O P E N FOCUS:The Attentional Foundationof Health and Well-Being

Lester G. Fehmi, Ph.D. George Fritz, Ed.D.The way we pay attention directly affects our bodies and minds. Two scientists not onlydescribe open focussing, they also show you how to do it.

Over the last dozen years, researchevidence and clinical observation haveled us to a unique appreciation for at-tentional variables as determinants ofhealth and well-being (Fehmi 1979a;1979b; 1980; Fehmi & Selzer, 1980).Beginning with a series of serendipi-tous observations regarding the atten-tional strategies effective in the devel-opment of control of EEG biofeedbacksignals, our thinking has now evolvedto the conviction that attention is infact fundamental to the optimizationof human behavior. An attentionalperspective seems to clarify theoreticalmodels of stress, relaxation, alteredstates of consciousness, integratedfunctioning and optimum performance,as well as matters of ultimate concernincluding transpersonal andinterpersonal issues. The purpose ofthis paper is to sketch the outlines ofthe relevance of attentional behaviorto such issues as well as to provide anoccasion for the reader to directly ex-perience the possibilities inherent inattention training.

The usual, most habitual atten-tional mode in our society is nar-row focused attention.

After training thousands of individ-uals to control EEG and other physio-logical processes it has become apparentthat to be successful, trainees must learnto give up their effortful orientations tothe biofeedback task. This aspect ofbiofeedback training is dem-

24 SOMATICS, SPRING 1980

onstrated by the finding that, after suc-ceeding in the biofeedback training,many trainees report that they hadproceeded to the point in training at

Attention training is the most ef-fective intervention because itleads to the optimization of func-tion and the associated remissionof symptoms.

which they had given up on the taskaltogether, only to discover that thefeedback tone would occur even morefrequently after they had stopped ac-tively trying. In the particular modalityof multichannel and phase sensitiveEEG training, as well as peripheral skintemperature and other physiologicalfeedback processes, persons whohabitually approach new tasks with aneffortful orientation have great difficultyand progress slowly (Fehmi, 1978).This state of affairs indicates a need forthe development and use of attentionaltechniques to circumvent the trainees'initial narrowly focused and tense goalorientation towards the subtle task ofproducing the appropriate feedback. Aseries of exercises, called OpenFocus Training, was devised to guidebiofeedback trainees to adopt the at-tentional disposition or style requiredin order to increase the occurrence ofthe physiological concomitants ofphysical well-being and relaxation(Fehmi, 1975). Open Focus has as itsgoal an effortless orientation to the bio-

feedback task, as well as to any wakefulactivity. Since narrowness and exclu-sivity of attention require effort andtension, the prerequisite for establish-ing this state of open focus involvesdropping one's habitual orientation tonarrowly focus on certain internal orexternal events to the exclusion ofother events. Ultimately, every percep-tible event, whether internal or exter-nal, is represented in the nervous sys-tem. To achieve the open focus state,one must allow his awareness to broadento simultaneously include all thoseperceptible events which are salient inthe nervous system.

Can you permit your attention tobe equally and simultaneouslyspread out among body feelings,thoughts, emotions, sounds, etc.,while you continue to read?

The experiences reported by OpenFocus trainees, as they generalize openfocus strategies to various life situa-tions, suggest that attention is typifiedin part by two styles which representthe extreme positions on a continuumof attending. The usual, most habitual,and most generally reinforced atten-tional mode in our society is narrowfocused attention. This refers to thewakeful state in which mental effort isexpended to exclude certain aspects ofexperience through a narrowing orconstriction in the scope of attention.The reader may observe, for instance,

that at this moment various percep-tions, including somatic sensations,peripheral visual stimuli, sounds,tastes, thoughts, emotions, and imagesare being excluded in order to grasp thesense of these printed words. An alter-native inclusive style of paying atten-tion and reading these words, how-ever, involves dropping the effort or-dinarily necessary for selecting andsorting out experience. The centralportion of awareness may be absorbedwith reading and understanding thesewords while simultaneously peripheralawareness reflects the existence ofother modalities of perception and sen-sation.

