Urban Smoking Myths
A sidebar to "Trashing the Ash"
Dance educators can help steer students away from using cigarettes if they take the time to squash the urban myths that surround smoking. In “Freedom From Nicotine: The Journey Home,” smoking cessation educator John R. Polito dismantles common misconceptions about smoking and nicotine addiction.
Myth: Smoking keeps me skinny
Reality: Instead of keeping a dancer's weight down, smoking merely suppresses appetite – and short term, at that. Students who curb hunger cravings by reaching for a cigarette are merely postponing giving their body the nourishment it really needs. Try persuading your students to add healthy fruit and nuts to their break time cigarette ritual. Advise them that they’ll need these nutrients to help counter the formaldehyde, cyanide and ammonia (and 4,000 other toxic chemicals) that they’ll be inhaling.
As long as they maintain a sensible, healthy diet, they need not fear putting on any extra weight if they give up smoking. Let them know that, on successfully quitting, they’ll also enjoy far more energy (which they can channel back into their dancing).
Myth: Smoking calms me down
Reality: Smoking actually adds to pre-performance nerves. The ‘satisfaction’ that the smoker thinks she feels when inhaling is not a sensation of ‘calming down’ at all. It is merely the receptors in their brain feeling satisfied from receiving the fix of nicotine that it needs (in order to continue the addiction). In actual fact, their stress levels will increase along with their heart rate and blood pressure. Air passages in their lungs constrict, making it more difficult to breathe. Let your students know that a cigarette is actually the last thing their bodies need if they are feeling anxious. Instead, offer to help your students combat pre-performance nerves with a combination of deep breathing, stretching and positive thinking.
Myth: Smoking is cool
Reality: Get around the allure of smoking by playing up the poor personal hygiene of smokers. Warn your students that all the perfume, mints, and hand washing in the world can’t disguise the smell of tobacco. Inform your students that a smoker’s sense of smell is impaired and so they will probably be unaware of how offensive the odor of tobacco can be to their classmates.
Download John Polito’s free e-book, “Freedom from Nicotine” at http://whyquit.com/ffn/index.html.
