive Changes, a well-known behaviour modification center using hypnosis, and was so impressed that I signed on for nine sessions. (Thank you, Mom, for this wonderful birthday present!)

Since I’ve fallen off the healthy living wagon, I’ve been trying to tackle the problem the same way I did last time when I succeeded. However, it hasn’t been working and my efforts have moved into the realm of insanity, according to Einstein’s definition. So it’s time to change tactics and approach.

There’s a lot to look forward to for me with these particular choices. Not only will the part-time hospitality job help improve my finances, it’ll also provide me the social and physical activity I crave. Plus, I can afford then to take a step back from my freelance writing biz to evaluate if it’s working for me.

As for the hypnotherapy, I suspect that as long as I do my homework, it’ll create sustainable changes in my behaviour. I’ll I be getting experienced support in creating those changes and the hypnosis will be targeting stubborn, out-dated subconscious programming no longer serving me.

I’m stoked for both of these adventures, though I’ll admit there’s some fear because of the upcoming changes. Each will change my life in different ways but no worries, I know this is what I have to do to start creating a more agreeable reality, so I’m sucking it up and being a woman!

Stay tuned for another update (about a month) in Part 3 of Yo Yo Healthy Living. If you’re curious about hypnotherapy and the Positive Changes center, I’ll be writing a series of articles about my personal experiences!

This silly yo yo healthy living is beginning to irritate me. And I strongly believe that it’s due to my stubborn, self-limiting, subconscious beliefs roadblocking me from sustainable change. So let’s hear from guest blogger, Catriona Boyle, about the benefits of hypnotherapy!

After many years of skepticism and stigmatisation, alternative and complementary therapy is finally becoming a popular and recognised form of treatment for many issues and problems, as well as helping people boost their overall well-being and health.

Hypnotherapy is one such therapy, and is becoming renowned for its effectiveness in dealing with weight issues and smoking in particular. However, it can help with a whole range of emotional problems, compulsive obsessions and habits, and mental health problems.

Hypnotherapy works by tapping into the subconscious and using the power of suggestion to help promote change, giving beneficial ideas and suggestions to help the individual bring about the change they desire.

Hypnotherapy is often used in conjunction with other therapy methods, including counselling and psychotherapy, to help deal with the problems at the heart of the issue, to ensure it doesn’t resurface again.

According to the British Society of Clinical Hypnosis (BSCH), it is estimated that 85% of people will respond at some level to clinical hypnotherapy, which is an excellent success rate. It is of course dependent on how open someone is to the therapy, how confident they are in it and what kind of change they want to make.

The benefits of hypnotherapy can literally change someone’s life. It can mean achieving specific things such as learning to understand and letting go of the past, reducing day-to-day anxiety, curing  a damaging habit or achieving a goal. Or simply benefitting from self-improvement such as strengthening the immune system, increasing self-esteem or having a better outlook on life.

An open mind and a willingness to change is all that’s required to let hypnotherapy into your life, and start moving onwards and upwards.

About the Author

Catriona Boyle writes and works for a new website, Hypnotherapy Directory. It is a free web directory listing qualified and insured hypnotherapists all over the United Kingdom. The site also has a wealth of information about various types of distress that hypnotherapy can help, as well as a blog about the latest health news.

What do you think of hypnotherapy, Readers? Do you think hypnosis can forever squash sabotaging beliefs interfering with positive change? If you’re interested, check out the Hypnotherapy Directory’s blog post, “Habits – Why Willpower Alone Doesn’t Always Work.”

You’ve heard of yo yo dieting but have you heard of yo yo healthy living? It’s when you’re struggling to adopt healthy living practices and I’ve been living it for awhile now. Perhaps you can relate so today I’d like to share with you what I’ve been going through and what I’m doing about it.

In December, I wrote Confessions of a Fallen Health Nut and had an awesome health plan for the new year. I was doing o.k. and following it fairly closely until I got super busy in March (when I had planned to stop smoking). Great news for my business but not so hot on the health front.

From my experience in getting healthy, consistency (i.e. forming habits) is key (read my health her-story here). But damn, it can be hard to accomplish when life gets hectic, even when you know what to do!

