Copal: Used by the Mayan Indians, copal is the pitch from their sacred tree. They burned it during divination ceremonies to nourish the gods. Copal is pregnant with spiritual power. The Mayan and Aztec royal families had their teeth filled with copal to give their speech divine clarity. Scientific researchers examining copal discovered that the smoke from it heightens immunity and strengthens the body. This is my very favourite of all the plant substances for burning. Copal smoke seems to cut through all the mental rubbish that so often clutters my mind, refilling it with clarity, energy and creativity.

Desert sage: This dried plant is used to strew the floor of holy places and also sweat lodges. Wherever sage is present, negative forces cannot enter.

Juniper: Like cedar, the needles of juniper are also used to banish negative energy.

White sage: Sweet and crisp is the smoke from dried white sage leaf. It is used for cleansing and sanctifying people, objects and places. Sage is one of the herbs elders traditionally use to smudge a person wishing to be healed for they need to be cleared of negative thoughts and feelings before the healing can take place. White sage is also useful for getting rid of the negative aftermath of anger.

Yerba santa: Drive out negative influences in a place with yerba santa and make a protective boundary against their returning. It also creates a good atmosphere for any healing sanctuary. Yerba santa helps hidden weaknesses, untruths, fears and disease come to the surface to be eliminated.

Here is a checklist to use as a guide in getting ready.

Really decide to stop. This may sound simplistic, it is so obvious. But the experts stress that it is an extremely important step to take. From the moment you decide to take it, there should be no turning back; you no longer go around saying that you have absolutely got to stop, or that you simply have to make yourself stop smoking. You are, in fact, in the process of doing so. You have made a conscious and explicit decision.

Make your plans for the stop smoking diet. Search some menus and recipes and see what foods you need to buy. Do as much of the stop smoking diet shopping for the week ahead as you can during this get-ready period.

Decide if you need a nicotine alternative to help you make the break. It can make a measurable difference by easing the whole problem of withdrawal. It may be especially useful if you happen to smoke a lot and have already tried several times to give up smoking, but without ever being quite able to pull it off. If you use a nicotine alternative, be sure to use the stop smoking diet, too.

Get out a pad and pencil and start listing the reasons why you are anxious to stop smoking. Put down every single reason you can think of. Keep the pad, with the list attached, in a handy place where you can get at it at all times. If you think of still more reasons in the course of the next day or so, simply add them to the list. You will be surprised at how many reasons you can muster when you put your mind to it. Here are a few of the main ones that other people often give:

• There are such big health benefits — the greatly reduced risk of lung and other kinds of cancer, a heart attack, emphysema, other chronic diseases. With these benefits, you also have the prospect of many extra years of life, good healthy years. It makes a big difference when you can look forward to a longer, healthier lifespan.
• Being able to stop smoking gives you a greater sense of mastery over your own life. Instead of letting cigarettes get the better of you, you will be getting the better of cigarettes.
• You will also be setting a good example for all the people around you, especially the children, whether they are your own or those of relatives, friends, or neighbours. This is a tremendously important reason for giving up smoking, because it is so difficult to ask teenagers not to smoke when they see the adults around them puffing away.
• There are plenty of aesthetic benefits, as well. Cigarette smoke leaves a stale, unpleasant taste and smell in your mouth, your hair, your clothes, your office, your car, and every room and cupboard in your house.
• Just think of the money you will be saving — hundreds of pounds a year. Think, too, of what you would really like to spend that hard-earned money on. Make a list of all the things you want to buy.

Keep a careful stop smoking diary for at least one working day and one weekend day — say, Friday and Saturday. Be sure to keep track of each of these things:

At what time you have each cigarette.

How important each cigarette is. Score in this order:

1. Most important
2. Quite important
3. Not too important

Jot down two or three words to explain what you are doing at the time you have each cigarette — for example, the cigarette you have right after breakfast.

This smoking diary is essential. It helps you understand your individual smoking pattern. And it makes it much easier for you to reduce your smoking in a methodical manner when you start to taper off; you look at the diary each day and decide which of the remaining cigarettes is the one you can next give up most easily. In this way, you will be able to keep lowering the number of cigarettes you smoke daily, one at a time, with the diary to guide you.

If a person you live with — spouse, relative or friend — smokes, try to get that person to stop, too. This is extremely important. When you are together with someone who smokes, you are constantly exposed to the stimulus, and this makes it much more difficult to stop than it would be otherwise.