The Open-Focus Life: Practices to Develop Attention and Awareness for Optimal Well-Being

by Les Fehmi, Susan Shor Fehmi, Mark Beauregard

Learn to change your mindset, relieve anxiety, dissolve pain, and bring a greater sense of wellbeing into your life by changing how you pay attention, with easy-to-apply techniques and in-the-moment exercises from Dr. Les Fehmi’s Open Focus method.

How you pay attention affects literally every moment of your conscious life, so learning how to be flexible with your focus can profoundly change how you respond to everyday challenges. The Open-Focus Life shows you many different ways of paying attention that you were never taught in school and illustrates how to use different attention styles as powerful tools to help you feel better, act more effectively, and improve the quality of your life.

Dr. Les Fehmi and Susan Shor Fehmi, pioneers in biofeedback, have spent decades developing and applying these methods with clients from all walks of life in their private clinical practice. In The Open-Focus Life, they coach you through common everyday stressors and show you how to shift out of modes of attention that exacerbate negative feelings and into modes of calm and balance. Based on peer-reviewed neuroscience and clinical experience, these quick, practical techniques will improve how you feel about your body, how you relate to people at work and at home, and how you interact with your everyday environment, to achieve a more relaxed life with less chronic physical and emotional pain.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Self Help

208 pages, Paperback

First published July 20, 2021

Reviews

[Anne Kinsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book and I did appreciate some aspects of it— the emphasis on opening up our focus and being able to shift between attention styles was good and healthy. However, in one of the examples in the chapter on emotional pain, the client allowed her painful emotions to go out into larger and larger spaces until it had gone out into the entire universe. It was like the reverse of what I do when I practice HeartMath personally and with clients, when we radiate renewing emotions to ourselves, others, and the universe. Given that the HeartMath exercise has had a scientifically measurable positive impact, I’m concerned that there could be a measurably negative impact with the example here. Coregulation and energy are real things. I think we can tend to emotions with self compassion and have more of an open focus without sending that kind of energy into the universe. Between that and the endless examples that seemed to relay the same thing over and over in different situations, I tired of the book.

[Jody Hadlock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had never heard of the Open-Focus technique but was intrigued by the book's description. I always thought that being able to be laser-focused was a good thing, but this books shows you how that can also be harmful. Because of this book, I'm paying more attention to my space-within and around me. It's a completely new way of thinking, but as I was reading the book, I realized how much sense it makes. Life is stressful and it's great to have a new tool to use!

[Manuela · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Open-Focus Life is an interesting book presenting this technique to ground you more and pay attention to the space around you and your feelings.

It provides a lot of practical examples of people who successfully used it to make areas in their life better. It gets a bit repetitive at points, and I did not understand quite well the difference on the methods applied on the different situations. The examples were interesting, but they were very long and too big of a part of the book in my opinion and I found myself only skimming through them at points.

[Ariel Paz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated the differentiation of ways to focus my attention. My son has told me in the past not to focus so hard. It is draining. Now I am practicing half-listening, not putting so much energy into what others are saying unless it is a relative. Not sure how important the concept of space is. It seems mindfulness of our surroundings is the same idea, just expressed in a different way. Being mindful of the sounds, smells, feelings, etc. If it works for some people, great. I find it too abstract to be useful, at least right now. There are a lot of situational examples given to demonstrate how the technique works. Hey, if it works for you, then great. I'm working on mindfulness, personally.

[Betsy Hover · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reflects on learning to pay attention and how to be flexible with your focus can profoundly change how you respond to everyday life. The Open-Focus Life shows you many different ways of paying attention and illustrates how to use different attention styles as powerful tools to help you feel better, act more effectively, and improve the quality of your life. This book is very helpful and a easy read.

[Cortnie Caserta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basic understanding of recognizing the space around you. In other words, another way of describing grounding and meditation. Mostly stories of others experiencing handling their problems with techniques that have been used for centuries.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concepts about space, focus, especially when facing pain and anxiety.

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 40 of 2022.

[rue · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ass. I got this at five below Never again

[Annemieke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Geweldige methodiek. Helpt mij beter dan mindfulness.