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Within our new Lifestyle Lounge Empowerment Center we will offer you a variety of educational concepts, tips and information on an array of important subjects that will take you to a higher level in terms of business and personal matters.  

This Lifestyle Lounge issue will introduce you to the amazing subject of preparing and concentrating in order to develop your new photo/speed reading skills. This is an empowerment topic due to the fact that not many people have acquired these skills. With these skills you will be able to read and absorb all of the knowledge/information you desire within a fraction of the time it would take you to read at the normal speeds.  

The basics that will be presented to you now will give you a head start as to what you need to do in order to increase you concentration/absorption level and your get you into reading mode. These concepts are based on the renowned works of Tony Buzan (the inventor of Mind Mapping) and Paul R. Scheele (Photoreading Skills). Get a pad and pen; here we go! 

Basic steps to increase your concentration/absorption level & induce reading mode 

1. Prepare: Place yourself in a quiet place, relax, and delete all thoughts that clutter your mind. Set a clear purpose for what you wish to accomplish/obtain from the reading material. Sample: You want the book to help you set and achieve financial goals. By empowering yourself with a clear purpose in mind, you will enter a state of relaxed alertness – where your learning ability accelerates.

2.      Preview: Start with the big picture and then the smaller parts of it. The preview process allows you to gain the knowledge of the text you are about to read. By doing this you become more accurate at predicting what is going to happen, thus making it more interesting to read.                                                                   

Preview the following parts of the reading material in question

a. front and back of book / author’s page                                             
b. contents page                                                                   
c. glossary                                                                                               
d. tittles, words in italic, bolded words and bullet points                                            
e. pictures and graphs
 

3.      Keep your body relaxed and comfortable and your mind alert. Studies show that reading and memory require attention.

4.      There is a tangerine on the top back part of your head! To achieve the “relaxed alertness state” follow the tangerine technique steps that will enable you to comprehend, retain and recall what you read. Based on the book PhotoReading by Paul R. Scheele, M.A., “This simple technique automatically directs your attention and immediately improves reading performance.” Also, “fixing one unit of attention on a single point helps you effectively focus your other available units of attention when reading.” “Example: When you drive, your best point of attention is down on the road, not on the ornament on the hood. For the reader, the best point of attention is the behind and above the head.” “This tangerine technique helps locate and maintain the ideal point of attention and instantly creates the relaxed, alert state of body and mind we desire for reading.”     
 

Tangerine Technique

1.      Hold an imaginary tangerine in your hand. Visualize and feel its weight, color, scent and texture. Toss it with one hand and catch it with the other. Now toss it back and forth from one hand to another.

2.      Catch the tangerine in your dominant hand and bring it to the top back part of your head. Touch that part of your head. Imagine feeling the tangerine resting there while you bring your arm down and relax your shoulders. Continuously make believe that this is a magic tangerine and that it stays in place.

3.      Close your eyes and let it balance on the back of your head. Your physical and mental state should be one of relaxation and alertness. Now imagine your field of vision opening up as you maintain your eyes closed.

4.      Begin reading as you maintain this feeling of relaxation and alertness.

Note: This technique is also effective for other kinds of activities where you are interested in placing yourself in a state of alertness and concentration! Test it and see. It may take a bit to get used t it. Read some paragraphs with out your magic tangerine and then some with your magic tangerine!