and is the real horsepower. Think of your unconscious mind as your
supercomputer. Right now this supercomputer is processing more
than a billion instructions every second. Your unconscious mind
records everything: what you see, hear, feel, smell, and taste during
all your waking moments. The amount of information stored is
phenomenal, and we can have access to all of it.
Our minds do not come with instruction manuals at birth. Use
the Optimal Learning State each and every time you are ready to
learn something new. For example, if you are in school, go into the
learning state at the start of each class. When you are working with
this book, go into the learning state before you start reading or per-
forming any method. Doing so ensures that you retain and compre-
hend the material optimally. Your unconscious mind will organize it
for easy and effortless retrieval later.
Take the time and do the method now. Don’t put it off!Entering the Optimal Learning State
Find a comfortable chair. Sit up straight in the chair, and make sure
your head and eyes are pointed forward, looking at the wall. Now,
pick a spot on the wall about 45 degrees above eye level. Move your
eyes only to the spot 45 degrees above the horizontal. Do not tilt
your head back. (For most people, 45 degrees above the horizontal
is as far up as they can see without moving their head.) Focus on the
spot you picked for one to two minutes. Soon you will notice you
become more and more aware of your peripheral vision. Continue
to stare at the spot until you can see approximately 180 degrees us-
ing your peripheral vision. To check this, place your hands at eye
level, about one foot from the side of your head. Now, move your
hands slowly forward from behind your ears, keeping them a foot
from your head. Notice where your hands come into view. The Op-
timal Learning State increases the range of your peripheral vision
and in general raises sensory awareness. When you can see approxi-
mately 180 degrees in your peripheral vision, you are in the Opti-
mal Learning State. (See Figure 4.2.)
When I (AF) use the Optimal Learning State, it is much easier
for me to remember what I learned. I have even used the Optimal
Learning State before driving. To my amazement, I was much more
aware of what was going on around me and was able to anticipate
Entering the Optimal Learning State 37