Extreme flexibility and unity isassociated with lapses or self-consciously directed attention.

The strategy of narrow focus maytake the form either of obsessive-compulsive attention or denial. Inother words, narrow focus "on" or nar-row focus "away from" environmentaland psychological events constitutethe basic coping strategies of most in-dividuals. As persons relate to stress,the obsessive and hysteric styles of cop-ing generally seern to be the only alter-natives. Stress syndromes are charac-terized either by intrusive, repetitive,thoughts and/or by denial and numb-ing (cf Horowitz et al, 1980).

The Open Focus strategy offers theoccasion for a fundamental break inthe vicious circle of stress—obsessiveor hysteric coping strategies—accum-ulated stress. The narrow focused con-cerns of the individual, e.g. physicalsymptoms, pain, anxiety, fear, etc., aresimply included into the Open Focusattentional process. In this way, thetension expended to brace against anarrowly focused and thus, amplifiedconcern is dissolved. In our work, it isprecisely this tension which appears toinhibit the organism's progress towardhealthful homeostasis. Dissolution ofthis tension through attention ("a-tension") training has been the mostimportant ingredient in ourtherapeutic work. It is our observationthat attention training is the most ef-fective intervention because it leads tothe optimization of function and theassociated remission of symptoms.

The reader can experiment withdeveloping a more inclusive atten-tional orientation even while continuingto be engaged in the act of reading. Is itpossible for you now to permit yourvarious somatic sensations to be alsopresent in your awareness while youread? That is, can you imagine yourselfreading and also simultaneously experi-encing the volume of your whole body?Perhaps you will need to pause for amoment to allow your body feelings toemerge in your field of attention. Canyou imagine, however, that you canproceed with reading and simultaneouslyattend to these body feelings? Can youimagine that when you feel a sense ofeffortlessness about reading with yourwhole body that you can thengradually expand your attention to in-clude any thoughts, emotions, periph-eral visual experiences, tastes, smellsand sounds which may be simultane-ously occurring as you read? Can youimage that you need not scan in an ef-fortful or sequential fashion amongyour various experiences in order to at-tend to them ? Is it posible for you, whileallowing your attentional field tobroaden to include simultaneously oc-curring experiences, that you can at-tend equally or without any particularbias to the various experiences sur-rounding the act of reading? That is,can you permit your attention to beequally and simultaneously spread outamong body feelings, thoughts, emo-tions, sounds, etc., while you continueto read?

Persons complaining of an in-ability to concentrate, listless-ness, diminished sexual activity,etc, and depression find theirnarrow focus skills returningafter some period of Open Focuspractice.

In order to facilitate simultaneity andequality of attention we have found theimage of "space" to provide a three-dimensional context for the inclusionof all on-going experience. You might,for instance, imagine your whole bodyand spaces around, beneath and abovethe body. Simultaneously and equally at-tending to the body and other percepts,and to the space out of which ex-

perience emerges and into which itrecedes, facilitates the ascendancy ofright hemispheric information proces-sing. The usually dominant left hemi-spheric processes can now be integratedwith the gestalt orientation of righthemispheric processes.

Those activities which habituallyelicit narrow focus—separatemodes of attending promote TypeA personalities, loneliness andhumorlessness, and overburdenmarital relationships and familylife._____________

We have attempted here to providethe reader with an opportunity to at-tend in an Open Focus style while en-gaged in functional behavior. For mostindividuals, generalization of theOpen Focus strategy to functionalstates follows upon some period of for-mal Open Focus practice while quietlysitting or standing. An example of suchan Open Focus exercise is presented inan appendix to this article so that in-terested readers may practice in thisway.

It needs to be emphasized that simul-taneous access to Open Focus, while atthe same time rendering order out ofthe chaos of sensation, facilitateshealthful and productive attentionalbehavior. Release of a rigidly ap-prehended focus of attention isassociated with higher amplitude ofEEC activity, as exemplified by alphawaves, and by greater phase agreementor synchrony between the activity oc-curring at all lobes. Open focused at-tention is also associated with effort-lessness and softening of goal-orientedbehavior. Concomitant with OpenFocus are moments of greater unself-consciousness, feelings of release ofenergy ("aha" experiences), morecreative thoughts and associations, agreater sense of unity or well-being, alack of criticalness or judgementalness,and a more general or integratedawareness of all of one's experiencesimultaneously.

