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Frequently asked questions

Please note: the workshops are currently held in German only. I plan to offer workshops in English at a later date. If you would like to learn this and organize a workshop in English yourself, you are welcome to send an inquiry to [email protected].

Short answers to what people want to know before, during and after the workshops, sorted by topic. The full explanation is on the linked page in each case.

The topics

Is this something for me?

Rico’s words

But for me, craft means you have to practice it, learn it and develop it.

Rico Brunner, Workshop

Can anyone learn this?

I am convinced that what I do can be learned. For me it is a craft and not a gift. What you bring with you plays a role. How much you practice plays a bigger one. More

Do I have to be gifted or already sense something?

No. Every person perceives the energy of other people. The only open question is whether they do so consciously and how well they can tell apart what they perceive. Telling things apart is practiced in the workshops. More

Do I need prior knowledge or training?

No. In the same room sit people with their own practice, people with experience in other methods and people who are hearing about energy fields for the first time. I don’t set any condition for taking part. More important than prior knowledge is whether you see your own limits. More

Who are the workshops for?

For people who want to learn to stay with themselves and who want to understand their perception better. Some come out of a hard time. Some want to hold on to what they have built up. Others want to go further, perhaps one day work with other people. Often it is all of these at once for one person, depending on whether it is about family, a relationship or work. More

Can I come even if things are hard for me right now?

I don’t set any condition. What is practiced first is staying with yourself, in short blocks. Nobody has to do anything in the workshop they don’t want to. If you are in acute distress, the workshop isn’t the right place; what you do then is described further down under “What the workshop is not.” More

Is this esoteric?

For many people, intuition is something lofty. I experience it as the opposite, as something very down-to-earth: a way of interpreting impressions, alongside the intellect. The exercises are sober. You sit, sense, write things down and ask follow-up questions. More

Which workshop do I start with?

Both begin with the same basic exercise, so you can start with either one. If above all you want to be able to stay with yourself, “Learning to Heal” is a good fit. If your perception is on your mind, “Learning to Perceive” is a good fit. More

Will I learn to work the way you do?

You learn the basis. My aim isn’t for you to copy me, but for you to take away a mechanism with which you find your own way. How far you get with it depends above all on how long you practice. More

When, where and how you register

When is the next workshop?

“Learning to Heal” takes place on November 28 and 29, 2026. There is no date yet for “Learning to Perceive.” More

Where does it take place?

At REVIER Säntispark in Abtwil near St. Gallen. More

How long does a workshop last?

Two days. It used to be a single workshop over four days. I noticed that too many exercises at once make people tired and that less gets through then. That is why today there are two workshops of two days each. More

Do the workshops take place in person?

Yes. You practice with other people in the same room, and that is part of it: you only experience where you end and the other person begins when someone is across from you. More

What does a workshop cost?

The prices are on the website.

How do I register?

Through the website, on the page for the respective workshop. It also says there what registration involves.

How big is the group?

It mustn’t be too small. In my experience, “Learning to Perceive” doesn’t work with four participants, because after an hour everyone knows each other too well. More

Can I attend the same workshop twice?

Yes, and many people do. The exercises stay the same; your understanding changes. More

What happens during the two days

What do I learn in “Learning to Heal”?

To stay with yourself and to lay on hands without transferring energy. I care about stability and strength, not about experiences and entertainment. More

What do I learn in “Learning to Perceive”?

Less sensing than asking questions: perceiving, writing down, questioning, asking anew. Practice happens mostly in pairs. You won’t get twenty rules that give you certainty. More

What does a workshop day look like?

First you arrive with yourself. Then come short exercises, with a change of places in between. Only when your footing holds does something new come in: laying on hands or perceiving in pairs. Between the exercises there is time for questions. More

Why does perceiving come last?

Without firm footing, perception becomes bigger, but telling things apart doesn’t get better, and that is overwhelming. That is why both workshops begin with you yourself. More

What is the basic exercise?

You sit, close your eyes and try to sense your whole body, as a whole. Whether it goes well doesn’t matter. It is only about doing the exercise. More

Do I have to do something right?

No. It is about practicing, not about right or wrong. Whoever makes a special effort usually gets less far. More

Why are the exercises so unspectacular?

That is intentional. Whoever applies something they don’t understand can harm themselves and others. That is why I practice the basis until it sits. Whoever practices it long enough moves further on their own. More

Where am I touched during laying on hands?

On the forehead, at the crown of the head, on the belly, on the knees or on the feet. Never on the chest area. When someone changes hands, one hand stays on the body so that you know where they are with your eyes closed. More

What if I don’t feel comfortable during laying on hands?

Then you say stop and sit up. Nobody has to work with someone they don’t want to, and nobody takes it personally. More

Do the others tell me what they perceive about me?

Not on the first day. What someone writes down about you, they keep to themselves, and bearing that is itself part of the exercise. On the second day the others tell you what they perceived, and you give feedback. More

Will my personal issues be worked on in the workshop?

No. The two days are for practicing; your story isn’t the focus. For a question about your own energy field there is the session, which has its own section in this documentation. More

Why do I write down what I perceive?

What you have to remember takes up room your perception needs. Writing it down takes the load off. Later you can check what was right and what wasn’t. More

When you perceive a lot or nothing

How do I know whether I’m imagining it?

At the beginning you can’t be sure, and that’s okay. The feeling that you are imagining something usually comes from being overwhelmed, because you can’t do it well enough yet. With practice and checking, it becomes less. More

Can I trust my perception?

