Can someone really improve their concentration in just 17 minutes through practice?

Question

Has anyone experimented with a 17-minute practice that states it can ‘rewire the brain’ for better attention and focus? Has it been effective?

Answer 1

I was skeptical at first, but your advice on focus really works. It's amazing how something so simple can have such a lasting impact!

Comments

what did u do??

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how did you do it

Answer 2

For those who don't want their time wasted, here's what you do:
Close your eyes and focus on your breathing and overall internal state for 15-20 minutes every day.

Edit: Woah. This comment blew up, probably because people were realizing that the explanation was way too long for what it was trying to get across. Anyway, people have been pointing out one thing I missed from the original post: Apparently just doing it once has long-term effects or is enough in itself, which I'm not sure how true that is from personal experience. I did this exact thing one time and I did feel more intentional and focused... For the rest of that day.

What I'm trying to say is I'm still right. Do it every day and you'll be more focused.

Comments

I did think does this require a 17 minute explanation lol

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Lol yeah & to think this is the short version of it

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That's an ugly way to belittle other people's work!!
So u wasted ur time?, oooh, 7minuntes!!!! but did you learn something? then You should be thankful‍♀

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I understand, having ADD, listening for long periods of time can seen boring for people with ADD. That’s not his issue it’s our’s. How compassionate of him to gather information that can be helpful and share it with people with ADD.✨✨

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thankyou

Answer 3

I have ADHD and I've been using this exact exercise for 10 years, and it changed my life. I do this at least 1-3 times per day, and it allows me to focus much better for 2-4 hours afterward. I've been advocating this for years. It's been the number one thing I've done outside of using some medication to help me focus.

Comments

Thank you. Same here. Struggling for years so hopefully this will help.

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Web brain health,utube dr.daniel amen nuclear scans PBS dr.amen.

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​@@htp1146look up body scan meditation on youtube. That's what he does.

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How do you meditate?

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thanks for this comment!!

Answer 4

The meditation might not be your thing. But listen here, this meditation time is for you and only you. I remember Tony Robbins says, “If you don’t have 10 minutes for yourself then you don’t have a life”.

Comments

​@@Adrian-yi8fl

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Iii in hindi or hindi full  u pick ⛏️⛏️⚒️⚒️⛏️ point ipoo u r u

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​@@visartistry Not all type of meditations are created equal. There are even ways of doing medtitation-like things like mindfulness. You can also try micro-meditations

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ghandi. something like "i have so many things to do today ill have to meditate 2hrs instead of 1". tho, dont quote me on it.

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Meditation ,is there in every culture ,either meditate at one point,or a name ,or your breath

Answer 5

JUST WOW ❤

I'm glad I found this! I've been practicing meditation for about 5 years. Once, I embarked on a 10-day meditation retreat atop a beautiful mountain surrounded by a lush rainforest. During this time, I disconnected from phones, avoided human interaction, and didn't engage with any animals. I had 240 hours all to myself, focusing solely on my breath. I maintained a disciplined routine, waking up at 4 am, sleeping at 10 pm, and having two healthy meals with a small snack at night.

These 10 days were the most focused and fulfilling of my life. Concentrating on my breath and observing my thoughts helped me to overcome depression during that period. My focus improved significantly, and I experienced a light, clear-headed feeling without any headaches. Even my memory sharpened, and I could recall things more easily after completing the 10-day meditation journey.

Comments

really. on the 11th day yoi could realise the impact so well.!!? let me know

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Don't speak with anyone for a day, stay silent, focus on your work. At the day's end, your memory might boost by a certain percentage. It's a theory— the less you let out, the more you can take in. Try listening for a day, stay focused, and check the results. You'll likely recall everything. As men, we don't need motivation, just discipline. Learned this during an 11-day meditation retreat. Trust your flow, Roy. To do a 11 day mediation you need discipline Roy for that you have to train yourself a bit. Try it trust yourself. You don’t need to meditate to meditate you can simply do it while your  living… it’s a deep thing that I just said but I hope you’ll understand. What ever your going through in your life even if it’s not right it’s not the end so keep walking, Have a great day Roy

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What a great gift to yourself. Sounds amazing.

