Lester Fehmi’s Open-Focus Attention: The Cure for Narrow Focus and Stress

Our attention habits have far-reaching effects on our health, relationships, and productivity, among other areas of our life. However, the majority of us tend to operate in a restricted, concentrated manner of attention, which can lead to stress and restrict our abilities. Dr. Lester Fehmi, a neuroscientist and biofeedback pioneer, created the Open Focus technique as a means to enhance our attentional capacities and enter more open, relaxed states of consciousness linked to better health and performance.

But before we go any further, please allow me to share the short but revealing story of my discovery of how effective and meaningful Dr. Fehmi’s work really is.

Moving a Ball Using Only Alpha Brainwaves

During my college days, I was reading everything I could on neuroscience and meditation when I came across a copy of Dr. Fehmi’s book, The Open Focus Brain. I began practicing his simple but powerful technique of visualizing space, and I noticed myself going into very relaxed states of consciousness.

Dr. Fehmi’s techniques seemed to be working quite well from a first-person perspective, but I had no objective scientific verification that his techniques were in fact eliciting the emergence of whole-brain, phase-synchronous alpha brainwaves, as he had claimed. Then, within just a few weeks of having read the book, I walked onto my college campus and saw an interesting apparatus being used in a fair sponsored by a major corporation.

The fair featured unusual, futuristic games and challenges designed to give students a glimpse of future technology. The apparatus I saw was a game similar to air hockey, but instead of a puck, the game featured a simple metal ball. The objective of this two-player game was for each player to make the ball roll to the other player’s side and go into the hole. But instead of using hands to move the ball, the objective was to use one’s mind to move the ball.

More specifically, the objective was to produce enough phase-synchronous alpha brainwaves to make the ball move toward the opponent’s side of the table and go into the hole. When it was my turn to try the game, I was given a small, portable EEG headset to monitor my brainwaves. My opponent was given the same. He was a young college-aged student I hadn’t seen before.

When the game attendant told us to start the game, I simply began visualizing space as well as relaxing the back of my tongue (another “trick” for producing alpha brainwaves and quieting the mind) and letting go. Whenever any sense of effort arose, I simply let it go and calmly adopted the Open Focus approach to diffused attention. Surprisingly, the ball immediately rolled over to my opponent’s side and went directly into the hole. He couldn’t get his ball to move and was visibly frustrated. Little did he realize that his very reaction was keeping him from attaining his objective. I thanked him for the game and quietly went my way, knowing that I had just been given objective scientific verification of the efficacy of Dr. Fehmi’s techniques.

What is Open Focus?

Open Focus is both a theory of attention and a practical training method aimed at enhancing attentional flexibility. At its core, open focus entails learning to shift from our habitual narrow focus to a more diffuse, open awareness that includes our full range of sensory experiences.

Open Focus Theory proposes that by expanding our attentional field, we can tap into the brain’s natural healing and self-regulating capacities. This theory emphasizes the importance of attentional flexibility, defined as the ability to fluidly shift between different attentional styles as needed.

As Dr. Fehmi explains in his book, The Open-Focus Brain:

“Open focus is a flexible, effortless style of attention that includes diffuse, narrow, and immersed forms of attention at the same time. It is distinguished by the absence of any dominant style or form of attention.”

This expanded state of awareness stands in contrast to the narrow, objective focus that dominates in modern society. While narrow focus certainly has its uses, an over-reliance on this mode can create chronic tension and stress in the mind and body.

The Attentional Foundation of Health and Well-Being

A key tenet of Open Focus theory is that the way we pay attention forms the foundation of our overall health and well-being. Our attentional habits directly impact our physiology, shaping our stress levels, immune function, and numerous other bodily processes.

Chronic narrow focus is associated with a tense, vigilant state that activates the sympathetic “fight or flight” nervous system. In contrast, more open, diffuse attention promotes parasympathetic “rest and digest” activation, allowing the body to return to homeostasis.

