A Healthy Alternative to Smoking for Stress Relief

A staggering 50 million Americans smoke, including 3.4 million teens.  It is estimated that 7 people die every minute due to diseases related to smoking.  Currently, four health warnings from the Surgeon General are rotated on cigarette packages and in cigarette advertisements, but many experts think that they have become almost invisible to most smokers, including teens who pick up their first pack of cigarettes. However, many smokers realize that smoking causes lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease, and may complicate pregnancy, but they continue to smoke.The new cigarette warnings will include a large, gruesome color graphic image that will be accompanied by one of nine new health warnings, which will be rotated on cigarette packages and in cigarette advertisements.  It is hoped that the new warnings will graphically illustrate the harm and danger that tobacco use causes, and effectively convey the major health risks of smoking.
Most smokers are fully aware of the health risks that smoking represents but they continue to smoke because they are addicted to nicotine.  One of the most compelling reasons people begin smoking is to relieve stress.  And one of the greatest obstacles to quitting is the excessive stress caused by abstaining from smoking. 
There are healthier ways of managing stress.  Meditation not only reduces stress but it also relieves numerous other health related issues including insomnia, chronic pain, depression, hypertension and mental clarity, to name a few.  Consider meditation as a healthy option for improving your overall health.  My meditation CDs are an easy solution to the complex problem stress presents.