Hi there.
I'm recording this meditation in the woods and you're gonna hear occasionally some sounds coming through,
Birds,
Wind,
Possibly even some barking.
I don't know but I invite you to accept whatever sounds that you hear as a part of the process and not to resist it,
Not to fight it,
But just accept it and be with it.
I want to take you through this meditation called RAIN.
The acronym stands for Recognize,
Allow,
Investigate,
Nurture and there are different versions of it around so I'm gonna give you my version of it.
Before we go into the meditation you can either sit cross-legged or both feet on the floor or even do this meditation and lying down.
If you are sitting down you can gaze down or you can close your eyes.
Take a deep breath in and exhale and again breathe in and exhale and one more breath breathing in and exhaling.
Tune in with where you are,
The sounds you hear and let's scan the body just recognizing what's here,
Not trying to change anything but just acknowledging what's here.
Bring your focus of attention to your feet,
To your toes,
To your ankles and recognize what's here,
Not trying to change anything here and move your attention to your knees,
Your shin,
Your thighs,
Back and front,
Moving the attention to your hips,
Acknowledging what's here.
Bring the attention to the lower back,
The middle back and the upper back and hold the whole back in your awareness.
What's here?
Anything happening here in your back?
Then bring your focus of attention to your front,
To your stomach area,
Moving the attention up to your chest,
To your throat,
Anything happening here,
Just acknowledge and bring your focus of attention to your right arm,
Right wrist,
Right fingertips and then move it to your left arm,
Left wrist and left fingertips.
Now hold both arms in your awareness and let's gently move that focus of attention now to the back of the neck,
To the front of the neck,
To the upper shoulders.
See if there's anything here,
If you notice any sensations,
If you don't that's okay too.
And then bring focus of attention to your face,
To your jaw,
To your facial muscles,
To your forehead,
To the back of your head,
To the front of your head and to the top of your head and now try to hold your whole body and mind in your awareness.
Just be with it.
I now invite you to bring your focus of attention to a scenario or a situation that you might be struggling with or finding difficult but let's focus on not too intense of a situation on a scale from 0 to 10,
Something around 5 or 6.
So bring that situation to your mind,
Just look into that and as you're sitting down or lying down whatever position you're in,
Let's try to recognize what's it like,
What you feel about this situation,
What's it like,
What's happening for you,
What's here.
Recognize how you feel.
Are you in fight-flight-or-freeze response?
You're feeling anxious,
You're feeling angry,
Frustrated,
Is there shame or guilt?
Just recognize it and label it for yourself.
Allow that emotion just to be there.
Be curious but non-judgmental.
See where it is in the body or mind.
Where does it sit?
Where is it?
What's it like?
Give yourself permission for it to be there.
Let's investigate further,
Maybe asking questions like what am I unwilling to feel right now?
Am I unwilling to feel something?
Am I afraid of something?
What am I afraid of?
And just wait for the response for the answer to come.
It might come now or it might come later.
Just sit with it.
What's it like for you?
What would you be without that?
Whatever you hold on to what would it be like to let it go?
Just be curious.
What would it feel like?
What would it be like for you without that?
If you are not identifying with it,
What would that be like?
And let's bring some kindness towards ourselves and some compassion and if you've never practiced kindness towards yourself,
Maybe you can bring to your mind somebody you love.
This could be a parent,
This could be a child.
Bring smile and warmth to your heart and your face.
You could even be your pet or it could be something generic like nature or sounds of an ocean or something like that.
Tune in with that love and warmth.
What's it like to have that inside you?
And ask yourself a question.
How can I be kind to myself right now?
Even with everything that is going on around me and in my life,
How can I bring some kindness towards myself?
Maybe that's through hugging yourself.
Maybe that's through saying nice and kind things to yourself like it's gonna be okay or I'm not alone or I am loved,
I'm connected,
I am blessed.
And think of how you can meet that need,
That need that you have within.
How can you meet that need?
How can I,
How can you show that kindness to yourself?
Maybe that's putting your hand on your heart.
Maybe that's saying I am loved or I am loved.
Or simply giving yourself reassurance it's gonna be okay.
It will be okay.
Just slowing down in this moment and being here,
Accepting things around you,
Things the way they are,
Without fight,
Without resistance,
Finding that place within.
Coming back to yourself,
To grounding.
Maybe that's reminding yourself you're breathing and that's your anchor.
So it's not being so caught in your own scenarios and situations but sort of stepping back and giving yourself that space to breathe and be,
Be with what's here right this moment.
Being here and now,
Being present,
Feeling what you feel,
Being with what's here without resistance.
Would you give yourself permission for that and if not why not?
What are you afraid of?
Let's take a few deep breaths in,
Breathing in gently and breathing out deeply and again breathing in and breathing out slowly and again breathing in and out.
And as you go through your day today just tune in with that presence,
Kindness,
Warmth and reminding yourself to be here and asking yourself a question,
How can I be kind to myself in this moment?
And let's bring our attention back to your surroundings,
Where you are,
What you hear,
What you sense and I'm gonna count down from three to one and at the count of one open your eyes three two one and try to be present in your day as much as possible.
Namaste.