As illustrated in Figure 1, an atten-tional model of awareness includesthree parameters: intensity or energy; acontinuum of open focus and narrowfocus; and intuitiveness, in-to-itness,

SOMATICS, SPRING 1980 25

FIGURE I -ANATTEN

TIONALMODELOF

AWARENESS

unity versus objectivity, out-of-itness,separateness. The narrow focus-objec-tivity quadrant (quadrant A) repre-sents the attentional style most dom-inant in our society, a civilization dis-posed to the over-use of left hemi-spheric or linear information proces-sing skills. Whereas rapid and com-plete attentional focus is necessary foroptimal attentional effectiveness, thereis in our day an unfortunate andprevalent tendency toward over-useand consequent rigidity of narrow at-tentional processing. The extreme caseof temporary attention fixation occurs inconditions of great fear where the act ofobjectifying the fear-object bringsabout a catatonic-like rigidity of focusand directional orientation. A less ex-treme but more enduring example isobsessive worry and preoccupationwith recurrent thought. A more com-mon example is the inertia and irrita-tion experienced when one is distractedor interrupted from a task in which oneis deeply involved.

The open focus—intuitivenessquadrant (quadrant C) represents therelease from a narrow attentionalfocus, a release which is necessary foroptimal attentional effectiveness andflexibility. Extreme flexibility and uni-

26 SOMATICS, SPRING 1980

Attentional focus upon an invar-iant target of perception results inchanges in awareness. Our con-tribution is to elucidate the mech-anism for this change.

ty is associated with lapses of self-consciously directed attention, and isshown in the effortless performance ofwell-learned or instinctive behavior.The effortless, creative performance ofan art form or athletic event serves asan example. Indeed, in our biofeed-back laboratory, accomplished artists,athletes and meditators demonstrateflexible control over the dimensions ofattention described above and theirassociated EEG parameters.

The open focus-objectivity mode(quadrant B) is one in which manyfunctional behaviors may be performed.The performance or behaviorrepresents a narrow focused activitywhich hangs like a tether in the midstof a more general open focus. Readingthis article, writing a report, playing asport, giving a speech, doing therapy ordriving a car—these are among the ac-tivities for which an appropriate atten-tional strategy can be open focus-objectivity.

The narrow focus-intuitivenessquadrant (quadrant D) includes ab-sorptive modes such as intellectuallyinteresting or emotionally andphysically pleasant activities whichone wishes to amplify with narrowfocus and which one wishes to moveexperientially closer to in order tosavor the event. One may observe thenarrow focus-in-to-it look on the faceof an enraptured concert-goer or someoneexperiencing deep muscle massage orother sensuous physical activities. Itwould seem, indeed, that part of the at-traction of certain cultural and artisticand physical events is to provide an oc-casion for becoming absorbed, involvedand without self-consciousness.

The remission of symptoms isseen by us as a side effect of theoptimization of attentional func-tion.

The attentional flexibility requisitefor moving freely among attentionalstates is the ultimate goal of OpenFocus training. It is possible to attendto any given content in a variety ofways. However, by training and habitwe usually attend to similar situations

ENERGY

OPENFOCUS

SEPARATENESSOUT-OF-ITNESSOBJECTIVITY

RightHemisphereProcessing

LeftHemisphereProcessing

UNITYIN-TO-ITNESSINTUITIVENESS

NARROWFOCUS

ENERGY

identically. The capacity to objectify isperhaps the most developed in oursociety. Yet many still need some propin the form of a cigarette or cup of coffeein order to muster the attentionalenergy necessary for narrow focus-objectivity. The capacity for sensatefocus as in sexual experience, mean-while, presents difficulties for many in-dividuals. Narrow focus-intuitivenessdevelopment seems called for in suchcases. Both open focus-separatenessand open focus-intuitiveness arenecessary for the optimization of func-tioning and as an antidote to the over-used narrow focus states. This need isdemonstrated by the many workshopsfor "burned out" members of thebusiness, therapeutic and educationalcommunity.