Why is it so hard? According to Paige Waehner in this About.com article, it comes down to the energy needed to change and way too many choices every single day. I hear that. It seems when I don’t exercise in the morning, I rarely get it in before the end of the day.

But I believe the main reason it’s difficult to change is because of stubborn subconscious beliefs. To help squash these persistent roadblocks, I’ve begun a series of daily (morning and night) affirmations to try to reprogram some of my self-limiting beliefs. I’ve also been dabbling in using Emotional Freedom Technique.

Another biggie (from my experience) is having a clear vision of what you want to accomplish and why it’s important to you. So I started meditating 10-15 minutes daily (almost) about 3 weeks ago and started reading Soul Purpose: A Practical Guide For Creating A Life You Love by Janet Amare. I figure that if my freelance writing biz is truly my life purpose, then I would have enjoyed the busyness more.

I refuse to give up! I’ve reread 15 Practical & Easy Health Tips, I’m going to continue to aim for activity every day, including strength training 2-3 times a week to increase my metabolism (which I’ve been doing successfully for 6 weeks now), and will make more of an effort to save the junk food for only my cheat days. I’m aiming to get back down to my healthy weight (20 lbs lighter) and also, of course, stop smoking.

Whew! This post was challenging for me to write. Why? Well, ever since I slipped off the health wagon, I feel my integrity is shot. It doesn’t feel right to be blogging and offering health advice when I’m struggling myself. But my friends have been encouraging me to be more personal on the blog and share these struggles because they believe it’ll help you, too.

Does it help you to hear about my personal struggles? Shall I continue to write regular posts like this to keep you updated on my progress? If I don’t get any comments, I’ll assume you like the typical way I blog (i.e. more informational)!

Update: Thank you for the encouragement, Heather! If you’re interested, read Part 2 and Part 3 of the Yo Yo Healthy Living series.

Have you ever fallen off the wagon with any of your goals? If you’re human, you probably answered yes. Well, I’m human, too, and in today’s post I bare my soul as a fallen health nut. Hopefully you can relate to me as I share some of my current health struggles and revelations.

It didn’t happen overnight. It was a slow process so I didn’t quite fall, I slid. To give you a better idea of the story, let’s start from the beginning.

As I mention in my bio, I’ve had multiple experiences with getting healthy over the years. Mainly, it’s been a struggle. But I started Live Lighter on November 29, 2007, and was inspired to do so because earlier that year for the first time in my life it was EASY to adopt a healthy lifestyle and lose weight!

Since I had found my “healthy living groove” I was certain this was it. I had successfully stopped smoking and overindulging in alcohol, food and other addictions. I was finally living my life at a high level of performance and health. I had realized a potential in myself that was previously unknown to me. Bliss!

Then in the summer of 2008, I began experiencing challenges in both my love relationship and work. The idea of the relationship ending and the pressure I placed on myself to excel at work was too great. Unfortunately, the healthy ways I had been using to deal with my stress just wasn’t doing it for me anymore.

In response, I chose to cope by using what had worked in the past: addictions to cover up my pain. I confessed to this slip up for the first time in “How to Climb Back on the Wagon (when you’re hanging on by a finger)“. I recognize this was the beginning of the end, but I still hung on for dear life for awhile:

• What David Duchovny & Lindsay Lohan Have in Common
• What’s the Cure for Addiction?
• What is Conscious Living?

At this point, even though I was smoking and sporadically partaking in a little too much alcohol, the other parts of my healthy lifestyle stayed intact. For the most part, I was still enjoying a fairly balanced life through regular nutrition, exercise, meditation, blogging, family and friends.

By the beginning of this year (2010), with my love relationship healed and solidified, we chose to take it to the next level. In May we purchased our first home and moved from a large apartment to a small house with lots of needed renovations that we both looked forward to doing ourselves. About the same time, I was preparing for my first ever speaking engagement at Magazine Canada’s conference!

