Meditation has the ability to reduce the urge to smoke

It is known by all that smoking is one of the most difficult addictions to quit and that a high percentage of people who intend to give up tobacco, at some point, end up giving up in their attempt.

The good news is that studies and research around the world are showing progress on this issue. A team of psychologists from Texas Tech University, in conjunction with the University of Oregon, have been able to determine that meditation has the ability to reduce or mitigate the urge to smoke.

Psychologists from these universities concluded that training that was designed to influence smoking addiction could have a very significant effect on smokers. The results of the study, which was already published in the journal Academy PNAS, revealed that all those smokers who were made to participate in the meditation, reduced cigarette consumption by around 60%, while the subjects in the control group who were given relaxation therapy did not reveal any decrease in their consumption.

In the particular case of this study, scientists focused on finding people who intended to reduce stress and improve your overall performance. Basically the study was designed to analyze how meditation directly influences smoking. Previously, it had been established that this technique could improve self-control and prevent people from ending up relapsing into their addiction to tobacco.

The study included 27 volunteers, with a mean age of 21 years and whose average number of cigarettes per day was 10. Of all these people, 15 of them, 11 men and 4 women, were part of the experimental group that underwent meditation sessions for a period of 5 hours for two weeks.

In addition to reducing psychological stress, meditation also tends to increase levels of self-control. This means that the person can reduce the urgent need to consume cigarettes and that gradually makes people give up the habit of smoking.

Despite the promising results, the researchers note that the sample for the study was too lowTherefore, it only remains to carry out further studies to corroborate the results.