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It seems like a wonderful experience

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After 10 days of focusing on your breathing, what did your sharpened memory have to remember?

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#andrewHuberman if i do it once a day at what to is the best to do: morning, noon, afternoon or before bed time?

Answer 6

Combat vet here. Learned this technique on combat patrols walking point. Still using it today. My focus and memory still stay strong as I practice this every day and can dial in my focus very tightly while still being aware of everything else around me. This explanation really formalized it for me. Thank you!

Comments

Hey there, how do you exactly do this meditation? I read many comments and Google did not help me either, I did not quite get what is suppose to be done

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Thank you for sharing

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Then you should check out actual meditation practices, the real deal ones from India. They will take you next level.

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stress inoculation training

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you watch the video? It’s explained precisely at 4:00. Sit, eyes closed, focus on your body, bring attention back when it wanes. Focusing on your inner state more attunes you more to your attention.

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yes I have watched the video and your comment did not help either, you explained it terrible. Since a long time has passed and I did a good research on it, I figured out how to do that, but it could have been explained much better, since it is not just simply sitting there and closing your eyes and not doing anything. I guess from your comment, that you did not understand it either. "Focusing on your inner state" can mean a million things and is also a very stupid way to describe this type of meditation, since it is not just simply "focusing on your inner state". Cheers

Answer 7

I was diagnosed with ADHD, and it can be a little frustrating trying to focus on something that doesn’t feel interesting but still needs to be learned. Some college subjects are a nightmare for me because they require extra focus. Thank you for sharing this explanation!

Comments

Ig I have ADHD as well :v

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Are you still practising this ??
What is the result??
Please share

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The far greater problem that people are missing is that school is a waste of time and there is no point to it anyway. It does not interest you because its stupid and has no positive implications for your life. Yet you 'have to" study it. The premise is flawed - ditch school and focus on your interests. Same advice as ever.

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Keep an eye on what you feed your body with

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Does anyone know about Dr. Les Fehmi's book 《open focus》？
This practice is basically the same what Dr. Les Fehmi says in that book, called "neurofeedback".  It's mainly about paying attention to space first and then as practice goes on, you naturally become aware of all senses at the same time including your inner feelings. And what happens in your brain is full of alpha waves as a result of it. 
Alpha waves is what your brain has when you are in calm focus.

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​@@danielokeeffe5848 That thing only works in your country. Doesnt work in third world where you literally have to learn through institutions. Cant do business cause there is no business idea on your head, no money, no job. But when you search to get one, they demand years of experience.

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You don't have to have ADHD to feel what you described.

Every single persons Mind drifts - especially when listening to someone as "diluted" as this guy in this video.

Our minds/neurosystems have lightening speed capabilities to process information, even repetitively without being aware.

Being distracted is "normal". Focusing comes into play when our energy is high, when our interest is peaked, when our curiosity is stirred or even when being introspective is a choice you make about 'looking inward'.
The rest of the time we're all in "free association"
ADHD is overworked, overused, over practices and excessively pushed on people to believe they have "something else wrong" with them.

Answer 8

As a youth coach, I have my kids spend 1min every session to focus on their Breath, Sensations, Objects, etc... I've seen dramatic changes in their focus and ability to grasp new concepts. It WORKS!

Answer 9

I sat all the way through that without looking away once and it felt like way less than 17 minutes
Absolutely magical

Answer 10

Wow I just did this! It was literally the hardest thing to do. My mind kept trying to wander off, bringing it back, gave me so much anxiety but focusing on my breathing really help, an exercise worth trying.

Answer 11

I’m so grateful to Andrew for making these videos. This week, I had hiccups. I tried other videos but only Huberman’s short clip actually explained it to me — and made it stop!