My life was overabundant with exciting new life changes and challenges. I was handling it all pretty well but the remnants of my once healthy routine quickly dissipated as home renovations continued and my freelance writing career took off. I mentioned this disappointing turn in health events in several posts:

• Overweight: What Kids Say Book Review
• Making Time for Self-Care
• Staying Healthy in Winter: Part 1

I am happy to report that since writing “Making Time for Self-Care” I’ve been doing my best to make healthy living a habit once again. And actually I’m doing very well considering it’s the holiday season!

And as for the positive side to falling off the health wagon, not only do I have full breasts again (I lost them when I had more lean muscle mass than fat), but I had forgotten what it was like to struggle with adopting a healthy routine and all the emotional/social issues that accompany weight gain.

What am I planning to do about all this?

First of all, I forgive myself. I am human and subject to weakness. It’s so easy to handle our stress with destructive means! And rather than look at the above as excuses, I see them as reasons.

However, that said, I also choose to accept responsibility for my actions and decisions over the last two years, all of which have brought me to this current point in time. I also see that the destructive means of handling my stress is a short-term relief and they are not helping me in the long run.

I remember what it was like to live a healthier life: abundant energy, positive moods, clarity, self-confidence, comfortable fitting clothes… I want that once again! And so with 2011 right around the corner, I plan on creating another health plan.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post where I’ll share that health plan with you. Have you fallen off the health wagon? If so, I’d love to hear about it!

In this fantastic Healthygirl.ca article, “A Nation of Addicts,” Natalia suggests that the cause and cure for addiction is consciousness. And she’s not the only one. Many people today believe that we use our addictions to silence our bodies and emotions.

Spiritual leaders like Eckhart Tolle teach us the benefits of mastering the art of creating peace and how to activate the power of Now. For quick reference, straight from the Live Lighter vaults, here are 27 tips to bring you into the present moment so you can break the cycle of addiction:

1. Drink water.
2. Breathe! Most of us breathe from the tops of our lungs. Try filling up your lower lungs with longer inhales/exhales.
3. Run up and down a few stairs.
4. Get on the floor and do some core exercises.
5. Ask yourself: “Right now, do I really want this insert addiction here?”
6. Call a buddy who’s overcome the same addiction or who’s also trying to raise their consciousness level.
7. Yoga.
8. Stretch.
9. Make some tea.
10. Ask yourself: “Why am I better off without insert addiction here?”
11. Do some dishes.
12. Organize papers.
13. Brush your teeth.
14. Exercise.
15. Dance.
16. Sing.
17. Write.
18. Ask yourself: “Do I really appreciate my life?”
19. Simply stop and listen for 2 minutes.
20. Smile.
21. Doodle.
22. Ask yourself: “How’s my posture?”
23. Wash or splash your face with water.
24. Give yourself a manicure or pedicure.
25. Play with those fun musical Chinese meditation balls.
26. Put together an old school picture puzzle.
27. Ask yourself: “What am I feeling right now?”

Since everyone’s an individual, some of the above tips may not appeal to you. Many of them work because they require you to attend to your physical body and it’s needs. This helps get you out of your head and into the present moment.

You can make your own list by thinking of activities that you lose all sense of time when you perform. Hint: they bring you joy!

What are some of your consciousness tips? Please share them with us below!

Editor’s Note: This guest post was contributed by Nicole White, who writes about masters in health care.

I live alone, so it’s easy to set my schedule according to my pace and moods. I am used to my routine – the early morning jog, the cooking, cleaning and household work after that, then settling down to work, eating lunch, and then on to my regular tennis game with a group of friends, after which it is back to work, dinner and sleep.

I pretty much live and breathe this schedule for five days of the week, so when I have guests, expected or unexpected, it sort of irritates me to make the enforced change.

I recently had my sister’s children over for a fortnight while she and her husband were taking a much-needed break and trying to work on their marriage. While I love them very much and am very attached to them, they’ve never stayed over for more than a day or two, usually accompanied by my sister. So you can imagine the chaos and confusion that coexisted with me and the kids during these two weeks.

Suffice it to say that my carefully planned schedule was shot to hell – no morning jogs, more time in the kitchen, less time for work, and more time involved in making sure the kids did not fight, throw tantrums or break stuff around the house and hurt themselves. The first few days were the worst; not having been around kids a lot, I was unprepared for the effort that it would take to look after two children full time. I found myself getting irritated, with the kids at first and then at myself for feeling this irrational frustration.