By learning to access open-focus states, we can create the conditions for the body and mind to naturally rebalance and heal. As Dr. Fehmi notes:

“The open-focus state provides an opportunity for a fundamental break in the vicious cycle of stress. It provides an opportunity for tension stored in the mind or body to dissolve.”

This attentional approach to health represents a paradigm shift from treating specific symptoms to addressing the underlying patterns of attention that may be contributing to a variety of ailments. Open-focus training has shown promise for conditions ranging from chronic pain and anxiety to ADHD and high blood pressure.

The Neuroscience of Open Focus

Dr. Lester Fehmi’s work on Open Focus grew out of his pioneering research on EEG biofeedback and brainwave synchronization in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Through extensive studies, he discovered that certain attentional states were associated with distinct brainwave patterns, particularly in the alpha frequency range (8–12 Hz).

Fehmi trained thousands of people on EEG and biofeedback techniques, focusing on how these practices can enhance mental functioning and well-being. Biofeedback, defined as a technique that teaches individuals to control physiological processes by providing real-time feedback from their body, played a crucial role in Fehmi’s research.

Specifically, Fehmi found that open-focus states corresponded with high-amplitude, synchronous alpha waves across broad regions of the brain. This whole-brain alpha synchrony is indicative of a relaxed yet alert state of awareness.

In contrast, a narrow focus tends to suppress alpha waves and increase higher-frequency beta activity associated with mental exertion. Individuals who learn to cultivate alpha synchrony through attentional training can access more integrative, restful states of consciousness.

Interestingly, Fehmi discovered that EEG trainees performed better when they gave up their effortful orientations to biofeedback. This kind of effort is associated with narrow, focused attention, which can hinder optimal performance. By letting go of rigid focus, practitioners were able to achieve high-amplitude alpha brainwaves more easily.

Researchers have found similar patterns of alpha synchronization in expert meditators and peak performers in various fields. For instance, studies of expert Zen archers show increased alpha coherence just before releasing an arrow. Just before releasing the arrow, these archers display phase-synchronous alpha brainwaves, a sign of complete relaxation and diffused attention, resulting in optimal performance.

Open-Focus Training

Open-focus training involves a series of attention exercises designed to gradually expand awareness. These typically begin with becoming aware of the space or distance between various parts of the body.

For example, a basic Open Focus instruction might be: “Can you imagine the space between your eyes?” This seemingly simple prompt encourages a shift from object-focused attention to space-inclusive awareness.

Key components of Open Focus training include:

Letting go of effortful striving and allowing attention to soften and diffuse.
Developing an awareness of the space inside and around the body.
Incorporating multiple sensory modalities into awareness at the same time.
Letting go of the habitual tendency to narrowly focus on and exclude other stimuli.
Fostering a sense of continuity between inner and outer experience.

Open focus requires dropping one’s habitual orientation to narrowly focus on both internal and external events to the exclusion of other events. Instead, it involves allowing one’s awareness to broaden to simultaneously include all those events that are salient to the nervous system.

Importantly, Open Focus is not about achieving some special state but rather about removing the restrictions we typically place on our awareness. It’s a process of breaking our conditioned attentional habits in order to access more natural, relaxed modes of attending.

Benefits of an Open Focus

Research and clinical experience have demonstrated a wide range of potential benefits from Open Focus training, including:

Reduced stress and anxiety
Decrease of chronic pain
Improved sleep
Enhanced creativity and problem-solving
Increased sensory acuity
Better emotional regulation
Improved relationships and empathy
Heightened athletic and artistic performance

Open-focused attention facilitates the dissolution of tension. It entails simultaneity and equality of attention, allowing individuals to become aware of and imagine space inside and around their bodies.

One of the key benefits of Open Focus is that it facilitates the ascendancy of right-hemispheric brain processing, which is associated with holistic thinking and creativity. In contrast, narrow focus is associated with left-hemispheric processes, which tend to be more analytical and detail-oriented.

