Welcome,
This is Allison with Mindful Pause Center,
And I'm so glad to bring you this practice today.
Some of you might have heard of this,
RAINN is an acronym for Recognize,
Allow,
Investigate,
And Nurture.
So take a moment,
We will be in practice for 15 to 20 minutes,
Pausing to ask yourself what posture will serve you best.
And choosing that posture now,
Whether it's seated,
Standing,
Or lying down.
Knowing that at any point in the practice,
You can shift the posture so that it can be more supportive.
And then just going back to this awareness of the body,
What does this posture feel like right now?
What do you notice about where gravity is?
Where do you feel alert?
Which is a subtle opposite pull to gravity,
A kind of wakefulness,
Maybe feels more upright,
Even as gravity and relaxing,
Pull you down,
You might notice there's any strong sensations in the body,
Not even necessarily going to look for them,
But maybe you've had really tight shoulders all day and so you're just aware that that pain is there.
Maybe your stomach is really tight.
Or maybe you're having shallow breaths,
Just noticing the state of the body.
This is how it is right now.
Feeling temperatures,
Where are you cold,
Where are you warm,
Where are you hot?
And if it feels good,
You can also bring the breath,
It might be a full shift of awareness to the felt sense of the body breathing.
It also might just be more subtle,
Like allowing the exhalation to be longer,
Slower.
Just being curious to see how breath can support you in this moment to really settle.
Again,
Part of what we're doing is drawing our attention back in from all the locations it's been at today.
And as always taking care of ourselves in these practices.
So if anything is increasing agitation or numbing you out,
It's a good moment to pause the practice,
To open the eyes and reset,
Or even to change your posture.
Taking a moment now to choose a home base for the rest of this practice.
Could be the whole body,
Could be the weight of gravity,
Could be some particular place in the body,
Or it could be breath.
And even though I didn't introduce sound,
That could also be your home base.
Not looking for a perfect anchor,
Just one that feels good enough tonight.
It can be your home base to return to if at any point in the practice,
You need to pause.
So choosing that home base now,
And resting the awareness there,
Stabilizing it there to the best of your ability.
Not perfect,
Not permanent,
Not personal.
And then in the R of RAIN,
Recognizing what's here right now,
Maybe calling your attention.
Again,
This could be as basic as a body sensation.
It could be as big as a life event.
It could be a memory that's resurfacing.
Just taking a moment here to recognize what's really capturing my attention in this moment.
Doesn't even have to be unpleasant,
It could feel good.
And mindfulness is our ability to relate to all states,
Positive,
Pleasurable,
Challenging,
Unpleasant.
Even if you're working with a bigger life event,
Take a moment in this recognition stage to see if it shows up in the body in some kind of way.
It might have a location,
Might have a color,
Or maybe there's a kind of vibration or pulsing.
Maybe it's a temperature,
Maybe it's a sense of tightness or openness.
And if that felt sensation is available to you,
That's great.
If not,
You can just work with your understanding and recognize what's here now.
Then we move to A and allow.
So,
If this is what you've recognized as pleasant,
Allowing can feel good.
You know,
This is a chance to really soak it in,
Maybe even expand the sensation.
If it's difficult,
Whatever you recognized,
Then allowing might take a bit of time.
You're really just trying to soften around it.
So you're not saying that you like what's happening.
You're just simply recognizing this is how it is now.
Asking yourself if you can just make some space for it.
Observe it.
Rest alongside it.
In this moment,
Nothing to do,
Nothing to change.
This too is a part of human experience.
We're recognizing and allowing that.
Remembering you can pause practice at any point.
If it's available to you,
Shifting to the investigation stage.
So this is something that might sound like turning the mind on,
Turning reason on.
But in fact,
We'd like to investigate as we started by just seeing like,
When I allow for this,
When I allow for this human experience to be here,
What does that feel like in my body?
You might also see if there's storylines that come up.
Maybe as you allow for whatever you recognized,
You notice voice like,
This will never change.
Or why can't I get this right?
Or why don't people ever show up for me?
Those stories might be there,
And this is a time to recognize them as well.
Not needing to change them.
Just allowing that they're a part of this experience.
And part of investigation that shifts us towards the N of RAIN,
Towards nurture,
Is to drop in the question,
What does this part of myself who's experiencing this,
What do I need right now?
Again,
Just trying to let that question drop in without answering it right away,
Or working to answer it.
Just as best as you're able,
Letting the question,
Kind of like a pebble in a pond,
Drop in.
What is it that I need right now?
Maybe as the question sits,
Something will come forward.
Maybe it'll be a word or a phrase.
Like this is hard.
Or I'm not going anywhere.
I'm not going anywhere.
Maybe it'll be some way that you can offer comfort.
Placing a hand at the belly,
A hand at the heart,
Palm on the cheek.
Just holding yourself,
Like hugging yourself.
If a posture like that comes to mind for you,
Then as you're able,
Actually move into that posture and offer yourself what it is that you need right now.
Maybe you'll notice that you need to hum or buzz or rock,
Allowing yourself to offer yourself now,
What it is that you might need,
The N of nurture.
I'm not going anywhere.
And maybe what you need is to pause the practice and open the eyes,
Or just go back to your home base.
And if you didn't get an answer to the question,
Just seeing if you can rest with some warmth and tenderness toward the situation.
Maybe there's a color that could support you in doing that.
Just taking a moment now to offer this N of rain.
Some kindness,
Some wish for your well being.
You can even imagine it coming from a friend,
Beloved pet.
Someone you admire.
If you can't give it to yourself right now.
Turn towards this other being and allow them,
As best as you're able,
To offer it to you.
And then the practice of after the rain,
Just letting all the effort go to the best of my ability,
Just resting as best as I am able.
Letting awareness soften.
Allowing yourself to return to your home base.
Allowing yourself to hear now the sounds in the room.
Sounds close at hand,
Sounds that are drifting in.
Sound of my voice.
And also now the sound of the bell.
So taking your time and beginning to move the body in a way that feels good.
Small movements to begin.
And then stretching as big as you need to.
And as your eyes open,
Taking in the room.
Maybe seeing something that you didn't see before.
Noticing something in this space you're in that gives you comfort.
Thank you for your practice.
Did you feel supported by this practice?
Leave a short word or phrase in the comments to let me know.
I'd love to be connected.
Until next time,
Take good care.