The tension, which results from theexclusion of the peripheral attentionalfield in narrow focus through thehabitual use of obsession and denial,can accumulate and represents asignificant source of physiologicalstress. We have found that attentiontraining for Open Focus processingpromotes renewed capacity for narrowfocusing. Persons complaining of an in-ability to concentrate, listlessness,diminished sexual activity, dimuni-tion of work productivity and depres-sion find their narrow focus skills re-turning after some period of OpenFocus practice. By releasing the effortassociated with chronic narrow focus,narrow focused activities can berenewed with clarity, enthusiasm, anddiminished stress.

An executive with heart palpita-tions and another with frequentheadaches experienced dissolu-tion of the psychosomatic symp-toms.

There has been much speculation inrecent years regarding the concept ofstress. Biological, psychological, andsocial factors have been implicated inthe etiology of distress and disease. Anattentional perspective suggests thatthe "automatic" triggering of the "fightor flight" response actually presumesthe attentional mode of narrow focus-separateness. Stressful life events taketheir toll in accumulated tension, itseems, precisely because they elicit nar-

row focused, obsessive or denyingmodes of attending. Negative cogni-tions or a poor self-image, like goal-oriented behavior in general, aredependent upon narrow focus—separ-ateness, which leaves the organismstressed by the amount of attentionaleffort and mental tension habituallyexpended. Thus, those activities whichhabitually elicit narrow focus —separate modes of attending promoteType A personalities, loneliness andhumor lessness, and overburdenmarital relationships and family life.

In our clinic we rarely advise clientsregarding any changes in the contentor "what" of their lifestyle or respon-sibilities. Nor do we actively initiatecognitive restructuring or other psych-ological approaches to stress manage-ment. The successful treatment andthorough reintegration of stress-relatedsymptoms appears rather to be directlyrelated to changing "how" individualsattend, rather than what or to whomthey attend.

There is also an attentional orientationtoward Open Focus and flexibilityimplicit through the standard relaxa-tion therapies currently in use. Thegoal of progressive relaxation, for in-stance, in which muscles are alternatelytensed and relaxed, is to experience thestates associated with tension andrelaxation. Our position is that it is thisattentional process and consequent at-tentional flexibility which thengeneralizes to other physiological andmental processes. Similarly, in medita-tion, Relaxation Response practice,autogenics, and self-hypnosis, it seemsto be the attentional flexibility fosteredby these processes, which elicits thefunctional benefits. It's the commonlyheld position that attentional focusupon an invariant target of perceptionresults in change in awareness (cfNaranjo &. Ornstein, 1971). Our con-tribution is to elucidate the mech-anism for this change, that is, thedevelopment of attentional flexibilityand the corresponding release of psy-chophysiological stress. Themaintenance of an invariant narrowfocus upon a target of perception leadsto an awareness of the psychophysio-logical effort involved and to its subse-quent release. Entering into the ex-perience of relaxation and diffusingone's attention so as to appreciate the

subtle phenomena associated withrelaxation lead one naturally into anOpen Focus—intuitive attentionalprocessing of neuromuscular and otherevents. Experimental data suggests,moreover, that direct attention trainingin the form of Open Focus practice isexperienced as promoting a moreprofoundly altered state of con-sciousness than, for example, Relaxa-tion Response practice (Fritz, Note 1).

Open Focus may be seen as an al-tered state of awareness in whichdenial processes are dropped,thus promoting alert tranquility,physiological normalization andoptimization of performance.

Parenthetically, it is reasonable to at-tribute the efficacy of traditional verbaltherapies to attentional veriables. Therange of therapies from psychoanalysisto behavior therapy includes interven-tions which, while modifying certainattitudes and behaviors, primarilydepends upon an experience anddeveloped capacity for the release of at-tentional focus and improvement of at-tentional flexibility. Whether thetechnique involves renewed access tosubconscious material or the shapingof operant behaviors, the salientfeature of effective therapy may be themodification of attentional propen-sities for exclusivity, rigidity and effort-fulness.

