RAIN Meditation

Through the RAIN practice, you are softly guided to Recognise what is present, Allow it to be here, Investigate it with care and Nurture yourself with the kindness you might be needing.

The creation of the recording was co-funded by the European Union.

Transcript

Hi, Welcome to the RAIN meditation. This meditation helps us take care of difficult emotions and to see what are the needs behind these emotions. And also to see how we can meet and nurture these needs. So the practice has four stages. I will guide you through them. So in the first stage we recognize what is the difficulty. So what is it that you are experiencing right now that called you to go through this practice? Out of any words that are coming to your mind, Let's now focus our attention on the emotion. How are you feeling? Is it fear, Anger, Frustration, Resistance, Shame, Confusion, Disconnection or anything else or a mixture? If you can't find a name for what you feel right now, It's also okay. You can just label it as unpleasant feeling or something like that. And we are going to the second stage, Acceptance. So whatever you have found as the difficulty, Let's turn to meet it instead of turning away from it. You can imagine that you're opening a door to this guest, To this emotion, To this feeling, To this difficulty and you're greeting it, Welcoming it with a smile. Hello, Welcome. I know you're here to help me, To protect me. And with opening these imaginary doors, We can also open our body as if we would expand our body a little bit, Opening more space in the body and in the mind for this emotion, For this guest to have space. You can do it simply by relaxing your body a little bit. The parts that are tense, Relax and this naturally creates more space. Being aware of your breath can help you do so as well. And if you feel any pressure, Just try a little less because forced relaxation is not a relaxation. So even if you relax just a little bit and open yourself just a little bit, It's enough, It's okay. Breathing in, Breathing out. If it helps, You can also imagine this emotion as the guest in your house, Sitting in an armchair besides you, Sitting together, Maybe having a nice cup of a tea, Like old friends meeting after some time, And keep breathing and being aware of your body. We go to the third stage, Intimate attention or investigation. Just discovering this guest of ours a little bit more. So let's start with the thoughts. What are the thoughts related to this emotion? What would this guest, This emotion, Tell us? Maybe there are some judgments about ourselves or others, Maybe some scenarios or regrets. Is there any belief behind this emotion? Maybe something you believe about yourself or others when you're feeling this. It might not be true and your rational mind might know it is not true, But still this emotion, This guest of ours might believe it. So just notice what is the belief around this emotion. And now we can also notice how does this emotion manifest in the body. So we can now stop trying to relax our body and for a moment we allow ourselves to fully embody this emotion with all the tension, With the posture that feels like this emotion, With that expression in our face, With the way we breathe when we feel like this. We can truly allow ourselves now to even be like actors who are maybe even exaggerating a little bit this emotion, Really going into it. And see if we can still allow this emotion to be here. If we can allow ourselves to embody fully how does this emotion feel. And stop fighting it. And then we can slowly relax again without pushing that emotion away, Just gently relaxing. And we go to the fourth stage and we ask ourselves, What do I need right now? Or we ask our guest, If you still imagine the guest, What do you need right now? Is it love? Is it safety? Is it connection? Is it love? Is it acceptance? Is it space? Is it space, Respect, Harmony, Or anything else, Appreciation, Or a mixture? And when you find your need, How would this need be manifested in your body? If it would be met, We can just try it out. How would you sit if this need was met, Fulfilled? Just try it without pushing yourself to feel anything else than you feel. Just sit like as if you feel safe or trust yourself or feel loved. What is your position and posture? Or if you want to stand or any other position, Feel free to do so. What is the way you breathe when this need is met? And where do you breathe, To which part of your body? What is the expression on your face? Put that on, It's just a play. No need to push anything, We're just trying it out, Just playing. Is there any sound or movement that you feel like doing when this need is met? Do it. And are there any words or any thoughts that you would like to hear? Maybe something that you would like to hear from others, But you can actually tell yourself. If you want, You can also go and look into the mirror and say that to yourself. Maybe you wanna tell yourself, I respect you, I accept you, I trust you. I stand by you, I am with you, Or anything else, You are safe with me. Maybe you also want to tell it to your guests, If they are still with you. And maybe you wanna hug them or hug yourself, Or just caress yourself, Or just place your hand on your heart, Whatever feels right for you. Becoming aware of our breath, We can spend a couple more moments in this vibe, Touching ourselves gently or doing whatever our body, Mind, Or our imaginary guest needs right now. Or just spending a couple of moments in front of a mirror in that position that is connected to our need mat, Just tuning our body into that state, Not pushing ourselves, Just embodying it and seeing how does this feel. And stay as long as you want. I wish you a nice day and may your difficulties be the source of your power and happiness.