Welcome to the RAIN meditation where I invite you to go on a journey that helps you recognize,
Accept,
Investigate,
And nurture whatever difficult emotion you may be experiencing right now.
Start by finding a comfortable position.
You can be sitting down on a cushion in a chair.
You can be lying down on a mat or even in your bed.
Come into a rested posture,
A posture that signals to your mind and your body that you are here.
You are ready for a breather.
If you're lying down,
Allow your feet,
Your toes to fall away from each other.
Your hands fall by the sides of your body,
Fingers spreading naturally,
Softening into the floor.
If you're sitting down,
I invite you to put your palms on your thighs,
Allowing your arms to rest on your thighs.
If you haven't done so,
I invite you to close your eyes,
Feeling the gentle weight of the eyelids,
Loosening any tension and any holding it may be in your body.
Allow yourself to feel into the breath.
Feel the movement of air traveling into and out of your body.
Get familiar with this breath that has been with you since you were born.
Now ask yourself,
How am I feeling right now?
What emotion am I experiencing right now?
Whatever you are feeling,
Acknowledge it without judgment.
Recognize that this emotion is with you right now.
Recognize that you have this feeling.
Name the feeling be it sadness,
Grief,
Anger,
Anxiety,
Joy,
Even.
Whatever you're feeling right now,
Name it,
Acknowledge it,
See it,
Feel it.
If you find yourself drifted to a story that you're telling yourself or drifted to thoughts that are in different forms,
Just come back.
Come back to feeling this emotion.
Now I invite you to ask yourself,
Can I accept this feeling right now knowing that there is nothing I can do other than being with the emotion?
Can I allow it through my body?
Can I feel into wherever it arises in this body?
Can I allow it to flow through my mind,
Through my body?
Can I accept you the way you are?
The quality of equanimity is cultivated by accepting things as they are,
Feelings as they are.
Can you try to practice that in this moment?
If you are experiencing challenges,
That is completely okay.
Just know and trust that the fact that you are pausing right now is a form of acceptance,
Is a form of self-compassion.
If you are ever drifted into a wandering mind,
Just come back without a judgment.
You can always come back to this breath and this breath and this breath.
Investigate this feeling.
Where is it showing up in my body?
Is it tension in my shoulders,
Tightness in my jaw,
Or restrictedness felt in the lower back?
Be curious about where your body is holding right now.
Feel into any sensation of gripping,
Tightness,
Pressure,
Tugging,
Heat in your body.
Feel into any strong physical sensation that you are experiencing right now.
I know and trust that if this ever feels too unpleasant,
Uncomfortable,
Your breath is always here for you to return to.
There is absolutely no judgment.
This is completely okay.
Be curious about this emotion.
Maybe it appears as sounds or colours,
Textures.
Maybe appears nested somewhere in the nooks and crannies of your body.
Whatever it is,
Investigate.
Experiment with this practice.
Being with the sensation of this emotion.
Being with the expression of this emotion without a judgment.
Now,
Moving to a space of compassion and nurturing.
Can you feel into the suffering?
Can you feel into the natural arising of self-compassion when you do?
Think about these phrases as you're being with this difficult emotion.
May I be safe.
May I be happy.
May I be protected and loved.
May I be safe.
May I be happy.
May I be protected and loved.
Breathe into wherever this emotion is showing up.
Allow each exhale to soften around its edges.
Allow each exhale to dim its fire or bring warmth to the coolness.
Softening.
Softening.
If it ever gets uncomfortable,
You can always come back to your breath.
Focusing on the sensation of the breath travelling throughout your body.
May I see the lotus rising out of the mud.
May I embrace the new and interconnected nature of lightness and darkness.
What's this cooperation of the body and the thought created by darkness and y demise?
Thank you.