Answer 12

I do meditate regularly, and it hasn’t really brought a spiritual aspect to my life. What it has done for me specifically is allowed me to notice when my mind is drifting, throw that drifting thought away, and snap back into what I am working on.

It’s hard to explain with words, but I view it like a muscle. The more I focus on the task at hand, the stronger my focus gets. I use meditation to train that muscle like I would at the gym.

Comments

Yeah, I like how Huberman secularized such practices. I hate when I click onto guided meditation videos and then i hear things like, "say a positive affirmation and release it onto the universe." Like what?

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That is Absolutely Not how meditation works. It depends on why you're meditating, whether you are concerned about the spiritual aspect or you just want to improve your life in general. Personally, I don't believe in positive affirmations. What meditating means, is that you're focusing on a single facet with all your concentration and you're trying to calm your mind in the process, so that you can think clearly, more efficiently for that particular facet; can be your problems, can be a memory you want to cherish about, can be God, can be anything. What this does, is basically, clearing your mind of all the junk and often, tangled thoughts and making it organized which often leads to, Peace, and better understanding of the situations we're in.

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In my comment i did not mention how meditation works. What I was reffering to was that whenever I click on a guided meditation and hear phrases such as the one that I quoted above, I know that there will be some new age ideology embedded into the guided meditation. Such videos repulse me therefore I appreciate NSDR which does not show favoritism to a particular religious belief. Sorry for my lack of elaboration and the misunderstanding.

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Got It. Understood. Apologies, I couldn't comprehend properly. Meditation is fabulous if done right, that's all I wanted to say. Have a good one, Cheers!

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Cud u pl share any YouTube video u use to mediate? Or just complete silence.

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i prefer complete silence, just me and the surroundings. You might try birds or forest ambience prob.

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Any meditation video from Sri Sri gurudev could guide

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nice explanation

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This is exactly what Dandapani is teaching. Meditation is not letting your thoughts drifting away or apart but to stay focused on only one thing. Training the mind like a muscle. Being in control of your mind. Because there are so many thoughts coming and going, which doesn't have anything to do with the person you are. So it is necessary to train where your thoughts and your emotions go. If one doesn't control he is controlled.

Answer 13

4:20 We did this back in school. I failed this meditation 99% of the times but the couple times I managed to reach that inner calmness, it felt as if I was enlightened.

Comments

You didn't fail. Most people don't realize that the point isn't to reach some state. The point is to practice this cycle of  focus -> get lost in thought -> realize you're lost in thought -> refocus.
Even if it didn't feel comfortable or peaceful, you did it correctly.

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I see. When we were taught this in school, I understood the goal as to reach calmness during every session through the process you mentioned and if you didn't do that, you didn't meditate properly. I'm glad to know that I was still meditating properly.

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You absolutely were doing it well. This widespread misconception unfortunately discourages so many people when they are right at the gates of doing good work on themselves.
Mingyur Rinpoche has lots of secular videos where he guides clarifies this  point well.

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Thank you for the recommendation and the consolation that I was doing it well.

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⁠@@studentofspacetimei’m definitely failing. i couldn’t do it for more than 5 minutes, my mind kept getting lost in thought, then after 5 minutes i physically could not refocus it anymore.

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​​@@aliciacarneyyThen you just try five minutes again tomorrow. It's really like muscle training, it's called a 'practice' for a reason.
It's a very uncomfortable process initially. But the dividends down the road are priceless.

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yeah, i’ve been doing it since i commented that and it’s getting better.

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Great! I'm happy for you. Another thing I learned from several masters is that meditation goes in cycles: Sometimes you feel like you're on a roll, sometimes you feel stagnant. But you keep doing it no matter what.

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yes, i’ve been doing it every morning and night since i first commented that and have felt both haha.