As you practice and gain confidence, that changes. I myself don’t trust my perception blindly. I check it all the time, and that is my method, not a discouragement. More

How do I know whether it was my wish or a perception?

Ask yourself: is this my wish, or does it fit the other person? I started with this question myself. Later, more come along: am I imagining this, am I thinking it, or am I perceiving it? More

What if I don’t sense anything?

That’s okay. Don’t put yourself under pressure and don’t strain. If you’re unsure, it’s better to wait and observe than to do something. More

I perceive a great deal. Is that intuition?

Perceiving a lot isn’t the same as perceiving clearly. For me, intuition begins where you can name and distinguish what you have sensed. Whoever senses a lot and doesn’t distinguish is more likely to be flooded. More

Is intuition the same as a gut feeling?

The gut feeling is only its visible part. Intuition is a way of interpreting impressions, alongside the intellect. It shows something, and the intellect asks the questions about it. More

Why do so many people believe they have no intuition?

Not because they don’t have any. The intellect drowns out an untrained intuition, especially when there is a strong wish. The intuition then agrees with the wish, and nobody notices. More

Why am I sometimes wrong even though I perceive well?

Usually because of interpreting too soon. It is like a film whose ending you think you know after ten minutes. Or because you see what you wish for instead of what is. More

How do I recognize that my observation is complete?

There is no simple rule for that; recognizing it takes time. A good start: ask the question anew instead of confirming the first answer. More

Should I tell others what I perceive?

Not unasked and not everything. First ask yourself whether it helps the other person move forward and whether they can bear it. While you tell them, you observe how they react, and you stop when it gets to be too much. More

When you want to be there for others

Do I give away my own energy when I help?

Not if you work the way we practice it: being there, staying with yourself, transferring nothing. Whoever gives their own life force becomes weaker in the process. More

What is different from transferring energy?

There are three ways: giving your own life force, passing on a universal energy, or stimulating the other person’s energy field so that it works again by itself. Only the third is practiced in the workshops, like laughter that is contagious. More

Do you send energy yourself?

No. An energy field can only process its own energy well. I give an impulse, and what the field does with it, it decides for itself. More

Do I take something on from the other person during laying on hands?

If you stay with yourself and don’t want to transfer anything, an encounter arises, not a transfer. It is like with the sun: it warms you, and still nothing passes from it to you. More

Do I have to protect myself?

No. Protection costs energy, which you then lack. What carries you is your own strength. If you have the feeling you need to protect yourself, you are already past your limit. More

How do I know whether I may help someone?

The limit begins where you become unsure how you should help. Don’t start anything you can’t bring to an end. Experience alone doesn’t replace that. More

May I work on the energy field of a person who doesn’t know about it?

An energy field is not manipulated, not even with good intentions. Meaning well doesn’t protect against causing harm. Part of the craft is knowing what you are doing and doing it only where it fits. More

After the workshop

Do I have to practice afterwards, and how much?

A few minutes twice a day, for example in the morning and in the evening. More isn’t better here. It takes little, but the right thing. More

What can I do at home?

The basic exercise. In addition, if you were in “Learning to Perceive,” the round with a single simple question: write it down, two minutes with yourself, ask anew. More

And if I don’t notice anything after the workshop?

That happens and doesn’t mean that nothing has happened. Some people told me half a year later that they now understand what I meant. More

Will I notice myself when something changes?

Often hardly. What has become normal for you no longer stands out to you, and often the others notice it first. That is why I recommend a resilience journal. Over time it compares what the feeling doesn’t show. More

Why does change in the energy field take so much time?

An energy field processes as much as it can carry. If everything happened at once, it would be overwhelmed. If it is already overwhelmed, it first comes to rest before anything can sort itself out. More

How long does it take until I can work with people myself?

That can’t be said the same way for everyone. Whoever wants to work with others first becomes strong themselves, and that takes years, not weeks. For one participant I once worked it out, as an estimate for her alone. More

What is often asked in the closing round

Do I have to work through everything that has happened to me?

No. What matters is what holds you back in your life today. Much may stay in the background, as long as it is processed little by little. More

Is pushing things away bad?

Not in itself. I call it a superpower. It becomes unhelpful when you push away what is obvious and what you need to take care of. More

Do I have to forgive to be able to close a chapter?

That is your decision. I make a distinction: reconciling, yes; forgiving, rather not. Whoever forgives tells their own system that it wasn’t so bad. More

Is it bad if I no longer want someone in my life?

In my view, no. You can make peace and still say: for me it was enough. More

What the workshop is not

Does a workshop replace a doctor or psychological support?

No. Medicine is responsible for the body, psychology for behavior. The workshops are about the energy field, and each of these disciplines has its own place. More

What if I feel physically unwell during the workshop?

That can happen. In one workshop a participant’s circulation became weak. I looked closely, and the cause was physical. I am not a medical device, and what concerns the body belongs to medicine. More

Has this been scientifically tested?

No. What I describe are observations from my practice since 1998: an experience-based model, not a scientifically tested method. More

What if I am in acute distress?

The workshop is not an emergency service. Seek medical help immediately; in Switzerland, call Emergency 144, the Die Dargebotene Hand helpline 143 or, for children and young people, 147.

If your question is missing here

You may find the answer if you start from your situation; Where you can start helps with that. What a word on these pages means exactly is explained under Terms from A to Z, and where the statements come from under Where the statements come from. For anything organizational, you can reach my office in St. Gallen by phone at +41 71 220 90 64 or by email at [email protected].