In our clinical experience traineesoften indicate that the motivation forparticipation in the attention andbiofeedback training program extendsbeyond remission of stress-relatedsymptoms to self-actualization and op-timization of performance. As it hap-pens, both goals can be met concur-rently. The remission of symptoms isseen by us as a side effect of optimiza-tion of attentional function. It is notunusual that certain physical symp-toms which were not previously con-sidered by the trainee to be stress-related (e.g. asthma, allergies, listless-ness, sleep disorders, substance abuse,etc.) respond to the training. So too,previously stressed individuals noticethat remission of symtoms is accom-panied by renewed energy, productivity,enhanced relationships and improvedathletic performance.

SOMAT1CS, SPRING 1980 27

As part of a double blind study, agroup of middle-management ex-ecutives interested in increased func-tional capacity, experienced signifi-cant changes in self-perception aftertwenty sessions of EEG biofeedbacksynchrony training. Learned increaseand decrease of alpha wave synchronywas associated with more calmness,less depression, more ability to concen-trate, more self-initiation, moredetachment from experience, beingmore observant, more personal (as op-posed to formal), more in oneness withlife. Notice that the participants ex-perienced themselves as "more de-tached" from experience and "more inoneness" with experience simultaneously.Such a result suggests the increasedflexibility of attending associated withlearned increase and decrease of EEGsynchrony. An executive with heartpalpitations and another with frequentheadaches also experienced dissolutionof their psychosomatic symptoms(Fehmi, 1974).

The release of this narrow fo-cused attention upon pain canresult in the reduction or com-plete alleviation of pain.

World class athletes chosen by theOlympic Development Committee,were another group of individualsseeking optimization of function whowere exposed to Open Focus andbiofeedback training in a three-dayworkshop format. Despite superb con-ditioning, these athletes displayedcommon symptoms of accumulatedstress, including cold, clammy hands,muscle tension, and performance anx-iety. With biofeedback training,however, a number of the athletes wereable to develop control of physiologicalsystems manifesting stress, as well as torelease the mental tensions associatedwith prolonged narrowly focused, goal-oriented behavior. Attentional releasewas observed by several participantsto correspond to states of awarenesswhich they had experienced in anaccidental fashion during training andcompetition (several athletes reportedthe accidental induction of OpenFocus attentional states permittingsimultaneous and in-to-it experienceof many modalities of sensa-

tion and accompanying releasephenomena (e.g. nausea) to beassociated with performance optimiza-tion). Learning to move flexibly anddeliberately between narrow focus andopen focus, or even to use themsimultaneously, fosters the sense ofunself-conscious flow of experiencewhich athletes often report to accom-pany outstanding performances.Perhaps the truly great world classathlete is one who can develop andmaintain both the narrow focused at-tentional skills requisite to trainingand refinement of physical skills andthe open focus attentional statesassociated with optimization of perfor-mance (Pactor-Azar, Note 2).

Just as stress-management and op-timization of function represent over-lapping goals of attention training, sotoo it is apparent that Open Focus isboth a way of releasing experience and abehavioral strategy for managingrelease phenomena (Fritz et al, 1980).Open Focus may be seen as an alteredstate of awareness in which denial pro-cesses are dropped, thus promotingalert tranquility, physiological nor-malization and optimization of perfor-mance. At the same time, Open Focus,which permits the release and diffusionof learned experience into an expandedfield of awareness, is a self-regulationstrategy, the psychological effects ofwhich are experiential integration,relaxation, desensitization and copingin situ with life's demands. With theuse of Open Focus, one has the optionof diffusing experience as opposed toamplifying experience with narrowfocus. As a state of awareness, OpenFocus offers the permissive conditionsfor the phenomenological experienceof a qualitatively different wakeful stateand requires no special conditions forits invocation or practice. As a self-regulation strategy, Open Focus is anactive coping skill which, unlike otheravailable techniques, has no content assuch, other than "how" one attends.The generalization of Open Focus ex-perience to daily life situations pro-ceeds both as an unself-conscioustransformation of the ordinarywakeful state and as a purposive exer-cise in self-regulation. The individualdiscovers himself "in" Open Focusmore often and also discovers moresituations for deliberately applying the

Open Focus strategy. One graduallybecomes less vulnerable to the charac-teristics of persons and situationswhich seem to demand narrowlyfocused attention and associated over-reactivity.

