News: A Novel Way To Stop Smoking

Trying to quit cigarettes? Best selling author Debbie Macomber's new novel just might help! I also predict it's the start of a whole new genre of summer beach reads - books that capture your imagination while helping you stop a bad habit. Here's a look at a brand new way to get healthy and have a good time! - by Colette Bouchez

If you're anything like me, then you know there's an easy-to-draw line between fiction books that capture our imagination, and self improvement books that teach us how to live our best life.

Which is one reason I was so captivated with “Summer on Blossom Street” by best selling fiction author Debbie Macomber. It's the first fiction book I know of that also carries a powerful health message – and it just might be the start of a whole type of self-help book.

Indeed, intrinsic to the plot of Macomber's new novel is the recreation of a widely successful Australian stop smoking phenomenon called “Knit To Quit” - a program wherein women get together in modern day “knitting circles” using the craft of creation to channel the energies that might otherwise result in the need for a cigarette. The end result is often the ability to quit smoking faster and easier than you might imagine.

In fact, in Britain and Australia, Knit to Quit groups have sprung up everywhere, as women and men increasingly find that the soothing tempo of knitting works to not only help them quit smoking, but also aids in dealing with other nasty habits – like over eating – and even helps certain chronic conditions like depression or even arthritic pain.

Doctors say the repetitive act of knitting – combined with the concentration necessary to learn a new skill – helps keep hands and minds busy. This works much like any stress buster, to transition us to a calmer , more meditative state – thereby reducing the need for a cigarette ( or a donut ). Call it “Zen and the Art of the Scarf”.

When , during a visit to Australia, best-selling author Macomber discovered a Knit to Quit class, she says she knew instantly it would could be the hook upon which to hang another in her best selling series of Blossom Street tales. And in fact, in "Summer On Blossom Street" , yarn shop owner Lydia Goetz, herself a cancer survivor, decides to help a friend quit smoking by offering just such a class – and then expands the group to include anyone who has a bad habit the y want to quit.

On a personal note I will add that , from the moment I began reading, I knew this was a tale that could ring true for many of you. You see, more than two decades ago- when I was in my early 20's - I found myself in the back of an ambulance hooked to a whole lot of heart monitor wires as I vaguely heard the tech calling in to the hospital : “Heart attack victim on the way.” I could barely breathe but I could think – and I remember thinking to myself “If I survive this, I swear I will never touch another cigarette.” I was, I now admit with some guilt, a 3-pack a day chain smoker.

Well as it turns out, I wasn't having a heart attack at all – but instead an allergic reaction to a medication I had just started for an ear infection. I was treated, released and sent home within a few hours, with a new prescription for my ear infection and a warning about an antibiotic I should never take again.

But I also came home with something far more valuable in tow: The promise to quit smoking. Those few hours of feeling what it's like to struggle for a breath was enough of a shocker to make me realize what it would be like if in fact I did have a heart attack – or fell prey to any number of lung-related ailments that steal your breath, courtesy of those daily smokes.

But while the decision to quit smoking may have been easy – the challenge of doing so was hard. I'll spare you all the details on what didn't work - and zero in on what did: I taught myself to knit.

Yup - long before I knew anything about the Knit To Quit programs, much like the women on Blossom street I substituted knitting in place of smoking . Thankfully, within about 6 weeks or so I not only had a stash of some pretty snazzy scarves, I was well on my way to living smoke-free, for life!

It's been over 20 years now – and I've never touched another cigarette since. But I have, however, continued with the craft, often turning to the rhythmic clang of those needles to knit my way through every kind of heart break and heartache you could imagine. ( You should see my sweater wardrobe!)

Certainly Knit to Quit is not a replacement for other kinds of therapy, and it might not work for you as well as it did for me – o r the gals on Blossom Street. But while scientific proof may be a little slow in coming, anecdotal evidence abounds that Knit To Quit is definitely a concept worth trying.

If you do want to give it a try, Summer on Blossom Street entertainingly lays out the plan – and even includes a knitting pattern to get you started. At the very least, you'll get a great scarf out of the deal!

Do you have an interesting or new method that helped you quit smoking? Write me about it – and I'll share your success story with others!

You might also be interested in reading:

Is the Oprah Effect Good For Women's Health?
10 Ways To Cut Health Care Costs

Or visit RedDressDiary.com - the health and beauty source for fabulous women over 40!

Copyright by Colette Bouchez 2009 - All Rights Reserved.
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