Speed reading and the activation of peripheral vision is one-and-the-same. It is Clark Kent morphing into Superman.

Peripheral - refers to the area outside of the center, the boundary. In vision it is perceived at the outer edges of the retina. We call it lateral-left and lateral-right, and is your side-view.

In daily beta consciousness we use Foveal Vision - a narrow-concentration on a single point in front of us. Reading a page, surfing-the web, typing on your word- processor, and holding a personal conversation - all require foveal-vision.

When we activate our foveal vision, we filter-out what is located lateral-left and lateral-right. When you write a letter or play a video-game, you eyes and brain are triggered-and-sustained by narrow foveal-vision.

Speed reading consists of both foveal (acute, sharp), and peripheral vision - seeing lateral left-and-right, and above and below the center point. We have the option of a hard (narrow), focus or a soft (wide) focus by activating one-or-more of the six-muscles in each eye - four Rectus and two Oblique.

Width

Foveal vision is about 6-letters wide, the size of a standard word, while peripheral vision is up to 36 letters wide, or six-average-words. When we read linearly, foveal- vision is dominant, and when we learn to read vertically and visually, we excite peripheral-vision.

Western civilization trains students to read using foveal, (sharp, focused narrow), vision. It limits us to reading one multi-syllable word at-a-time, about 200 words per minute. Speed reading requires adding peripheral-vision to the standard foveal vision - permitted speeds of up to 1,200 words per minute.

The faster you read the better your comprehension because you gain the benefit of concentrated-attention and context. The slower you read, the worse your comprehension. It is a scientific fact verified over the past 50 years of research.

Physiology

Our eyes are the portals through which the electro-magnetic radiation from our environment reaches our visual system. Our retina contains photoreceptors - cones and rods - and receives these light images. Rods create peripheral-vision, and cones our foveal vision.

Vision takes place mainly in the brain; it begins in the retina, which codes the information for the Optic Nerves and our Occipital Cortex (behind the ears).

Once images are received in the brain structures, they are formatted and processed for further action. Peripheral-vision uses different neural-pathways and photoreceptors than our narrow foveal-vision.

Remember - essentially our eyes are Motion-Detectors. Use a Pacer and your eyes and brain speed-up to double and triple your present snailing speed.

Changes

When you activate peripheral-vision, viewing the entire panorama in front, sides, and around you, your body and brain react differently than using the more common foveal vision.

a) Your breathing changes from higher (shallow), to deeper diaphragmatic breathing. It is healthier.

b) You relax your face and jaw muscles. It feels better.

c) Your hands-and-feet become warmer. It feels cozy.

d) Stream-of-consciousness (self-talk) is reduced up to 65%. Your mind stills.

Foveal-vision - what we use up to 95% of our waking hours - arouses our Sympathetic Nervous System, which is connected to activity, adrenaline and chronic stress.

Peripheral vision is linked to our Parasympathetic Nervous System, associated with rest, relaxation, calmness and healing. When you are using Peripheral-Vision, anxiety, nervousness, and stress are road blocked from your mind.

Another name for adrenaline is epinephrine (fight-or-flight), while your parasympathetic nervous system produces acetylcholine - the relaxation and fear dispelling neurotransmitter.

Examples of How to Relax

1. Look at the wall or space in front of you and fixate a few degrees or inches above your eye-level. Staring at the horizon or at the stars uses peripheral vision and will relax your mind and body within sixty-seconds.

Broaden you field-of-vision by noticing what is lateral left-and-right of the center. In ten-seconds you activate peripheral-vision and begin to see out of the corners of each eye; that is soft-focus.

2. When you find your attention wandering or you are distracted, focus your attention on your breathing. Do not try to change your rate of breathing, just become aware of it and it begins to respond and get in-sync with your desire to relax.

If you have tension in a part of your body - neck, shoulders and back are the most common - do not laugh - but imagine breathing through the area that is generating pain.

Within sixty-seconds (without aspirin), of mentally visualizing the pain disintegrating through each breath - it will disappear and not return. You are combining both left and right brain skills to relax and produce endorphins to sooth the tension and stress in your body.

It is a fact that where you focus your attention (for healing), while mentally visualizing a relaxation, produces a flood of neuropeptides of health.

Endwords

Consider that your purpose in life requires a search, a treasure-hunt, and is not readily apparent like a bolt of lightning.

The more useful you are to other people, the better you feel about yourself. When we ignore the search for money and hunt instead for the purpose of our existence, money appears to attract itself to our endeavors.

Let us not get crazy - we live in a competitive world, and it is fun because the greater our usefulness to the greatest number of folks, the larger our personal success. There is no age-limit to discovering our life purpose.

We have known retirees who through their own efforts created fortunes because they were unconcerned about wealth, and very excited about providing solutions to problems that affected others.

Speed reading may be your competitive-edge and super-charge you to the fast-track. Would reading-and-remembering three books, articles and reports in the time your peers could hardly finish one - help you succeed?

We meet graduates ten years later who tell us they study three-new-books weekly, and how it has changed their life. Some talk of earning millions as investors as a result of their own research.

Many folks avoid Alzheimers because they use their cognitive skills as a Fire Wall.

The healthiest hobby extent is learning, and speed reading makes you a master of personal discovery.

See ya,

copyright 2006 H. Bernard Wechsler www.speedlearning.org hbw@speedlearning.org