RAIN: Practicing Mindfulness & Nurturance

The practice of RAIN is absolutely like rain falling from a storm and washing away the dirt. When we pause and practice rain we practice recognizing what we are going through, allowing it (instead of running away), investigating it with a curious, loving mind, and then nurturing the parts in us that are longing for care.

Transcript

Hello,

Kimberly Johnson here.

I am so honored you will be sitting with me today exploring your inner world and your outer world.

Today we will do a meditation inspired by the acronym RAIN.

RAIN stands for Recognize,

Allow,

Investigate and Nurture.

This meditation is perfect for any time that you don't feel how you want to feel.

So go ahead and just begin to let the body settle.

You might do this by rocking the hips front to back or taking little micro movements in the shoulders or the legs,

Allowing yourself to get comfortable.

This is a gentle moment to check in with the body and put it into a posture that is nurturing and comforting and alert.

And maybe your eyes shut down if that feels good in your practice.

Or maybe you simply let the eyes half shut down and you find a gentle gaze in front of you.

From here we'll begin to let go of any tension in our physical form in the body so we can bring the attention and the awareness up to our face.

And we'll slowly practice the art of letting go as we bring awareness throughout the body to let go of tension.

Starting at the forehead,

The cheeks and the jawline.

Noticing if there's any habitual tension that the body likes to pick up.

This isn't a problem,

It's normal.

Just noticing and then practicing,

Letting it relax,

Letting it go.

And then moving down to the throat,

Seeing if you can let go of any tension in the back of the neck and the throat.

And this often feels like an expanding and opening sensation.

And then we can gently move down to the shoulders.

And maybe just notice the left shoulder first.

Is there any tension here?

Practicing letting it go.

And then the right,

Is there any tension here?

Practicing letting it go.

We'll be surprised at how one side of the body often holds more tension than the other.

So just paying gentle attention.

And then moving down the arms,

Letting the arms get heavy.

And then moving into the hands,

Letting the hands release and relax.

And then moving down the front of the body and the back of the body,

The torso.

Moving right toward the belly,

Letting the belly relax,

Letting it fall open in relaxation.

And then the hips and the legs,

Letting them get heavy and relaxed.

The ankles and the feet,

Letting them get heavy and relaxed.

Letting go of whatever the body might be holding.

And just notice how this feels.

Notice how the body feels when you've let go.

And now from here,

Just maybe begin noticing the body breathing.

Feeling the body move with the breath.

The mind might want to wander and just know how absolutely normal that is.

And when it wanders,

Just notice.

And then really gently guiding the awareness right back to observing the body breathing.

You might notice as we follow the breath how the mind begins to want to settle.

Even though this is short-lived,

Pay attention to how you feel when the mind feels like it has a job,

A point of focus.

As the mind settles and the body settles,

Maybe bring to mind an area of your life that's felt challenging.

And maybe if there was a scale between one not so challenging,

Ten traumatic,

Let's keep it below a seven.

Bringing to mind an area of life where maybe you felt frustrated,

Angry,

Upset,

Uncomfortable.

And just trusting whatever wants to arise.

It might be the thing that you thought you were going to bring to this meditation,

Or it might be something else that's arising.

Just trusting you're arising.

And right here,

Just begin to bring it to mind.

If there's another person involved,

Bring them into your mind.

If it's a habit or a pattern,

See yourself doing it.

Hear what was said.

See what was done.

Gently putting yourself back in the situation.

Now,

Begin to notice your thoughts,

Recognizing what's occurring in your mind.

Notice what thoughts you're having about yourself in this situation,

About life,

And about the other.

Meeting the thoughts kindly,

Observing them,

Not getting caught in them.

Now,

Letting go of the thoughts,

See if you can notice what emotions are here.

Maybe there's one prominent one.

Maybe there's two or three that are kind of sharing space here together.

Just notice and ask what emotions are here.

And if you can't distinguish the emotion,

Maybe just distinguish,

Is this pleasant?

Or is this unpleasant?

Not judging it,

Just noticing.

Bringing into awareness,

Recognizing what's here.

Now,

Begin to move the awareness down into the body.

And I want you to feel where the situation arises most intensely in the body.

Maybe it's tightness in the chest,

Maybe it's a clenched jaw or fist,

Maybe it's tightness in the belly.

Notice where in your physical being do you feel it most.

And I want you to feel the sensation.

If it's helpful to feel the sensation,

You can whisper it in your mind,

Tight,

Tight,

Buzzing,

Heavy,

Whatever it is,

Really experiencing,

Feeling the sensation right here in the body.

And right here,

We can begin to expand our ability of being with discomfort by sitting with the body sensations and then asking,

Can I let this be here?

Can I let this be here just as it is?

Not needing to fix it or change it or react to it.

Can I just sit kindly with this feeling and with the sensation and with this whole world of the situation?

Can I let this be here?

Sometimes it's helpful to whisper things like,

You are safe,

You can feel this,

You are brave.

Now ask yourself,

What am I believing most when the situation is occurring?

What am I believing most about myself or about life?

Investigating your own heart,

What am I believing most?

And just trust what arises.

Now pause and look back on your life and ask yourself,

When can I remember believing this before?

When is the first time I remember believing this?

And being really gentle about what arises,

Trusting whatever arises.

Now I want you to really see this version of yourself.

See their face,

See what they're wearing,

And maybe even get connected to how they feel or if they're hurting.

And then gently imagine that you walk over to this younger,

More vulnerable version of yourself and look at them and ask them,

What do you need?

What do you need most to be comforted or cared for?

Do they need to be held or told that they're good enough and that they're safe and that they're okay?

What do they need most?

And then maybe placing a hand over your own heart or one over your belly or on your throat or your cheeks,

Feeling your own support system right here.

I want you to practice giving them what they need.

Imagine that you give them exactly what they need,

Taking care of them,

Taking care of your own heart.

And maybe imagine that you embrace them if you haven't already and embrace them in the way that feels good and safe for you to embrace them.

Maybe you hug them or place a hand on their head or just look at them kindly.

And imagine as you embrace them that they slowly dissolve back into you.

And then get really still and just notice how you feel in this moment.

Not looking for anything grandiose,

Just looking for what's actually here right now.

And maybe even bowing your head a little just as an act of self-reverence and just hear your own breath,

Feel your own breath.

I'll end the meditation with three rings of the bell.

I'll end the meditation with three rings of the bell.

Notice how it felt to nurture yourself,

To pause and bring awareness,

Recognition to what was here and going on,

Allowing it,

Investigating it,

And then taking the most deep best care of yourself.

Please return to this practice anytime you feel how you don't want to feel.

Reviews

Thank you, this was a really effective guide to meeting and nurturing a wound inflicted at a young age. I feel lighter. Many thanks 🙏

love that practice so much. feel like it’s wise to pause and investigate and accept and not identify with when you feel uncomfortable :)

will implement this is my daily doings for sure! thank you 🧘‍♀️🙏🏼

Little by little we are integrated and we heal. Thank you for this meditation. It has helped me to love more deeply.

The pace and presentation of this meditation were very soothing and helpful.

Thank you. Feeling much better now.

Very helpful, enjoyed the spaces to work with what's been said