It took a day for me to perform some introspection, some soul-searching on why I felt this way, and I realized that I was addicted to my schedule, to the time I had to myself, to my freedom to do as I please, when I please. It’s true that I don’t smoke or drink beyond the odd social occasion; I don’t overeat or do anything else in the excess. But I’m still an addict – to my routine.

When you’re a human being, when you’re part of a close-knit family, when you have friends who care and who you care about, it’s not good to be addicted to your space and time. Because when there are external demands made on them and you don’t have enough of them as you usually do, you start feeling severe withdrawal symptoms and lose control over yourself.

If you want your life to be more peaceful, if you want your emotions to remain tranquil and not swing like a pendulum, if you want to be in control over yourself and not fall prey to an addiction, you need to learn to take life as it comes, and you need to accept that change is inevitable. You must train yourself to adjust to circumstances, no matter what. Only then will you find it possible to master your emotions and gain peace of mind.

Do you have a hidden addiction? Tell us about yours in the comment section below and share with us any plans you have to overcome it using the insights gained in this post or other sources.

Nicole White writes about masters in health care. She welcomes your feedback at Nicole.White222 at gmail.com.

No one knows better than Mother Nature. Her ability to heal and maintain balance is bar none. So it makes perfect sense that holistic nutritionist (and Live Lighter reader), Neda, suggests it’s healthier to listen to our bodies to tell us when we are hungry rather than a clock. (See her comment for some healthy eating tips)

That got me thinking, though, when can’t we trust our bodies? Having been unbalanced for many years, then gradually achieving close to balance, and then slipping into imbalance again 7 months ago, I can say from experience that in an imbalanced state, our connection with Nature becomes fuzzy.

Addictions (to either substances, emotions or behaviour) are a sign of an imbalance. They provide us comfort on an emotional level, even when they become harmful from a logical perspective. They also exasperate the imbalance by further interfering with clear communication between our thinking minds and Nature.

For instance, many turn to food to handle emotional troubles.  Eating becomes a response to stress which can become a habit. At this point, all cravings feel like a general and growing discomfort. Thirst and hunger can be misinterpreted for the craving for our addictions (or emotional fulfillment).

The same goes for many smokers when they stop smoking; they tend to replace food for nicotine because the cravings feel the same and the hand/mouth actions are comforting. Many do not recognize that their actions are a conditioned response to stress. And even when we become aware of this insight, it’s still difficult to stop because of the disconnection with Nature (as we found out at the end of Wednesday’s post, The Science of Change).

So, please share your thoughts and experiences, Readers, when can’t we trust our bodies?

Most of us are high almost all day. Whether it’s sugar, caffeine or food in general, all of these substances create a positive altered state of consciousness. Basically, we have a “normal waking state” that can be measured physiologically, as in heart-rate, brain waves and brain chemistry. `Getting high’ can be boiled down to changing your physiology so that you experience a different state of awareness, usually heightened.

Consider an interesting idea: we’re supposed to get high on a regular basis. Just think, based on this definition, eating gets you high. But there’s a cost associated. When we eat, we create change in the body as it responds to that food. This change stresses the body and slightly damages it. That’s how we age – wear and tear is the result of using our bodies and, well, living.

While this may come as bad news for some, it also means that we have a certain level of control in aging. We can prolong our lives by choosing less damaging alternatives! In addition, because our bodies are smart organisms, we naturally create a resistance after first exposure. We need more of the same thing to get the same effect. Here lies the rub of addiction. Enter: balance and variety!