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You did it wrong its not for enlightenment its for measuring your breath

Answer 14

To put it simple,  meditate for 17mins!

Comments

And use panoramic vision

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. But it ended before he explained what panoramic vision is. Do you know? I have searched online and all I can find is ways to practice peripheral vision. Such as starting straight ahead then starting to notice... without moving our eyes off the original focus, what we see in the peripheral vision. Is that what it means to practice panoramic vision?

Answer 15

There's a book called Hidden Time Wealth, and it talks about how using some secret techniques, you can overcome procrastination and accomplish anything in life. It's not just a bunch of empty promises; it's the real deal.

Comments

may i know the author??

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We couldn't find this book, can you tell us the author's name or how we can get it on the  Internet?

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Author plz

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Dr Eleanor Chase

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The website looks shady though

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​@@vishnuprasanth4725wow, does it ever. "Banned ebooks"

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Kk

Answer 16

I've spent years trying to figure out why even without meds I don't struggle nearly as much as other adhd'ers and I think this is part of the answer. I have always had very strong interoception and have been doing this since I was a kid as a coping mechanism to reduce sensory overload.

Comments

A cold shower will really help as well

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ADHD is a spectrum too, some people are much more impacted than others. Also the environment you grew up in, how chaotic it might have been, how much shaming and of course like you said the coping strategies you either were taught or somehow came to like you did.

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I have always had very strong interoception and have been doing this since I was a kid too. It's cool to hear someone else say that

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Aerobic exercise also strengthens attention .

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Anyone can tell this in easy wording?

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All of what you said has zero to do with ADHD. The entire combination of what you described is environmental, resulting in perception/perspective interpretation: high intensity stimulation that's not in the control of the perceiver creates rapid firing of Neuro/brain activity.
When the perceiver (usually children) can't identify the multi-stimulation, the brain is in rapid-fire. That "state" is the memory that is recycled, reprocessed, literally millions of times (prob more), and it effects the whole body-memory of that perception or multiple perceptions which in turn can cause confusion, especially in children.
Take the child, the Mind, away from intense (abnormal) stimulation and there is no "ADHD"
The label of ADHD was created to help the clinical field identify the effects of dysfunction in the environment of deteriorated family dynamics, i.e. the rise of incapable parenting

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Answer 17

In simple terms, this video is saying that spending just 17 minutes in a quiet practice, where you focus on your breathing and internal feelings, can significantly improve your ability to pay attention. This practice may help reduce distractions, especially for those with ADHD, and could potentially offset age-related declines in focus. It's like a quick and easy way to "rewire" your brain for better attention, and it seems to work after just one session.

Comments

But do I need to sit down? Can't I just walk?

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Huberman seems to say at the beginning that it's not, but then he actually calls it meditation at the end.

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You actually listened and got it , unlike a bunch of other 'experts' here.

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I was paying so much attention tonthe video that I saw him saying 17 minutes and sometimes 15 minutes

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Bruh ... Thank u very much

Answer 18

17min sit, eyes closed, attention to body and breathing

Comments

​@@DanDascalescu-dandv he claims that you only have to do it once, and it lasts the rest of your life.

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multiple ways to meditate.

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You can’t say you’re not going to try and get a sub meditate and then give us some meditation exercise. Let’s just call what it is.

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It is not. Real meditation is that only. People often confuse meditation with some guided imagination which may be a good start, but the eventual goal is to be able to sit without engaging in thoughts for some time, and then extending the practice to follow throughout the day, even while doing any work, conversations etc.

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.5847 those focuse meditations are just an intermediate steps in reaching to meditative state of what is described here. If thoughts also are diluted in this process, and eventually eliminated, that is the end goal of any meditative journey.

Answer 19

I just did like 15 minutes and it helped me so much i feel like a new human :D thanks !

Answer 20

I’ve been doing this on and off for the last couple of weeks and I genuinely noticed a difference after the first time. My aim is to do it everyday. Thank you!!