LILA

Visionary Art, Contemporary Sacred Art, Outsider Art

What is Causing an Increase in the Number of Female Smokers?

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Stress is a big factor that drives women to smoke. These days, females are expected to work full-time, take care of households, raise children, and still have time to be attentive wives. And don’t forget about single women, who still have to run households, possibly raise children, work, and pay all the bills themselves.

Factors that start teenage girls on the path to addictive smoking are impossible body standards and impossible academic demands. Girls see ridiculously thin actresses (known to have private eating disorders) portraying “real life.” Smoking can suppress the appetite to keep weight off. Unreasonable academic demands push teenage girls to relieve stress by smoking.

Finally, most forms of media (television, radio, newspapers, websites, and so on) do not promote smoking, but they no longer dissuade it, either. A number of years ago, there was a public media campaign that warned of the dangers of smoking. Today, a whole new crop of young women do not see concrete reasons NOT to smoke. This is an issue that needs to be publicly readdressed.

Studies have found that females have certain health risks when they smoke. Some of these risks are unique to women, and some are increased in females compared to males:
Women who smoke have an increased risk for developing cervical cancer
Female smokers have more complications with pregnancies, including lower infant birth weights and defects
Women who smoke and take birth control have an increased risk for strokes, heart attacks, and blood clots
Female smokers have an alarmingly younger age for a first heart attack compared to men who smoke: women who smoke have a first heart attack (on the average) at about age 66, compared to women who don’t smoke (81.) That’s a 14 year difference. For men, the difference is 6 years (age 72 for smokers compared to 64 for non-smokers.)

Global sacred arts initiative

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From the forges of the far western wing of the Elvish Nation in Canadia, comes an innovative new incarnation of the galactic trading card oracle complex. This global arts initiative celebrates the potentials of the present moment and explores creative approaches to integrating planetary consciousness with cosmic perspectives. In the light of Lila, this visionary culture community building initiative includes artists and designers from all continents of the world, coming together to reflect a mosaic of magic.

Due for release at Summer Solstice, this entirely non-profit project is seeking support to cover its core costs by pre-selling subscriptions at a special low price. For only $100 including free international shipping you will get 50 cards mailed out each month over a 25 month period. Support this grassroots global arts initiative by subscribing to this unique and innovative art card oracle deck. Contact [email protected] for more details or visit https://yotyiam.com

Buying Electronic Cigarettes

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Electronic cigarette starter kits contain everything necessary to use e-cigarettes. Consumers have a variety of options from the mouthpiece design to flavored nicotine cartridges. Nicotine levels vary from product to product and can range from 0 mg to 18 mg or more. Currently, there is no ban on using e-cigarettes in malls, theaters and other public areas. The vapor emitted from the electronic cigarettes is not offensive to non-smokers.

Most smokers try several times before they successfully stop smoking. Since smokers start so early in life, giving up cigarettes can be like losing a family member or best friend. Over time, smokers not only deal with an addiction to nicotine, but a chronic behavior that can fill (or seem to fill) a variety of needs. Some smokers find medical or psychological assistance helpful while others do well with searching for new ways to meet perceived needs that cigarettes appear to fill. When giving up something that has been central to a lifestyle and deeply ingrained as a pattern, finding replacement interests and activities can make a difference.

As always, it is wise to check with a family medical practitioner when making any major lifestyle changes.

Kicking the Cigarette Habit

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While there are a number of stop-smoking products on the market (and increasing), the bulk of smokers do not use stop-smoking aids or organized programs when attempting to quit, as reported by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (Volume 28, Number 1). The rate reporting seeking assistance or smoking cessation aids ran around 22%, meaning that more than three quarters of all smokers go it alone when trying to stop smoking. This may due, in part, to the cost of cigarette stop smoking products/services and also to some of the problems noted with various stop smoking drugs like Chantix.

Some stop-smoking products and programs do work for some smokers, but many smokers find that dealing with nicotine addition is a private battle and prefer to quit on their own terms and in their own ways. For these individuals, a holistic approach tends to work best with some tapering down on smoking and others going cold turkey.

Smokers need to identify the needs filled by smoking and find substitute activities or coping skills for best success. For example, a smoker who uses cigarettes during stressful situations needs to identify stressors and also work on new ways to alleviate and deal with stress. Celebration smokers can brainstorm other “treats” that serve as rewards for life successes. Those who smoke to drop or maintain weight might focus on dietary changes to reduce the need to use cigarettes to maintain a smaller jean size. Social smokers may need to develop new interests and activities that restrict or limit smoking.

E-Cigarettes Can Help Smokers Quit

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Electronic cigarettes were originally marketed as smoking cessation device until FDA restrictions dictated that personal vaporizers were not officially approved as a medicinal device. Regardless, users of electronic cigarettes can opt to purchase “e-liquid” for their vaporizers that does not contain nicotine.

This provides a clear benefit to smokers who aren’t only addicted to the nicotine, but to the motions associated with smoking. E-cigarettes (often used with a power bank) allow smokers and former smokers access to the psychological needs that go along with smoking without exposing those individuals to the cigarettes themselves.

Electronic Cigarettes Have No Smell

While almost all non-smokers find the smell of cigarette smoke unappealing, many smokers feel the same way. Electronic cigarettes provide a realistic smoking experience without the unpleasant odors associated with smoking. Electronic cigarette smokers don’t have to leave the window open, burn incense, or spray air freshener on a regular basis to diffuse the smell of cigarette smoke in their homes. The water vapor released by personal vaporizers dissipates in the air almost instantaneously – leaving no odor behind.