To help you fulfill your natural instincts to alter your state of mind, here is a list of 20 ways to naturally get high:

1. Food. Food, and even the act of eating, affects us on many different levels. It makes us feel good because it involves our emotional neurotransmitters such as dopamine, epinephrine and serotonin.
2. Naturally occurring sugar. Another form of food, sugar deserves its own category because it has a slightly different affect on our bodies. Simple carbohydrates, food that taste sweet on the tongue, digests and are absorbed very quickly. The pancreas compensates by releasing large amounts of insulin, which can lead to an adrenaline rush.
3. Exercise. Physical activity is believed to release endorphins, the body’s natural pain reliever, and the feel good hormone and neurotransmitter, epinephrine.
4. Sleep. We actually move through several states of awareness during sleep. So far 3 stages of sleep have been identified: alpha waves, sleep spindles and REM (rapid eye movement, or dreaming).
5. Love. Nature deemed love and bonding so important to survival that She made them stimulate brain hormones, oxytocin and vasopressin, which are integral for social attachment.
6. Being in love. Romantic love, like sugar, deserves its own category because of its unique affects. Brain scans show that being in love is linked to dopamine, the brain chemical closely associated with euphoria, craving and addiction. Also like sugar, the body can only endure this passion for a limited time before rebounding. This marks the end of the `honeymoon period’.
7. Sex. Sexual activity and orgasms involve increasing dopamine levels, providing feelings of enjoyment and stimulating the reward center of our brains. Nature rewards us through positive feelings so that we’re motivated to do it more, reproduce and win the game of life by passing our genes on.
8. Laughter. They’ve only begun to test the benefits of laughter but already they’ve found that it reduces pain, prevents negative stress and boosts the immune system. They believe laughter works by releasing endorphins and decreasing hormones and neurotransmitters associated with the stress response.

This is a huge post already so stay tuned for 12 more natural ways to get high in next week’s Part 2!

How would you like to make it easy to stop smoking? I mean easy in the way that you’re ecstatic about not smoking and you celebrate a smoke-free existence. In this scenario, you barely feel the withdrawal symptoms and even in the midst of a highly stressful situation, a cigarette is merely a fleeting thought rather than an all-consuming craving.

Saying no to any addiction is tough. But it CAN be made easy. Some people simplify the whole matter: make a firm decision, overcome the physical withdrawals and just do it. For others, it might be a little harder. Many addictions get us on emotional, mental and habitual levels, too. Some believe our spirituality is also affected; one theory even speculates that our addictions are our attempts to fill a spiritual void.

For those who feel the complexities of their addictions, you can make it a little easier with the right preparation and combination of stop smoking tricks (right for you, that is). While there are tons of really good stop smoking tips out there and you may have to try all of them to find what works for you, the following are 7 of the most essential tips that will make it easy for anyone to stop smoking:

1. Find your reasons. If it’s only one trick that you use out of this list, let it be this one. You have to find your motivating force in overcoming your nicotine addiction. It must resonate with you and get you on an emotional level. Some people may use a strong negative emotion, like fear as in: “I don’t want to suffer like Aunt Rose did of lung cancer.” I prefer to use positive emotions, as in: “I appreciate my life and I want to treat it and myself with love and respect.”
2. Know Thy Enemy. It’s helpful to know what you’re up against. There are scads of stop smoking books out there and most of them tell you exactly how nicotine affects our bodies and minds. The best book in this genre I’ve read (and I’ve read one each time I’ve quit – this is my 5th time) is Allen Carr‘s “Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” By the end of the book, you are absolutely convinced that there is no benefit whatsoever to smoking and that you have at your disposal many constructive ways to deal with stress and cope with life.
3. Set your ‘Freedom’ Date. Many call this the ‘quit day’ but I prefer to ramp up for breaking the nicotine chains through focusing on the benefits of living a smoke-free life. I call the first day of a life free of this wretched addiction, ‘freedom day’. This date is important because you’re officially making a commitment to yourself and providing yourself a time frame in which to prepare.
4. Create a Rewards Schedule and/or Set up Your Social Support. These 2 tips are together because I believe they have equal strength depending on the person. For those who like to be internally motivated, budget and schedule a rewards system for yourself. I suggest rewarding yourself every day for at least the first 3 days because they are the toughest in terms of physical withdrawals. The rewards can be free, like a hot bath or an hour of pleasure reading, or have a cost associated to them, like a manicure or a movie.Your support person is someone you can talk to. They will help you process emotions, give you suggestions and help you through your cravings. It’s easier for them to know what you need in terms of support if they can relate to you. Try to choose a friend who has been successful in overcoming their addiction. Other types of support come from the birds you’ve been flocking with up until now. They are most likely smokers, too, and may not be ready to stop when you are. Setting boundaries helps you to communicate to the smokers in your life how they can help you in your pursuit to stop smoking. For instance, you may need to ask your partner to smoke outside – at least until you are confident that the evil yet alluring stench can no longer tempt you.
5. Write a Good Bye Smokes Letter. The night before your freedom day, put pen to paper and treat your smokes as if they are a friend that you must part ways with. Recognize how they once helped you but make sure to focus on how and when the relationship turned sour. Remind yourself of all the reasons why you want to be a non-smoker. Visualize what it will be like to be a non-smoker and concentrate on how being free from smokes will improve your life. Then say good-bye for real with your last cigarette.
6. Do a Gentle Cleanse. After every smoke, nicotine starts exiting the body which starts withdrawal symptoms. Cravings come mainly from your desire to stop the discomfort of withdrawal. So why prolong it? You can speed up the process of natural detoxification with a gentle cleanse. Drink tons of distilled water throughout the day and add lemon to some of those glasses. Eat a nutritional diet high in organic fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts, and if you’re a carnivore, organic white meat and fish.
7. Manage Cravings. Smoking cessation aids can help lessen or totally remove your cravings. I tried Zyban, a mild-antidepressant, last time and it worked well. This time, I’m trying a natural drug made from plantain, lobelia and alfalfa that actually makes you physically ill when you smoke. It’s also handy to brainstorming ways to distract yourself during a craving – which only lasts 2 minutes. Some of these coping techniques and alternative activities include deep breathing, exercising, writing, calling your support person, brushing your teeth, singing, dancing, etc.

