Making your way into a comfortable position and for the next 20 minutes let's be together and explore the acronym RAIN.
R-A-I-N.
R for recognize,
A for accept or allow,
I for investigation and N for nurture.
And let's start by observing what's here for us now.
Noticing the body as it is with any sensations,
Tightness,
Any pain,
Any sensations of ease or comfort or softness or maybe there's no sensations that you can easily recognize and that's okay as well.
And you may choose to stay with the body sensations,
Return to the body sensations at any time throughout this guided meditation to offer some grounding,
Some support.
And now what about the breath?
Noticing your breath as it is,
Where is the breath most easily recognizable?
Where is it most predominant?
Perhaps the nostrils,
The chest,
The belly,
Maybe you can notice the whole of your body breathing or somewhere else noticing the breath.
And so too with the breath you can feel free to come back to it at any time as a support,
As a way of bringing you back to this present moment,
To each moment.
And particularly if you find that this practice of RAIN a little bit overwhelming at any time you can certainly just put the practice to the side and return to what might ground you in the moment,
What might make you feel comfortable,
Relaxed.
Perhaps that's the body sensations,
The breath or something else like sounds.
And often when we're working with RAIN it's an opportunity for us to look a bit more deeply into a difficult or stressful situation in our life.
And if it feels comfortable for you now you may like to choose a recent difficult situation,
Nothing too stressful or overwhelming,
Just something that we can practice with now.
And if nothing's coming to mind that's okay,
As we work through the acronym of RAIN something might arise.
So beginning now to recognize the first letter is R for recognize.
Recognize the situation,
The difficulty,
The somewhat stressful situation that you recently had.
Becoming aware of it and giving it a little bit of time now to recognize,
To acknowledge that yeah it was difficult,
Stressful perhaps overwhelming or painful.
And there might be a willingness to be with that,
To begin to be with that now.
Recalling the situation without going too much into the drama or the detail of it.
Recalling the situation,
Acknowledging your part in that situation,
That event and recognizing this situation without getting too caught up in blame or even reigniting the difficult situation.
And now that we've recognized it can we move to the A in the RAIN acronym.
A for allow.
Can we allow it to be as it is?
Can we be with it and be with the difficult thoughts around this situation?
The thoughts of worry,
Emotions and perhaps a feeling of anger or sadness,
A feeling of guilt or shame.
Can you allow and begin to accept that yeah this is a difficult situation.
There are some difficult and strong thoughts and emotions here.
Allowing yourself to be with them as best you can and if it feels too much for you,
You could always return to be with the body or the breath or another anchor.
Allowing these thoughts and emotions to be here now as much as you can without needing to go look for them or push them away.
Can we allow them to be here with us now?
And as we begin to make a little bit more space,
Allow these difficult thoughts and emotions and feelings.
Accepting that they're here with us now.
Can we begin to go a little deeper to investigate.
The I in RAIN is investigate.
What might be under these difficult thoughts,
Emotions?
What is there to know about this situation?
And what is the body wanting to share with us?
Can we investigate the sensations of the body?
Perhaps you can notice some tensing or tightness and perhaps there's a change in temperature.
You may have become a little bit more hot or cold.
There might be some pain arising or maybe you're not able to notice anything at all and numbness is also worth noting.
As we investigate a little bit more deeply into this difficult situation,
What is there to know?
What is it that this body is wanting to let us know?
And in this process of self-exploration,
Inquiring into a difficult situation,
Recognizing that it's there,
Allowing it as best we can and beginning to bring some acceptance of the situation,
That it's happened.
Investigating where it might sit in the body.
What does the body have to tell us?
What's under these difficult thoughts and emotions?
And knowing all this,
Is it now possible to see the own cause?
The cause of our own suffering?
Where we might be identifying,
Believing some of these difficult thoughts.
Thoughts like,
I'm not good enough or maybe I'm unlovable.
Thoughts like,
I'm hopeless.
Can we begin to see into the thoughts,
The emotions,
That don't really serve us.
That only make us feel small and isolated and disconnected.
Not only from ourself but also others.
Can we begin to see that by holding on to emotions of anger and resentment,
Of hurt and shame,
That they move us away from connecting in with our spacious self.
Our loving and connected self.
Can we begin to not identify?
The final piece in the acronym of RAIN.
To not identify.
To not hold too tightly to beliefs and thoughts,
Emotions,
That don't really serve us.
That don't allow us to connect deeply with who we are,
Moment to moment.
And the beauty that is around us.
That we can be expansive,
Creative,
Kind and loving.
We don't need to believe the thoughts,
The stories,
That we've created to often make us feel safe in the moment.
Can we see the reality of our suffering and have insight into being able to let go.
To choose freedom.
And I've also had for this acronym another use of the,
Of N.
Nourish.
To offer ourselves a little bit of nourishment and caring.
And it may feel right for you to place your hands on a part of your body that feels comforting,
Supportive.
That reminds you of your beauty.
Reminds you of your essential nature of love and compassion.
And what does that feel like now?
To give back to yourself.
The self-compassion.
Some kindness.
Some softness.
Knowing that we're all just doing our best.
Knowing that we all make mistakes.
We all face difficulties and stress.
We have the chance to choose a path of non-identification.
To nurture ourselves and find that true contentment and love within and without.
Namaste.
And thank you for joining me for meditation.
Guided meditation on RAIN.
R for recognize.
A for allow,
Accept.
I to investigate.
And N,
Non-identification.
And offering ourselves also a little bit of nurturing and nourishment.
