Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ PhotoReading, Memory Optimizer Newbie Here

I've attempted to follow all the steps outlined in the book, but I'm still failing at PR and end up having to read all my books over again. I'll outline in detail my typical PR process (this deviates from what the books tells to do, probably):

1.) I prepare by casually stating my purpose, such as comprehending most of <insert book or except of book>.

2.) I close my eyes to initiate the tangerine technique. I picture a tangerine being put on the back of my head. Sometimes, I would scratch that part of my head where I should imagine the tangerine would be.

3.) I begin the previewing stage with some trigger words already in my mind. I intuitively have a sense of what trigger words may be important judging from the book's title, or if the reading is for a class, the curriculum of the class. I skim through the pages of the book, adding additional trigger words.

4.) I sit down comfortably to prepare to enter the accelerated learning state. If I'm in my bedroom, I lie on my bed for a few minutes, clearing my mind of all stray thoughts. I start photoreading by getting into photofocus on the first page before proceeding through. I usually cross my eyes to achieve photofocus (yes, I realized from this forum that this causes unnecessary eye strain.) I then flip through the pages in the photofocused state, spending between 1 and 2 seconds before turning pages. If the book is fairly wide, I photofocus on left and right pages separately, which requires turning my head every page change.

5.) I wait at least an hour before trying to activate. I sometimes don't make any special preparations before activating (not even tangerine technique.) I activate by running through all the pages in the book again, briefly glancing at each individual paragraph.

6.) The final step is rapidreading. Unfortunately, all of my steps ended up being futile by this point, as I still barely have any idea what the book is about, so I read through it normally.

I realize that some of my steps need to be refined, by I'm still baffled at my lack of even partial success in the process. Granted, I never purchased the tapes or atteneded a seminar, but I'm nowhere near giving up. Any ideas?

first of all, crossing your eyes not only causes unnecessary eye strain, it also fails to accomplish what photofocus is for. diverging your eyes widens your gaze to see the entire page, while crossing your eyes does not do the same thing. try to work on getting photofocus to work, it will help. Also, i think you need to preview the book to get the structure, and look through the chapter titles, and see what the book is really about. then photoread, try to make multiple passes, such as backwards or upside down, to make sure you catch the information. 2 passes if you dont want to spend too much time. for a beginner, wait more than an hour. maybe photoread before sleeping, and activate in the morning if you have time, if not, then activate before bed the next day. if you photoread in the middle of the day, take a nap. Paul suggests getting a sleep cycle to rest the brain, let it get away from concious processing like walking, feeling, and other active brain functions. Let it have its time with the inner mind and let it connect. Also, affirm that you have the information of the book inside you after photoreading. search through the forum for specific problems you face.

When entering the accerated learning state it is much the same as the tangerine technique. It is unnecessary to lie down to enter this state and quite possibly counter productive. Sit with the book in front of you. Re-affirm your statement of purpose and concentation and when you are in the ideal state open your eyes and commence photoreading. As already stated the Photofocus should be with a parallel vision (one eye to each page is one way of describing it). If you can't get the blip page use the imaginary x technique. Gaze softly at the page noticing the patterns the white spaces is making on the pages as you turn them.

Make sure you're doing multiple passes during the activation stage... this can consist of one to five(or more) 20-30 minute passes. This will depend on the text, how complicatied it normally is to you and how much you want to know from the text. Basicly you need to do this as often as required to answer the questions you formed from your trigger words.
Remember if the book normally took you 12 hour to learn then in the beginning you'll expect to spend 3 to 4 hours during the activation stage of SR and dipping.

Rapid reading is optional and often unnecessary if you spend enough time on the activation stage.

Alex

[This message has been edited by AlexK (edited July 28, 2002).]

[This message has been edited by AlexK (edited July 28, 2002).]