Rain.
Recognize,
Allow,
Investigate,
And nurture.
This practice is helpful for navigating challenging areas of your life,
Difficult emotions,
Or stress.
Begin to feel yourself present in this space.
Notice the sounds around you and the sound of my voice.
Feel yourself sitting here sensing into your sitting bones and the contact with your chair or your cushion.
Feel yourself breathing.
As you inhale,
Know that you're breathing in,
And as you exhale,
Know that you're breathing out.
Set an intention to cultivate a heart and mind that is open to what's here.
Begin to settle into the natural rhythm of your breath and invite a relaxed awareness.
Recognize what is happening.
Bring to mind a situation or experience that feels challenging in your life right now.
Without getting caught up in the story,
Simply recognize that area of stress or tension.
Recognize it with compassion and notice what's present.
Bring awareness to the emotions that arise as you see this situation in your mind.
Notice how these emotions feel inside of you,
In your body.
Perhaps fear,
Frustration,
Or sadness.
See if you can get closer to these feelings and turn your awareness towards them,
Noticing exactly where you feel them in your body,
And noticing how they might manifest as thought patterns in your mind.
Take a moment to become aware of your felt sense of the situation as a whole.
Can you feel how the experience is living in your heart,
Body,
And mind?
And if you can,
Gently name this.
Fear feels like this.
Frustration feels like this.
Or sadness feels like this.
Allow the experience to be here just as it is.
Allow these emotions to unfold naturally,
Creating an open space for them to be here with you.
Rather than resisting,
See if you can allow them to expand and be fully here,
Almost as if they are waves that you are gently riding,
Waves expanding in a full ocean of awareness and space.
You might notice feelings of resistance,
Which is only natural,
But as much as you can,
Notice these feelings without judgment.
See if you can accept these feelings and these emotions just as they are,
Allowing your full lived experience to be as it is.
Investigate with interest.
As these waves of feelings and emotions continue to unfold,
Notice what is seeking your attention or acceptance.
Notice where you feel the experience most distinctly in your body.
Are you aware of any tension,
Heat,
Or pressure?
Notice what's here and bring awareness to any emotions that arise as you notice these physical sensations.
You might bring awareness to different beliefs or judgments that arise in your mind.
And if you notice that you're getting caught too much in thinking mode or the mind is pulling you in other directions,
Simply allow these thoughts to float by,
To drop,
And come back into the body.
Nurture all that's here with compassion.
See if you can meet these emotions and physical sensations with acceptance,
Allowing yourself to continue to feel the fullness of this experience.
And as you connect and allow,
Notice what happens.
Can you hold these sensations with compassion and understanding?
Can you be with them and offer yourself tenderness?
Perhaps asking yourself what it is you need right now.
You might place your hand on your heart and ask,
What do you need from me?
Notice what arises and what it is that you need to meet this experience fully,
Perhaps offering yourself silent intentions of support.
It may sound like,
May I find refuge in my breath.
Let this be as it is.
May I offer forgiveness to myself or others.
May I offer compassion to myself or others.
And as you offer yourself this support,
Notice if the energy or sensation shift.
Perhaps there is a subtle softening.
Notice what happens when you offer yourself this unconditional kind presence.
Intense emotions or physical sensations may continue to reappear like waves,
Which is only normal.
But if you can,
Sense how these waves,
Just as they are on the ocean,
These waves belong on the surface and your experience rather than you.
There is the opportunity to tap into the depths within yourself underneath the waves.
Allow this energy to move through you gently riding the waves of awareness,
Allowing all that arises to freely come and freely go.
With each inhale,
Breathing in a sense of calm,
A gentle softening.
With each exhale,
Releasing and letting go.
Resting here and your own spacious awareness.
Resting here and the rhythm of your breath.
And as we near the end of our practice,
Take a moment to notice how this experience was for you.
Oftentimes our most challenging moments of stress in our life rise out of care and concern.
And learning how to navigate through these can be very difficult.
But as we continue to practice mindfulness,
We can gradually learn to better trust our own steadiness and our own strength.
We can learn how to be with our emotions rather than resisting them.
And we can also tap into our greater capacity for compassion.
Compassion for ourselves and compassion for others.