Bonus Tip: NEVER GIVE UP. If you slip up, it’s no biggie. First, forgive yourself. It won’t help to beat yourself up over spilled milk. And that’s all it is because you’re still a non-smoker. Think about what happened that made you want that smoke, learn from your mistakes and come up with a way to avoid it next time. The more time you spend smoke free, the more comfortable you will be with living this new lifestyle. Soon, smoking a cigarette will be the last thing on your mind in any situation – except maybe when you’re drunk (my kryptonite in nicotine addiction).

I believe these tips are the ultimate to kicking the cancer sticks. Today was my Freedom Day and I truly did not want to smoke all day. Until I came home and experienced stress. My Honey still smokes and they were right there! I didn’t even want it but I smoked it anyways. That’s ok, though, because I’m living the bonus trick. Tomorrow will be different and I will be smoke-free!

So if you’ve successfully stopped smoking, what key tricks can you share with us?

No, ear seeds are not for growing flowers or vegetables out of your head, though they are real seeds from the Vaccaria plant. These tiny black beads, which I now have taped on different points along both my outer ears, are used in ear acupuncture or auricular therapy.

Apparently, different ear maps exist. As in the hands, feet and head, some believe that different areas of the ear correspond with different parts of the body. These acupuncture points along the ear help regulate the body’s internal organs, structures and functions. This treatment is used for many conditions, such as pain, mood disorders, obesity and addiction.

If you’ll remember back in August, after being 11 months smoke-free, I played Russian roulette with a cigarette – and lost. In last week’s post, “What is Traditional Chinese Medicine?” I mentioned my interest in trying acupuncture. So on Saturday I saw my Naturopathic Doc and we started the Clinic’s smoking cessation protocol.

This treatment includes some homework to prepare for the day I stop smoking (a.k.a. quit date), a tincture and herbal medication, and acupuncture. Before he stuck me with 6 needles, 2 in each hand and 1 in each foot, the doc applied the ear seeds, 6 per ear. Sitting in the middle of a small square cut piece of skin-coloured adhesive tape, they are barely noticeable along my ears’ folds and grooves.

They are slightly uncomfortable, however, perhaps even a tad painful. My instructions were to gently press on them during a craving. Doing so has been shown to stimulate the release of endorphins, the body’s natural drug. Auriculotherapy seeks to restore a sense of well-being, reduce anxiety and promote detoxification.

I’ve been fiddling with my ear seeds but haven’t really noticed any affect yet. Has anyone else used ear seeds for anything? Did they work for you? Let us know in the comments below!