The Open-Focus Brain: Harnessing the Power of Attention to Heal Mind and Body

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

In this breakthrough health book, Dr. Les Fehmi - a pioneering researcher and clinician - teams up with an award-winning science writer to present a disarmingly simple idea: the way we pay attention in daily life plays a critical role in our health and well-being. Through decades of clinical practice and research, Dr. Fehmi has found that different forms of attention affect the brain's electrical activity, which in turn has a profound impact on our mental and physical health. Too many of us are stuck in an emergency, fight-or-flight mode of attention: a tense, narrow survival mode in which we focus only on avoiding danger and calamity, to the exclusion of all else.Many of us have simply lost access to a more relaxed, diffuse, and creative form of attention, which Dr. Fehmi calls 'Open Focus'. This highly readable and empowering book offers straightforward explanations and simple exercises on how to shift away from narrow-focus attention to a calmer, more open style of attention that reduces stress, improves health, and enhances performance. The book features seven essential attention exercises for improving health, along with an audio CD in which the author guides the reader through the two most important and effective exercises.

Reviews

These mental techniques help you to experience your body and even your heart in a new way. Fehmi grounds his plan in research and patient anecdotes showing the techniques can reduce pain and improve relationships and athletic performance.
Publishers Weekly

Fehmi and award-winning science writer and journalist Robbins present a convincing argument for the effectiveness of neurofeedback in a self-help format for those who want to try the techniques . . . This well-written book will be of interest to anyone in the alternative healing community.
Library Journal

Based on thirty-plus years of research and professional experience, this book reveals a startling truth: how you deploy your attention in your daily life is centrally important for your mental and physical health. It also describes a breakthrough methodology for overcoming depression, anxiety, and other hard-to-manage emotional states. As a colleague of Dr. Fehmi from the earliest days of brainwave-biofeedback research, I can trust the credibility of his reports. He is a creative and critical thinker in the field. I heartily recommend this book.
Joe Kamiya, PhD, research psychologist at Langley Porter Institute of Psychiatry

Ive used the Open-Focus techniques in my work with NFL players, and Ive shared this knowledge with other athletes and coaches. These attention exercises are applicable across all disciplines.
Bob Ward, Director of Sports Science, former conditioning coach for the Dallas Cowboys

The techniques described in this book can make life fuller, more enjoyable, and more productive. I recommend it.
Andrew Weil, MD, author of Healthy Aging

Author Bio

Jim Robbins is an award-winning journalist and science writer, with frequent contributions to the New York Times, Smithsonian, Scientific American, Discover, and Psychology Today. In connection with his reporting, he has appeared on ABC's Nightline and on NPR's All Things Considered and Morning Edition.