This meditation has been adapted from Tara Brak's practice of RAIN,
Which is an acronym that stands for Recognize,
Allow,
Investigate and Nurture.
It can be a helpful practice for bringing a sense of open-hearted compassion for when difficult emotions arise.
When you're ready to begin the practice,
Finding a comfortable position to start.
Making this gentle journey towards meeting yourself here.
And perhaps that sense of meeting is seeing where you can soften.
You might sense into the areas of your body that are already looking to soften.
There might be a softening across the forehead or the tiny muscles around your eyes.
Maybe it's a softening of the shoulder blades down the spine,
A relaxation in the belly.
Maybe it's a softening of the space around the heart.
As you meet yourself here,
Can you continue to soften?
Maybe that's a softening with the movement of the breath.
You might find that your mind is telling you a story.
Maybe it's quite active.
That's okay.
Maybe the sense of softening is softening around that too.
And when you're ready,
Relaxing back towards the breath.
It's from this soft and wakeful presence that you might begin to scan your life for something that feels difficult for you right now.
There might be something that carries with it feelings.
Perhaps it's a feeling of pain or shame or dread or frustration.
Maybe something else.
If there's something that has a larger sense of rupture or trauma around it,
It would be less helpful than sensing into something that you're able to be with here.
To create space for.
And when you've settled on this,
Can you create room for it to be here with you?
This might be the first act of compassion here.
To accompany yourself as any feelings or sensations arise to meet you.
It's from this place that we can begin the practice of RAIN,
Which starts with recognizing.
Recognizing what is happening for you.
What is going on in your mind and in your body?
Are there any feelings that arise here?
Maybe it's hurt.
Anger.
Or maybe it's a stuckness,
The numbness.
Can you name whatever feeling it is that is arising here?
And in the recognizing,
You might be holding space for nuance.
Maybe this feeling is sharp and clear and obvious,
Or maybe it's more complex,
More convoluted.
Perhaps it's a yes and rather than an either or.
Can you hold space here for the depth and the complexity of whatever it is that's arising for you?
And from that place,
We can move into the A,
Which is for allow.
Can you allow it to be here?
And this doesn't mean a sense of surrendering,
But simply not resisting it any further than you need to.
You might imagine creating space around these feelings,
Holding them here,
Holding it all as part of your present moment experience without trying to resist against it.
When you're ready to move on,
You move in towards investigation.
What requires your attention?
What is this difficulty asking of you?
You might investigate the bodily sensations that are present here.
How it's feeling in your body.
Go deeply.
Why is this so difficult?
Is there a part of your body that you can locate this feeling?
What is happening in your throat or in your chest?
Your gut?
Know your breath.
What sensations are you feeling here?
And perhaps the investigation is also acknowledging any beliefs that accompany this difficulty.
If there's a storyline or a narrative that's playing out in your mind,
Holding space for the three dimensionality that is you and that is your life,
Investigating it all and holding it here.
Is there anything that's being communicated to you in your body?
It might be a sense of wisdom that's trying to emerge,
It might be a message.
How are you feeling vulnerable?
And from investigate,
We move towards nurturing.
And the act of nurturing might be speaking to this place within us and asking out what it needs right now.
If there's a sense of physicality to it,
Can you respond with a sense of physically melting or softening around that sensation?
Maybe there's an act of self holding here that might be placing your hands over your heart,
Noticing the pressure that feels supportive,
Holding yourself here.
Beginning with this difficulty,
What can you offer?
From the most loving and wisest part of you,
What can you do to nurture this tenderness?
This feels challenging,
This idea of it coming from your most heartfelt and wise self.
You might consider it being offered from someone that is a source of great love in your life.
Maybe it's a parent or a loved one or a friend or a healing figure.
There's a feeling of allowing yourself to be held.
This healing flow that moves towards the difficult space,
The vulnerable spaces within you.
What is the most loving or healing offering that you need here?
The practice of RAIN finalizes with a holding space for after,
After the RAIN.
It's a sense of resting in presence.
What does it feel like right now to be you?
What are the sensations or the feelings in your body?
Is there any final gesture here that you can offer yourself by way of support?
