Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ PhotoReading, Memory Optimizer Some Tips On PhotoReading

For those who are interested, and for what it's worth, here are some things that I have figured out/discovered over the years while PhotoReading:

Everything IS contained in the PhotoReading book, the home study course and the seminar - although the relative importance of things might not be stressed enough, in my opinion. The biggest thing that needs to be stressed is, I think, the use of relaxation and learning how to interpret the signals that your inner mind delivers.

PhotoReading delivers as promised, but you have to get the "knack" of it (like anything else), and getting the "knack" is dependent upon paying attention to how your mind works. A 3-10X speedup in reading speed/comprehension using PhotoReading is actually at the low end of what the process can deliver, and that with practice "spontaneous activation" can increase in frequency, and that application of the material PhotoRead is almost immediately possible given the right circumstances.

Ok - so the question becomes, just how does one unlock the powers of PhotoReading? I think the "knack" is letting go of the immediate need for conscious comprehension and awareness of the material, and learning to open the "gateway" to the subconscious. In the PhotoReading book Paul Scheele recommends letting your intuition guide you, looking for inner promptings, etc. to guide super reading and dipping. I think a big part of getting ready for this is the dictionary game - it helps train the doorway to your inner mind and teaches you how to interpret the promptings that your conscious mind receives from the inner mind. I think most people play the dictionary game a few times and then put it aside. They then go about trying to PhotoRead, expecting the material to come to conscious awareness the same way it does when regular reading - i.e., trying to force recall through the conscious mind - rather than allowing it to bubble up from the inner mind.

Playing around with Image Streaming, "playing" with the information that you PhotoRead, using Direct Learning, etc., all help in learning how to get the process to actually work. One of the biggest things to learn, however, is to let the conscious mind do the job "thinking" and the inner mind do the job of "absorbing/learning" and not confusing the functions of the two. I guess that what I'm saying is - to really get the system to work for you, you have to learn to let go of the old paradigms of learning and trust that the material is absorbed while PhotoReading. Allow it to come to your awareness. Have a purpose for what you're learning, but have fun with it.

A lot of this stuff is, I think, based in the same mental technologies that Jose Silva developed/extended. The idea was a relaxed "ideal mind state" for learning (i.e., the alpha or alpha-theta state), and the beta state for action. Nervousness, pressure, etc. bounces the mind from the alpha-state to the beta-state immediately, effectively closing the door to the information flow from the subconscious (ref. _The High Performance Mind_ by Anna Wise for a decent discussion on this). Forcing recall moves the PhotoReader from the relaxed alpha-state to the beta-state and makes access to the information increasingly difficult.

So - back to what I was saying above...this is all mentioned in the PhotoReading book, but is not stressed enough, I think. Relax...play...keep the channels to the inner mind open by NOT forcing recall...let it bubble to the conscious mind. Play with pictures, images, intuitions to see the different ways that you access the information. Play the dictionary game every day, but don't worry about the results...it's only a game and a training tool for learning how to relax and request stuff from your inner mind.

Who else wants to add their general tips to this thread?

Thanks for the tips. Do you have any activation techniques that you use besides Imagestreaming? What process do you use with imagestreaming? Do you ask your mind questions? Do you picture any specific object? Thanks in advance.

SDstudent,

I do ask my mind questions and then sit back for a few minutes to let the questions percolate through the layers of my consciousness. I also ask for my inner mind to organize the information for me in the best manner for me to become aware of. Concerning visualizing a specific object - after PhotoReading, while performing the closing affirmations, I many times get an image of a vast network with lines of energy/information criss-crossing through my brain and in the space around me, weaving into my consciousness. I also, many times, get a shudder that runs from the base of my skull and down my spine, along with a tingling sensation - I don't know if that is something objective or subjective, but it seems to occur frequently when I've finished PhotoReading, especially if I have really hit the "state" correctly.

Concerning methods of activation that I use - it really depends, for me, on the material that I am working with, the time I have, and the amount of consious awareness that I need at that time. I will play with Image Streaming in order to get the channels opened to my inner mind with respect to the book that I am activating. I will play around with mind maps and may even super read the entire book (for full conscious understanding of the material). In the case of rapid reading, I bring myself close to an alpha state by using my breathing and relaxing my muscles. I then race through the book at a rate of about 5 seconds per page, using a relaxed (but clear) widened gaze - I don't know how to explain it, but it's like I look at the page and just understand what's on it. I used this approach of activating physics and mathematics texts when I was in graduate school, where I needed full comprehension for the problem sets that followed each chapter. For less difficult material, I might only Image Stream and mind probe (especially if I have somebody available to discuss the book - they act like an external focus to trigger recall).

Another technique I played with, with some success, is a spinoff from the Silva Method. Using the "mental laboratory" idea, I create a "mental classroom" with an expert on the material I just PhotoRead - perhaps the author of the book, or somebody versed in the subject matter. In this "mental classroom" I have them lecture me on the material in the book, and have a question and answer session with them to clarify points I don't (consciously) understand.

Does this help?

Craig,
Wonderful

Margaret,

Thank you very, very much! I just hope people find it useful and take the stance of just playing with the system - I think it's mostly a matter of finding out how your own mind works and turning it into your favorite toy! :-)

Yes, how insightfully put! Turning our minds into our favorite toy <<<< That's it; that's exactly how i feel. I'd never thought of it in those terms, but that's how i feel these days. Nothing seems to intimidate me when it comes to learning or tackling an abundance of reading. I was in a SAP class last night & used the Silva 3 finger technique along w/ deep breathing to relax. I mentally set my goal for what i wanted out of that class. I relaxed my gaze to be periphereal as much as possible. Even today, i still recall everything i was taught. I have to say i also did a mental MM. By this i mean that i just kept relating everything i was hearing w/ some aspect in the previous system we were using. Then as i was walking back i mentally relaxed & asked myself what the main steps were.

