The Power of Ho’oponopono: How a Hawaiian Prayer Helped Me Quit an 18-Year Smoking Habit

What if healing from addiction didn’t come from willpower, but from four simple words whispered to your soul?

What is Ho’oponopono?

If you’re unfamiliar with the practice of Ho’oponopono, you’re not alone. I first stumbled across it about ten years ago, but didn’t pay much attention. It reappeared in my awareness two years ago when one of my best friends became a practitioner. Even the name alone felt like a mouthful—mystical, ungraspable.

This ancient Hawaiian technique, which focuses on returning to love and clearing anything that blocks it, was popularised by Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, who claimed to have healed an entire forensic psychiatric ward of dangerous patients—without ever meeting them face to face.

I know. It sounds completely far-fetched. Even now, I can’t fully wrap my head around it.

Ho’oponopono is the ultimate “woo woo.” It’s based on the idea that we are 100% responsible for everything that appears in our reality. Not in a guilt-inducing, shame-laden way—but in a radical, liberating way. If you created it, even subconsciously, you can clear it. And the way to do that? A four-phrase mantra:

I’m sorry. 

Please forgive me. 

Thank you. 

I love you.

You repeat it over and over, directed either at yourself, a situation, a memory, or even the pain in your body, until something shifts.

My Journey with Smoking and Ho’oponopono

I didn’t come to this practice to quit smoking. That wasn’t the plan at all.

At the time, I was at rock bottom. After 18 years of smoking—sometimes up to 15 cigarettes a day—I’d all but given up trying to quit. Cigarettes were my crutch, my nervous system regulator, my comfort in the chaos. I had resigned myself to being a lifelong smoker.

But I was desperate for healing. Not from nicotine, but from heartache, regret, shame, and a lingering spiritual heaviness I couldn’t shake. So I began practising Ho’oponopono 2–3 times a day, just as a means to feel better. I wasn't trying to fix anything specific. I just wanted peace.

Easing into Quitting Smoking Without Pressure

And then… something incredible happened.

The painful memories that haunted me began to lose their grip. The emotional loops and trauma spirals started to quiet. And then, on day five of my practice, I smoked my last cigarette.

Not because I told myself to. Not because I set a hard rule. Not because I committed to quitting.

I just… didn’t want one anymore.

Normally, running out of cigarettes would send me straight to the petrol station—even if I didn’t have the money. I would find the £14.70 for a packet of Marlboro Touch, even if it meant borrowing from my daughter’s savings account (I always paid it back). But this time, something was different. I felt a voice say gently, “Let’s see how long you can go without buying another packet.”

So I listened.

There were no rules. I didn’t say I’d never smoke again.

If someone offered me one, I could say yes. I didn’t want to make it another rigid self-discipline exercise. That never worked for me. Instead, this felt like an experiment. A soft adventure.

As I continued my Ho’oponopono practice, it felt like I was clearing not just energy—but emotion. The trapped regret. The chaos. The self-betrayal. I was soothing my nervous system from the inside out. And as that internal noise softened, so did the cravings.

It’s not just that I quit smoking. It’s that I didn’t even mean to. It was a by-product of choosing peace. Of clearing. Of surrendering.

What Ho'oponopono Taught Me

This practice reminded me that deep transformation doesn’t always come through force. It comes through love. Through consistency. Through tending to the inner landscape without needing to control the outer one.

And just to be clear — it hasn’t been easy. But there’s been an unexpected ease within it.

I still get cravings. Sometimes a strong wave will hit me unexpectedly — there was one night in particular I found myself hovering near the front door, shoes on, ready to nip to the petrol station for my trusty Marlboros. But instead, I paused. I returned to the mantra.

I’m sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

I told myself that if the urge remained after doing a few rounds, I’d allow myself the cigarette — no shame, no self-punishment. But so far, the mantra has always come through. It soothes something deeper than the addiction — it reconnects me to the part of myself that doesn’t need to smoke.

Full disclosure? I do have one of those horrid, fruity vapes — the kind the teenagers all hang around with. I rarely use it, but on the few occasions when the craving has been too intense, I’ve taken a puff. And you know what? I still count that as progress. It doesn’t stink. It doesn’t spiral me into shame. And it’s a whole lot better than 10–15 cigarettes a day.

Like all things rooted in addiction recovery, I take it one day at a time. But so far, two weeks in — which, for context, is the longest I’ve gone without smoking in 18 years (yes, even during pregnancy I allowed myself one a day (I’m not proud of it)) — I am celebrating the daily victories.

And that, to me, is real healing. Not perfect. But gentle. True. And lasting.

If you're curious about Ho’oponopono or need support on your own healing journey, feel free to comment or connect with me on Co-Creators. We're walking this path together.

I love you,

Aimee x