Open focus enables us to perceive a broader perspective and fosters a sense of connection with our surroundings. It is associated with feeling immersed in attention and connected to perceived objects, in contrast to the separation often experienced with narrow focus.

Releasing a narrow focus on pain can reduce or alleviate discomfort, making Open Focus a valuable tool for pain management. The practice promotes alert tranquility, physiological normalization, and optimum performance across various domains of life.

On a deeper level, many practitioners report profound shifts in their sense of self and reality. The experience of unified awareness can dissolve feelings of separation and facilitate transpersonal insights. Extreme flexibility and unity are associated with lapses of self-consciously directed attention, allowing for a more fluid and interconnected experience of reality.

As one reaches advanced stages of practice, open focus can induce what Fehmi calls “void consciousness,” a state of pure awareness prior to the emergence of mental contents. This shares similarities with descriptions of non-dual awareness in various spiritual traditions.

Open Focus vs. Mindfulness

While Open Focus shares some commonalities with mindfulness meditation, there are also key differences in approach and emphasis. Both practices aim to cultivate present-moment awareness, but Open Focus places greater emphasis on expanding the field of attention than focused concentration.

Mindfulness typically begins with a narrow focus on the breath or bodily sensations before opening to a broader awareness. In contrast, open focus encourages an immediate widening of attention to include space and multiple sensory streams simultaneously.

Additionally, open-focus theory highlights the importance of right-hemisphere dominant processing, whereas mindfulness is often more left-hemisphere-oriented. The Open Focus approach may be especially helpful for analytically-minded individuals who struggle with traditional meditation techniques.

That said, open focus and mindfulness can certainly be complementary practices. Many find that alternating between focused and diffuse attention provides more complete attentional training.

Extended Esoteric Understandings

Some practitioners and researchers have noted intriguing connections between Open Focus and various esoteric or mystical traditions:

Open focus can induce mystical states of consciousness akin to shamanic trance or Buddhist enlightenment. According to Open Focus, the dissolution of the sense of separate self and feelings of unity with objects of awareness parallels descriptions of enlightenment in various spiritual traditions.
The principles of open focus connect to Taoist concepts of wu wei (effortless action) and ziran (naturalness). The open-focus state of diffuse, immersed attention aligns with Taoist ideals of flowing with the natural order.
Certain advanced yogic and tantric practices may utilize Open Focus-like states to access higher planes of awareness. The emphasis on expanded consciousness and transcendence of the ego-self is common to both Open Focus and some esoteric Eastern practices.
Open focus neurophysiology may involve complex quantum-level interactions within the brain. Open Focus may potentially link the production of high-amplitude alpha brainwaves to quantum coherence in brain structures, although this remains speculative.
Practitioners of Open Focus have reported out-of-body experiences, telepathy, and other paranormal phenomena during sessions. However, these claims require more rigorous scientific investigation to determine if they are real effects or subjective experiences.
Occult traditions like Hermeticism emphasize the importance of developing a “unified field of consciousness” similar to Open Focus. This aligns with the Open Focus experience of dissolving the sense of separate self and feeling a profound connection to all of existence.

More research is necessary to fully understand the relationship between Open Focus and various mystical or esoteric practices, despite the intriguing nature of these connections.

According to Dr. Fehmi,

“Open-focus attention provides a portal to experiencing ourselves and the world in a more unified way. It offers a path to greater wholeness, health, and human potential.”

As we face increasing global challenges, cultivating this more interconnected mode of awareness may prove essential for our individual and collective flourishing. The Open Focus approach provides practical tools to expand our attentional capacities and tap into our vast mental resources.

By learning to flexibly shift between focused and diffuse attention, we can optimize our functioning across all domains of life. Whether you’re seeking stress relief, enhanced performance, or deeper self-understanding, exploring Open Focus training may open new doors of possibility.

Source – The Open Focus Brain by Lester Fehmi