Why your field sets the pace

Not too fast and not too slow

A field can only take in as much as it can handle. Rico describes two mistakes. Both do harm. Working faster than a field can keep up overwhelms it. Working too slowly also weighs on it. The right pace lies in between, and it is different for every field.

Based on Rico’s description. Schematic.

So slower is not automatically the safe side. What is needed is a pace that suits the field. Rico calls weighing this up made-to-measure work, because he decides it anew for every field.

What the pace depends on

According to Rico, how fast a field can take something in depends on five things. He has put them in this order, the most important first.

1. How the interactions are doingIf the interactions in the field are overwhelmed, the whole field has to be spared. Rico added this himself, and he puts it first.
2. How irritable the field isAn irritated field already reacts strongly to very little.
3. How much stability there isMore stability means: the field can take in more without losing its balance.
4. How much energy reserve there isEnergy that isn’t needed for everyday life at the moment.
5. How much overload is already in the fieldWhat is already there counts too when something new is added.

This leads to something that surprises many people. How fast work can be done doesn’t simply depend on how big a burden is. Rico knows fields with major injuries where he can work briskly from the start. And fields that function well as a whole, where he has to work slowly in one place because that very area is badly overwhelmed. Even within the same field it can go fast here and slowly there.

The limit lies in the field, not in Rico’s ability. He describes how he often knows which steps would come next. He still only takes them once the field is ready.

Why change costs strength at first

Many people think that a change in the field always feels lighter. Rico describes it differently:

Every change lies outside the usual routine. That has a cost. That is why it needs strength, and a field that is carrying a lot anyway has little to spare. This is the reason for the small portions: each portion is a change the field can cope with.

What this looks like in the daily work

The work is done in small portions, a little every day, but in the right place. A step is finished when your field can carry on working by itself. And sometimes your field needs time. Then no work is done that day; instead there is waiting, and the next day Rico looks again. According to Rico, such breaks almost never last longer than two or three days.

Finding the cause is often more work than working on it. So Rico may do nothing on your field for two or three days and only look at where the cause really lies. Only once he has found it does he start working there.

Rico says openly that this takes patience.

Many small steps instead of one big one

The daily form grew out of experience. Rico used to accompany people in longer sessions. He noticed that a lot at once often overwhelms a field. Today he works a little every day and builds on it the next day.

A field changes all the time, also through what you experience. That is why Rico looks again every day at where it stands today, instead of working through yesterday’s plan. He compares himself to a mechanic working on a moving car.

It goes in steps, not in a straight line

Rico builds up a field step by step. Every so often he deliberately pauses his work briefly and looks at what already holds by its own strength. Whatever doesn’t hold yet goes back one step. He keeps working there before he builds the next step.

A setback only comes when a part doesn’t hold yet, and not every course shows one.

Rico explains why he checks like this by looking at the opposite. If he worked straight through for a year without ever looking, weak spots could hide. They would only show up when life puts on more pressure. The short stop is therefore part of the method. Rico calls it an intentional check.

Accepting the pace

For many people this is the hardest part. You would like it to go faster. That’s understandable. Rico doesn’t see this as a question of wanting, neither yours nor his.

How much pressure helps here, the mechanics tell us too: none. Pressure from outside slows a field down, and your own pressure does the same. How much pressure a field can handle is described on the page Pressure, strength and the leeway.

What this means for you

• More at once doesn’t make it faster. If anything, the opposite.
• A day without work isn’t a lost day. It is part of the approach.
• A hard day means neither that things are moving forward nor that they are standing still. What to do then is on the page When things get harder.
• Don’t set yourself a tight goal. Pressure slows things down, your own too.

If a lot is hard right now, the pace explains why Rico starts gently. If things are going well and you want to keep it that way, it explains why he checks every so often what holds by its own strength. And if you want to develop, the same rule applies: development also costs strength and needs its own pace.

Questions that come up often

Can Rico work faster if I’m in a hurry?

No. The pace comes from your field, not from the calendar. Going faster than the field can keep up would only overwhelm it.

How long will it take for me?

That can’t be said in advance, because the pace is read from your field anew every day. What applies to duration, breaks and ending is explained under Duration, pause and ending.

Is a day when Rico only looks wasted time?

No. Finding the cause is often the bigger part of the work. Only once Rico knows where it lies does he work there.

What does “slightly underchallenged” mean?

The field gets a little less than it could process at the moment. That way it has strength left to take in what is new and carry it on by itself.

Does a setback mean I’m back at the beginning?

No. According to Rico’s description, a setback costs one step, not the whole way. It is part of the checking, not a fall back to the start.

Where to go next

Why you often feel little of this work is explained in Why you don’t feel everything. How a day of remote energy work runs is described under Four steps every day.