Stephen,
Yes, glasses will often pull you back in. The imaginary x techniques works just as well. So by all means use it.

Is this X best envissioned as clear or solid?
It is imaginary, it provides 5 focal points the 4 corners and the center.

Is gazing at the center of the page and attempting to bring the corners into view best?

Yes, that is the idea. When photoreading we try to see the whole book with both open pages in view all at once. Normally when we read with hard focus we are only aware of a small section of the page. In Photofocus (what you are doing when you photoread)we are taking in the whole 2 pages at once. Much like looking at a landscape/sunset scene. We are taking in the whole scene all at once not getting stuck on the details.

Or is envissioning the corners and joining into an X?

You actually have the corners in your vision while photoreading.

Or just gazing out to the white spaces of the four corners satisfactory?

Gazing into the white spaces of the *text* and not looking directly at the words is the actual idea.


Now as to this distance aspect; I found the discussion of cones and rods very interesting, rods being the retinas distance sensors.
My question though is; for Photofocus if i see the four corners of the page and the letters clearly am I off the yellow brick road?

No, you can still see the words clearly. After some practice almost everyone will notice that they also see the words clearly. It is more likely to cause you a bit of bother in that you could become distracted and find yourself regular reading instead of photoreading. To help overcome this I suggest that you photoread the book upside down. (It works just as well though it is not discussed in the book in great detail.

Or should I gaze over the top of the book to a distance of a foot, a meter, as far as possible or perhaps just far enough that the letters become blurry?

No need to force it. If you use the x techniqe you just look at the centre of the book seeing the open 2 pages of the book with a soft gaze.[/B]

I actually used the x technique and soft focus for my intial photoreading experience. The blip page came later

Alex

[This message has been edited by AlexK (edited August 24, 2002).]