After the workshop · Workshop

Keep practicing at home

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].

A few minutes with yourself twice a day. Why a little is enough, why you hardly notice anything from it, and how a journal shows you what the feeling doesn’t.

After the workshop · keep practicing

After the workshop, a few minutes a day are enough, if you take them regularly.

Be with yourself twice a day. More is not better. Don’t expect to notice much from it. There is a reason for that, and there is a way to see where you stand anyway.

2 × a dayfor example morning and evening

1 to 5 minuteseach time

30 secondsin between, when you need it

1 × a weeka few lines in your journal

The right amount

At the end of “Learning to Heal” I give everyone who wants to keep practicing the same rough guide.

Rico’s words
And those who then want to do it, who want to go deeper, really twice a day, one to three minutes, maybe five minutes. And that’s enough.
Rico Brunner, workshop

In the morningOne to five minutes with yourself before the day begins.

In betweenWhen you notice that you need it, even just thirty seconds.

In the eveningAnother one to five minutes.

Once a weekA few lines: What weighed on me, and how did I deal with it?

How the exercise works is explained under Being with yourself. More is not better here. If you practice too much, you turn the exercise into something artificial.

Why a little is enough

An energy field processes best what it gets in small portions. Many small steps don’t overwhelm it. One big block at once is quickly too much. What matters is not the total amount, but the portion in relation to your strength at the moment.

The same time, distributed differently. Small portions stay below what can be processed right now. Schematic.

That’s why in the workshops you don’t learn a growing number of exercises. You take the same exercise home and do it in small portions.

Why you hardly notice anything from it

This is where it gets unfamiliar. Practicing gives you little feedback, and what has become normal for you no longer stands out to you.

Rico’s words
Because the stronger you become, the less you feel your own strength; the others notice it.
Rico Brunner, workshop

On top of that, there is the way perception is built. An energy field is like an iceberg. Only the tip is above the water. What changes there, you feel right away. The largest part lies beneath. What happens there, you often feel only much later, or not at all.

Only a small part of the energy field lies in the area you feel directly. Schematic.

For practicing, that is inconvenient. The feedback that keeps you at it is missing. That’s why it is mentioned here, before you start.

A journal instead of a feeling

So I recommend keeping a journal about your resilience. Once a week you write down what weighed on you and how you dealt with it. After a while you can compare. Then it is not the feeling that measures, but the comparison over time.

Memory isn’t very reliable here. What no longer occupies you, you quickly forget. Ask yourself which three things were on your mind five years ago. Most people no longer know, unless it was a big event.

What is visible at the end of the workshop

At the end of a workshop I often say a sentence that surprises some people.

Rico’s words
Most of what happened in this workshop, we didn’t talk about at all.
Rico Brunner, workshop

Some people tell me at the end of the two days that they didn’t feel anything. Some of them get in touch again later.

Rico’s words
And then half a year later they said: now I know what you meant. It’s like a process.
Rico Brunner, workshop

If you don’t notice anything after the weekend, that’s allowed. More on this under When you don’t perceive anything.

Keeping at it, even after a break

The biggest obstacle in practicing is stopping. I have known people who tried for twenty years. Every time things got tight, they stopped. From their point of view, it was twenty years of practice. From my point of view, it was twenty beginnings.

A break is part of it. What matters is that you start again afterwards, from where you stand right now. A missed day is no reason to give up the week.

The same amount for every situation

If you are having a hard time right now, less is often enough: a few breaths, in between, when you need it. If you want to keep your ground, the fixed amount gives the day a frame, and the journal shows you where you stand. If you want to move further, nothing changes about the amount for yourself. What is added if you want to work with others is explained under If you want to work with people yourself.

Questions that come up often

What time of day is best for practicing?: That isn’t fixed. Many people take the morning and the evening. What matters is that the exercise has a fixed place in your day.
What if I skip a day?: Then you start again the next day. A break is no reason to stop.
Should I add new exercises?: No. The same exercise, repeated often, takes you further than many different ones. Each time you understand it a little differently.
How long do I have to practice before something shows?: That can’t be said, and I don’t want to estimate it either. It is different for every person. The journal shows you more than any number from me.
Can I repeat the workshop?: Yes, and many people do. The exercises stay the same; your understanding changes.

How to continue

If you don’t perceive anything when you practice, When you don’t perceive anything explains what may be behind it. If you want to work with people yourself later on, you will find what that involves under If you want to work with people yourself.