RAIN Meditation For Difficult Emotions Or Feelings

This meditation can be helpful for working with difficult emotions, cravings, or body sensations. RAIN stands for Recognize, Allow, Investigate, and Nurture. The practice guides us in making space for whatever is present, whether a strong emotion such as anxiety or anger, cravings, or physical pain. Many thanks to my teachers over the years, including Tara Brach and Dr. Judson Brewer.

Transcript

Welcome.

RAIN is an acronym that stands for recognize,

Allow,

Investigate,

And nurture.

This RAIN meditation is designed to help create some space in any moment by letting us practice bringing awareness to physical sensations in our body.

RAIN is often used to help us begin to turn towards unpleasant feelings and emotions,

But it is just as helpful and might be easier to practice using it to investigate pleasant or neutral feelings or emotions.

To begin,

I invite you to take a moment and really recognize whatever emotion or feeling you're having right now.

This is not always easy.

Turning towards difficulty emotions,

Even just to identify and name them,

Is not something we're used to doing,

So be gentle with yourself here.

Just see if it's possible to say hello to whatever you're feeling.

Maybe just dipping one toe into the emotion.

You might note to yourself in a word or two whatever it is that you have recognized in your experience.

For example,

You might say sadness,

Fear,

Anxiety,

Or if you're practicing with pleasant emotions you might say happiness,

Joy,

Peacefulness,

Whatever it is,

Recognizing that it's here,

And name it if you can.

The next step is to allow whatever feeling you're having.

See if it's okay to allow it to be here.

This can also be very challenging,

But there's no point in gritting your teeth and bracing for impact.

Whatever it is is already here.

See if it's okay,

Even just for a moment,

To allow whatever it is to be here.

The third step is about getting really curious and investigating physical sensations in your body.

You might ask the question,

What can I feel in my body right now?

And you might note to yourself in a word or two what you find.

Get really curious,

Where does this feeling originate?

How do I know I'm having this emotion based solely on physical sensations in my body?

You might note things like clenching,

Butterflies,

Restlessness,

Heat,

Energy.

If thoughts arise during the investigation,

If a narrative comes up about why you're having these feelings or sensations,

Just note thinking and gently return your investigation to the physical sensations in your body.

Kindle that gentle curiosity and ask,

What's happening in my body right now?

Noticing that the sensations and the feelings change.

They might become more intense for a time,

Or they might move or morph into different parts of the body.

But eventually they'll begin to dissolve and fade.

The fourth step of rain is nurture.

You might take a moment to recognize that this feeling or emotion you're working with is really challenging.

See if there is any phrase in particular you might offer yourself.

What would you say to a good friend who is dealing with this emotion?

How would you nurture that person?

Perhaps saying,

I'm sorry that you're having to go through this right now.

I know this is difficult.

I'm proud of you for facing this.

Can you offer those phrases to yourself just for a moment or two?

And as this meditation comes to an end,

I hope you can take a moment to recognize and be proud of yourself for taking this time,

For being willing to explore the difficult.

If you find this practice helpful,

You might consider using it from time to time throughout your day.

As we learn to hold whatever arises with gentleness and kind curiosity,

We're gaining access to deep wisdom and skillfulness in order to bring flourishing to our lives and to the lives of those around us.

Thank you.

Reviews

A simple and gentle explanation of the RAIN technique. Short enough and non-cheesy enough to be played for students in school settings.

Thank you very much for sharing this amazing practice. 🙏

I needed this, and more like it. Thank you

Deep and refreshing. Good tool.

Beautiful, clear, concise guide for this precious RAIN practice. Thank you.

Really excellent, well spoken, clear, and articulated.

Perfect cadence, love the gentle tips.

Clear, linguistically deep, simple-help-filled steps to present awareness. My enviroment, my emtions, and my FUNdamental beliefs can affirm my whole-wholesome, I like me, trust.

I write it, repeat it outloud, share with friends, meditate, and do art with this great practice. Fortunate and grateful. Thank you.

Thank you for this meditation Namaste

Really helpful with anxiety. Thank you so much 😊

Not at all what I expected - was thinking rain. Unexpected but very nice.

Lovely. Simple and effective.

This was so helpful, especially in these strange and troubling times 🙏

Lovely. Very helpful. Thank you.

Thank you. The phrases for nurture were very helpful💛💚🙏🕊