Release of a rigidly apprehendedfocus of attention is associatedwith higher amplitude of EEGactivity, as exemplified by alphawaves.

As individuals progress in a program ofattention and biofeedback training,certain psychophysiological eventsmay occur which accompany therelease of tension. Such releasephenomena may take the form ofperceptual anomalies, shooting pains,jerks, tremors, numb or tingling feel-ing, perspiration, blood pressurechanges, thoughts, memories or emo-tional experiences which spon-taneously come into consciousness.Although representing a release of at-tentional focus, these events oftenprecipitate renewed narrow focus. In-tegration of the release phenomena isfacilitated, therefore, by an attentionalstrategy of distributing awareness overall available experience simultaneously,leading to the establishment of new,more optimally functional patterns ofattention (Fritz, et al, 1980).

Other experiences which typicallyelicit narrow focused attention includephysical and emotional pain. Con-versely, pain states seem to beamplified and perpetuated by chronicnarrow focus upon the pain. It hasbeen our experience that pain, whetheroriginating from organic diseaseprocess or psychophysiological stress ortension, is amplified or exacerbated bynarrow focus. The release of thisnarrow focused attention upon paincan result in the reduction orcomplete alleviation of pain.Numerous clinical experiences havedemonstrated to us the value of atten-tion training techniques in pain con-trol. A notable example occurred at aone and an half hour attention trainingsession at a pain clinic in Indianapolisdirected by J. Welch, Ph.D. A womanwho had suffered severe pain sinceinternment in a concentra-

SOMATICS, Spring 1980 28

tion camp during World War II ex-perienced a complete dissolution of herpain, which with further practice wasmaintained.

The same attentional foundationswhich underlie the concept of stress,the relaxation response, altered statesof consciousness, psychophysical in-tegration and optimization of perfor-mance also serve to elucidate issues ofultimate concern (Fehmi & Selzer,1980). One of our clients, a middle-aged woman with Raynaud's disease,recently reported warming her handswith Open Focus techniques while at-tending a Sunday church service. Herintention was merely to relieve thediscomfort in her hands as she satchilled in the church pew. Allowingherself to sit in Open Focus, she foundthat not only did her hands warm nicely,but that the minister's sermon reachedher in a profound way. Such was hersurprise at this occurrence that she wasquite shy in reporting this "spiritual"application of Open Focus.Nevertheless, she reported a resolve tohenceforth pray, read Scripture, or to

participate in church services whilesimultaneously attending in OpenFocus.

Allowing herself to sit in OpenFocus, she found that not only didher hands warm nicely, but thatthe minister's sermon reachedher in a profound way.

Similar clinical reports are common.Individuals report an intuitive sense oftheir unique personhood as facilitatedby release of narrow attentional fo-cused habits. The negative cognitions,poor self-image, irrational beliefs, poornutritional habits, and lack of physicalexercise which are often part of an in-dividual's profile seem all to be affectedby the more basic alteration in habitualattentional strategies. A sense of well-being emerges which often finds atranspersonal referrent. This seems tooccur even though the Open Focusexercise is a fully secular techniquewithout judgments relating to the contentof one's perceptual field and thus,

compatible with any belief systemwhich values psychophysiological flex-ibility, health and well-being.