These techniques are techniques that can improve our lives significantly. Your comments were a great help to me in the past; i'm delighted to see them appearing again. We all benefit from your insight & unique ability to express them. I even try to write "smarter" when i comment on your stuff .......well, at least i try

quote:

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Originally posted by ckerins:
Margaret,

Thank you very, very much! I just hope people find it useful and take the stance of just playing with the system - I think it's mostly a matter of finding out how your own mind works and turning it into your favorite toy! :-)

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Margaret,

What is the Silva 3 finger technique and what do you mean by MM

Thanks, ckerins.
That was great. I feel frustrated sometimes because I haven't gotten that feeling of comprehension during activation such as in rapid reading. How long did it take you to achieve this level? And how can you test yourself to see if you are getting the information into your subconscious when you don't achieve comprehension? Thanks.

I'm such a newbie

Oh well, my very small input on this topic is page turning.

Page turning for me while photoreading was a little odd, because I would get these clumps of like 4 pages, and sometimes, nothing would come up at all. So I adjusted the Paul Scheele suggested page turning method.

I take my thumb and give it a little pressure on the right page as I glide my hand up to a little before the middle of the top of the page, then slip my middle finger over it. Then in a motion similar to snapping (only in slow motion) I bring my middle finger to my palm, and my thumb becomes flush with the side in my hand. I do this will sliding my hand to the right side of the page.

I know the description is a bit confusing, but I couldn't figure out a way to describe it better.

Oh well.

I suck at photoreading again. =)

I'm having such off and on periods. I know half of it is my unhealthy lifestyle however (staying up 5 days at a time, smoking, caffeine monger: I know that all these things are counterproductive to PRing, so I am indeed taking the hard road; just the other day from lack of sleep, I dozed off in the middle of the memory supercharger. Then I overslept class. This was all at Au Bon Pain. I can only imagine the expressions on people's faces while they look at this kid with his book open, coffee on the side, headphones around his ears, drool streaming out of his mouth, and his legs and hands uncrossed for a duration of three hours. Why no one woke me up, I'll never know). I can just imagine my teacher's reaction if I tell her why I missed a quiz.

Me: I'm sorry, I fell asleep while photoreading.
Teacher: What's photoreading?
Me: It's a special speedreading thing, only you don't really read, but then later on you look through it, but you have to...tangerine...relaxing place...Scheele...breath...
Teacher: Way to go Ramon! You just FAILED THE COURSE!
Me: Yay! No..wait...d'oh!

-Ramon http://razor.ramon.com

Regarding the Silva Method three finger techique - there are multiple ways to describe it. In the language of NLP it is a trigger/anchor. In the language of hypnosis, it is a post-hypnotic suggestion/trigger. The idea is that, while in a deep state of alpha-theta, you tell yourself that by putting your thumb and first two fingers together you will be in the alpha state and will be able to recall what you need to, or memorize things easier, or automatically enter the alpha state by just doing that.

MM = mind mapping. A non-linear form of notetaking, using images, trigger word, colored pens or pencils, etc. It was developed by Tony Buzan. The techniques are written down in numerous places on the internet, so I will suggest you just do an internet search in order to save space here.

Page turning - I wouldn't get too hung up on page turning - if pages stick together you can always go through the book multiple times. I usually will go through a book 2-3 times this way - PhotoRead the book upsidedown and backwards (i.e., from last page to first) and the, while still in state, flip it over and around and PhotoRead it from front to back...and then maybe repeat from back to front once more. I also fan the book a couple times in front of my eyes while in the PhotoFocus state in order to pick up any words that I might have missed. Going through the book a couple of times while PhotoReading helps ease the concerns of my conscious mind that I might have missed things the first time through (especially if pages stick together) and only takes a couple of extra minutes.

Magaret - I REALLY appreciate all of your posts. I am still learning all the ways to use this system and appreciate seeing what successes other people have had, and really enjoy what you've written. Please keep up the awesome work!

razordu30 - we're ALL learning how to use the system, and how to use our minds for more fun and learning. Enjoy the process! BTW - it's great seeing your posts in the forum, I really like them.

SDstudent - concerning seeing whether or not the stuff is getting into my subconscious, I play the dictionary game just about every day. It helps "widen the channels" to my inner mind, making it easier to access information that I do PhotoRead. Concerning comprehension - as a student, you have a great chance to answer questions on the material that you PhotoRead and activate. When I was doing graduate studies in physics, the recitation periods were a tremendous opportunity to see how much I was actually getting out of the PhotoReading. I still had to study, but I found my study time was really cut down with the help of the system. I still had to work at solving the problems, because it wasn't a simple regurgitation of what was PhotoRead, and required an extension of what was given in the text (_Quantum Mechanics_ by Merzbacher - sp? - was especially like that, where you had to derive all of the results that were used later in the text...you had to figure out the proofs and stuff yourself, which still required work). Other ways of knowing that you "got" the material is to get a friend that you trust and play "question and answer" games with them. Let them have the text tht you PhotoRead and ask you questions about the material - then you relax and allow the answers to come to you. Eventually you'll learn to recognize the "feel" of stuff bubbling up from the inner mind and can use that as a guide for expanding your awareness more and getting more out of the system. In this regard, the dictionary game helps, too. When you get good results, try to recall how you were feeling or what you did exactly that gave you those results, then try to recreate the sensations.