RAIN Self-Compassion Meditation

RAIN (which stands for Recognize, Allow, Investigate, and Nurture) practice teaches us to turn towards and hold lovingly, difficult emotions and sensations in the body. It encourages a self-compassionate approach to difficulty that allows feelings to be fully processed, rather than to linger under the surface, perpetuated by our avoidance, numbing, and resistance.

Use this meditation to guide you through hard moments!

Transcript

So taking a moment now to find a comfortable meditation position.

You can do so seated,

But you can also do so standing or laying down if that feels more comfortable for you.

Just making sure that you are staying attentive and awake as much as possible.

And closing your eyes and starting by taking a few deep breaths,

Breathing in through the nose and letting it out with a sigh through the mouth.

Breathing in through the nose,

Letting it out.

One more big deep breath,

Just like that.

Allowing your shoulders to relax,

Allowing the jaw to soften.

Starting to arrive into the senses.

You can start by just listening and noticing the sounds around you,

The sound of my voice,

Sounds in the room,

Maybe even sounds outside.

Just becoming receptive,

Allowing sounds to come to you one at a time.

And then shifting into the body now,

Getting a sense of what it feels like to be here,

Laying or sitting,

Standing,

And feeling the weight of gravity holding you firmly but gently in place.

And just bringing a curious attention,

A loving,

Accepting attention to the sensations that are felt.

As you send your attention down to your feet,

Just noticing what your feet feel like and gently scanning up through the body and feeling the shins and the calves,

The knees,

The upper legs,

The hips,

Stomach and the back,

The upper back and chest,

Shoulders,

Upper arms,

Elbows and forearms,

The wrists and the hands,

Fingers,

And coming back up to the neck,

Feeling the back of the head,

The face and the forehead,

The scalp and your hair,

And allowing your awareness to drift down like a waterfall,

Encompassing the whole body,

Feeling the head,

The neck,

Shoulders,

The arms,

The torso,

Hips,

Upper and lower legs and feet,

Feeling the whole body,

Sitting here,

Breathing,

Arriving into the present moment,

And bringing in the R of RAIN,

Recognize,

And just recognizing what's present for you right now,

And recognizing the sensations in the body that are calling your attention.

Maybe it's a tension in the chest,

Tightness in the jaw,

Or maybe it's somewhere else.

Just noticing what sensations are present right now,

Where the body is calling for your attention,

And as you shift to these sensations,

Bringing in the compassionate A of RAIN,

Allowing these sensations,

Perhaps saying,

Whispering inwardly,

It's okay,

It's okay to feel this,

And just gently holding these sensations in your awareness with compassion,

With curiosity.

We have to feel to heal,

And if at any point the sensations are intense or too much,

You can shift your attention to either a neutral or even a pleasant sensation that you find elsewhere in the body,

Maybe your hands or your feet,

And take a moment of rest,

And when you're ready,

Returning to the sensations calling you,

And knowing that it's okay if it's uncomfortable.

It's okay.

It's okay to feel what you're feeling,

And now shifting to the I of RAIN,

Investigate as you start to deepen your curiosity,

Reflecting inwardly,

What am I believing?

What story am I telling myself that's causing,

Causing these sensations,

And allowing thoughts to pop up,

Ideas to pop up,

And then coming back to the body,

Where do I feel this in my body,

And maybe it's the same sensation that you started with,

Or maybe it's moved,

Following your gut,

Following your intuition,

Trusting in the process,

And holding the sensations,

Continuing to hold these sensations in your loving awareness.

What most needs my attention right now,

It's okay,

It's okay to feel this,

It's okay to be with this,

Breathing,

Remembering to breathe,

And at any point,

If you need a rest from the sensations,

Remember you can shift back to a neutral or pleasant sensation in the body,

The hands,

Or the feet,

And rest there momentarily,

Returning when you're ready,

And now shifting to the N of RAIN,

Nurture,

And asking yourself,

How can I best support myself,

These feelings,

These stories,

These sensations,

How can I support myself right now,

What does my body and my heart need most,

And this is the opportunity to love on yourself,

And so you may do so with loving touch,

Putting a hand on your heart,

A gentle loving touch,

Or maybe putting it where you feel the sensations most fervently,

Deepening the breath,

Maybe offering some loving words of affirmation,

It's okay,

I'm here with you,

I love you,

I got this,

We got this,

It's okay,

It's okay,

It's okay to feel this,

I got this,

I'm here for you,

I'm here for you in this struggle,

In this pain,

And maybe it can be helpful to offer a little massage or movement with the hand on the chest,

Massaging your shoulders,

Your neck,

Or maybe visualization is helpful,

Imagining your inner child,

If you connect with him or her,

Them,

Maybe imagining them coming up and sitting on your lap,

And giving them a hug,

A smile,

A loving embrace,

And again,

Offering loving words,

It's okay,

I'm here for you,

I got you,

You,

And then letting go of this,

Feeling the body sitting here,

Releasing your attention on the sensations as you start to expand your awareness,

Feeling the body sitting here,

And maybe also noticing sounds in the room again,

And most importantly,

Noticing the pockets of silence,

And starting to feel the spaciousness as you rest back into awareness itself,

And not needing to follow any particular sensations,

But just allowing sensations to come and go,

Sounds,

Thoughts,

Feelings in the body,

As you rest back into the blank canvas of awareness,

And just rest here for a few moments,

Letting go,

Letting go of the stories for a few moments,

And now gently starting to reintegrate,

As you come back into the body,

Come back into the breath,

Come back into the sounds in the room around you,

Maybe noticing light shining through closed eyelids,

And in your own time,

Slowly opening your eyes,

Maybe offering yourself a full body stretch,

Really taking your time,

Taking it slow,

Staying connected with your body though,

Staying connected with your breath,

Looking around,

Just noticing the freshness,

Or whatever is coming up for you right now,

Knowing that it's okay,

That's the whole point of this,

That it's all okay,

All of the things we experience,

The highs and the lows are part of being human,

And maybe taking a moment to just express gratitude to yourself for showing up right now,

For being willing to face the discomfort,

To hold yourself tenderly,

To heal,

To grow,

To evolve,

To love yourself,

Thank you,

And as you move forward into the day,

Feel free to put down this seated practice,

This laying practice,

But know that tools within this meditation are available to you at any point during the day,

So if you notice heavy emotions arise,

Taking a moment to pause,

Close your eyes if it's available to you,

Taking a deep breath,

And just noticing where the sensations are in your body and creating a little space for them,

It doesn't have to be a 20 minute meditation,

It can be 30 seconds of turning towards and using some of the self-talk in this meditation,

It's okay,

I'm here for you,

To start to teach yourself that these feelings are welcome and that when we turn towards them and allow them to be present,

That's when they are able to express and move rather than staying stuck underneath the surface,

And just notice how this affects you when you feel these emotions come up and how turning towards can create a little more space for you to be present and experience life around you.

Thank you for listening,

Lots of love,

And have a beautiful day,

You are not alone.