The interpersonal applications ofOpen Focus training are significant.Open Focus training has potential infacilitating empathic communication(Fritz, Note 1). Clients report more in-tuitive and more intimate communica-tion with loved ones, includingenhanced sexual experience when at-tending in Open Focus. Therapists,meanwhile, find the Open Focustechnique usefully employed duringthe therapeutic hour to keep thetherapist in the moment and alert to allmodalities of communication, and ex-perience. The feeling as it is expressedby two persons who are producinglarge amplitude and in-phase brainwave rhythms is that they are directlyand appreciatively experiencing eachother's experiences without the inter-mediary of verbal communication.The attentional dimension of interper-sonal behavior, as in other applica-tions, reveals attention to be a fun-damental behavior of man.

A P P E N D I XOpen Focus Exercise*

Is IT POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO IMAGINE OR

CAN YOU IMAGINE —

the space between your eyes. . . . ears...throat. . . shoulders . . . hips . . .thumband first finger on each hand... first andmiddle finger on each hand . . . middleand fourth finger on each hand . . .

the space between all your fingerssimultaneously. . .

that your thumbs are filled with space...

that your first fingers. . . middle fingers .. . fourth fingers . . . little fingers . . .hands and fingers are filled with space..

that the region between the tips of yourfingers and your wrists... between yourwrists and your elbows... between yourelbows and shoulders . . . between yourshoulders is filled with space . . .

that the space inside your throat is co-extensive with the space between yourshoulders and in your shoulders andarms, hands, and fingers . . .

that the regions inside your shoulders,and the regions between your shouldersand fingertips are simultaneously filledwith space . . .

the space between your toes . . .

that your toes are filled with space . . .

that your feet and toes. . . the region be-tween your arches and your an kles... be-tween your ankles and your knees... be-tween your knees and your hips. . . be-tween your hips is filled with space . . .

that your buttocks are filled with space..

that your buttocks and the region be-tween your hips and your legs and feetand toes are simultaneously filled withspace . . .

that your genitals are filled with space...

that the region between your genitals andyour anus is filled with space . . .

that your lower abdomen ... lower backis filled with space . . .

that your body from the diaphragmdown is filled with space, including yourdiaphragm, your genitals, your anus,and your feet and toes . . . '.

the space inside your bladder

that the region between your kidneys ...inside your kidneys . . . between yournavel and your backbone ... inside yourstomach . . . inside your rib cage .. .be-tween your ribs . . . between yourshoulder blades... inside your breasts..between your breast bone and your back-bone . . . between your shoulders andyour ribs... inside your neck... betweenyour shoulder blades and your chin isfilled with space . . .

the space inside your lungs ... inside yourbronchial tubes as you inhale and exhale...

* The reader may wish to participate experi-entially in the exercise. If so, in order to ex-perience beneficial effects, it is important toallow at least fifteen seconds for each image.For instance, can you imagine the space be-tween your eyes . . . (15 seconds). . . ears . . .

(15 seconds) . . . throat . . . (15 seconds) .

Somatics, Spring 1980 29

the space inside your throat... your nose asyou inhale and exhale . . .

the space between the tip of your chin andthe inside of your throat. . . between thespace inside your throat and the space in-side your ears... between the space insideyour throat and to the top of your head...between the space inside your throat andthe space behind your eyes . . .

that your jaw . . . cheeks and mouth . . .tongue... teeth and gums... lips are filledwith space .. .

the space between your upper lip and thebase of your nose . ..

that the region around your eyes andbehind your eyes is filled with space ...

that your eyes . . . eyelids . . . nose andsinuses ... the bridge of your nose is filledwith space . . .

that the region between your eyes and theback of your neck... between the bridge ofyour nose and back of your head . . . be-tween your temples is filled with space ...

that your forehead . . . brain . . . spine isfilled with space . . .

that your whole head is simultaneouslyfilled with space. . .

that your whole head and your face aresimultaneously filled with space . . .

that your whole head, face, neck and yourwhole body, includingyour hands, genitalsand feet are simultaneously filled withspace . . .

that your whole being fills with air whenyou inhale and your whole being is leftfilled with space when you exhale . ..

at the same time that you are imagining thespace inside your whole body, is it possiblefor you to imagine the space around yourbody, the space between your fingers andtoes, behind your neck and back, the spaceabove your head and beneath your chair,and the space in front of you and to yoursides. . .

that the boundaries between the space in-side and the space outside are dissolvingand that the space inside and the space out-side become one continuous and unifiedspace.. .

that this unified space, which is coexten-sive inside and outside, proceeds in threedimensions, front to back, right to left, andup and down ...

30 SOMAT1CS, SPRING 1980

that, at the same time you imagine thisunified space, you can simultaneously letyourself attend equally to all the soundsthat are available to you, the sound of myvoice, the sounds issuing from you (andother members of the audience), and anyother sounds thatyoumay beable to hear...

that these sounds are issuing from and per-vaded by unified space . . .

that at the same time you are attending tothe space and the sounds you can also at-tend simultaneously to any emotions, ten-sions, feelings or pains that might also bepresent. . .

that these sensations and perceptions arepermeated by space. . .

that at the same time you are aware of thespace, the sounds, emotions and other bodyfeelings, you can also be simultaneouslyaware of any taste, smells, thoughts andimagery that might be present. . .

that you can now admit also to awarenessany sensation or experience which mayhave been inadvertently omitted thus far,so that you are now simultaneously awareof your entire being, of all that is you . . .

that all your experience is permeated andpervaded by space. . .

that, as you continue to practice this OpenFocus exercise, you will increase your abilityto enter into Open Focus more quickly andmore completely and more effortlessly . . .

that, as you continue to practice this OpenFocus exercise, your imagery of space willbecome more vivid and more pervasive...

that, as you continue to practice this OpenFocus exercise, your ability to imaginespace permeating all of your experiencewill continue to become more vivid andever-present.. .

NOTES

1. Fritz, G. The effects of meditationupon counselor effectiveness andaltered states of consciousness. Un-published doctoral dissertation,Lehigh University, 1980.

2. Pactor-Azar, J. Optimizing athleticperformance with biofeedback train-ing. Unpublished manuscript, Prince-ton Biofeedback Research Institute,1979.

REFERENCESFehmi, L.G. Effects of biofeedback train

ing on middle managementexecutives. Paper presented at theannual meeting of the BiofeedbackResearch Society in ColoradoSprings, Colorado, 1974.

Fehmi, L.G. Open Focus training. Paperpresented at the annual meeting of

the Biofeedback Research Society inMonterrey, California, 1975.

Fehmi, L.G. EEC Biofeedback, Multichannel Synchrony Training andAttention. In A. Sugerman (Ed.)

Expanding Dimensions of Con-. sciousness, Springer Press, New York, 1978, 155-182.

Fehmi, L.G. Biofeedback Attention, and aconcept of Man. Presidential ad-dress presented at the annual

meeting of the Biofeedback Society of New Jersey at Rutgers Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey, 1979a.

Fehmi, L.G. Integration of Biofeedback ,with Psychotherapy: Training forEffective Preventive Mental HealthCare. Paper presented at the an-nual meeting of the American Psy-chological Association, New York,New York 1979b.

Fehmi, L.G. Winning By Not Trying:Dissolving Attentional Inflexibilityin Psychotherapy. Paper presentedat the annual meeting of Division29 of the American PsychologicalAssociation, 1980.

Fehmi, L.G. &. Selzer, F.A. Attentionand Biofeedback Training in Psy-chotherapy and TranspersonalGrowth. In Boorstein, S. & ; Speeth,K. (Eds.) Explorations inTranspersonal Psychotheapy. JansonAronson, Inc., New York, 1980.

Fritz, G., Selzer, F.A. & Fehmi, L.G.Psychophysiological Release Phen-omena in the Clinical Applicationof Biofeedback and AttentionTraining. Paper presented at theannual meeting of the BiofeedbackSociety of America in ColoradoSprings, Colorado, 1980.

Horowitz, M.J., Wilmer, N., Kaltreider,N., Alvarez, W. Signs and Symp-toms of Posttraumatic StressDisorder. Archives of General Psy-chiatry, 1980, 37,85-92.

Naranjo, C. &. Ornstein, R.E. On ThePsychology Of Meditation. NewYork, Viking Press, 1971.