My name is Lucy,
I'm a Mindfulness for Lost teacher and I'm here today to guide you through the RAIN meditation.
This meditation is a meditation specifically for working with intense difficult emotions.
The RAIN is an acronym and is a four step process so this meditation practice will be guiding you through each stage.
So finding somewhere to rest and relax.
Making sure that the body is supported by any cushions if needed.
Just really ensuring that you are as comfortably relaxed as possible in this moment today.
And when you are ready you can allow the eyes to gently close.
Really allowing the body to feel held and supported by the surface beneath you or behind you.
And beginning today by taking some long slow deep breaths.
Really slowing that breath down,
Deliberately.
Breathing in through the nose and breathing out through the nose.
When we breathe in this way it sends a message to our brain to relax.
Long slow deep breaths.
And then just allowing the breath to settle into its normal rhythm,
Normal pace.
I want to invite you to take your awareness to your physical body today.
Just to gently scan the body,
Looking for any areas of tension.
Any areas that you can maybe relax,
Rest into a little bit.
Maybe beginning at the very top of your head and releasing and relaxing all the muscles in the face.
Relaxing the eyes.
Releasing the jaw.
Gently taking your awareness now to your shoulders.
And taking a slow deep breath in.
And as you gently release the breath,
Allow the shoulders to release their hold.
Feeling those shoulders dropping down,
Relaxing all the way down.
Allowing the arms to be heavy,
The hands to be soft.
And relaxing the lower legs.
Notice if you are holding any tension anywhere.
And just seeing if you can release and relax into those areas.
Even just imagining those areas relaxing will help.
Relaxing the feet.
So that your whole body feels comfortably relaxed and still.
Even if the mind feels busy the physical body is still.
So we're going to be working now through this four step process.
So I wonder if you can bring your awareness to any strong emotion that is present.
Really turning towards what you are experiencing in an open and non-judgmental way.
Tuning into what you are feeling or what you are sensing in the body and in the mind.
And if you can name whatever feeling it is.
Naming our feelings can be helpful in helping us to recognise exactly what we are experiencing.
So we might say for example,
I feel sad or I feel overwhelmed.
So this is the first step in this four step process to recognise.
Bringing us into direct contact with what's really present in this moment.
What the difficulty is and naming it.
And so moving gently now into the second stage.
Now allowing does not mean that we accept our loss.
It doesn't mean that we like this situation.
Allowing in this sense means that we can open up to the possibility of letting this moment,
These emotions,
These thoughts,
Letting them all be.
Dropping our resistance to our experience.
To the way that we feel physically and emotionally.
So can you allow whatever it is to be there today.
In this moment.
Not pushing it down.
Not ignoring it or resisting it.
Because when we do this it creates in fact more suffering and even more thoughts.
So instead we are choosing to allow.
Bringing in a kind acceptance to the way that we are feeling.
And simply allowing the difficulty to be there without any extra commentary.
So maybe just try and play around with that now.
Allowing,
This idea of allowing.
And then moving now into the third stage which is investigation.
So maybe asking yourself some questions.
Why do you feel the way you do?
If it's anger you feel,
Maybe asking yourself what has triggered this anger today?
Asking yourself what do I need in this moment?
What do I need to nurture myself?
You may need to physically wrap your arms around yourself and give yourself a hug.
Or maybe place a hand on your heart.
You may even need to scream.
That's okay.
Questions help us to develop a much wiser relationship with our thoughts and our emotions.
So asking yourself those questions now.
Really investigating what it is you need.
Why it is you feel this way and what might be helpful.
And then moving now into the final stage.
This four step process which is nurture and non-identification.
So this is really about recognising that you are not your thoughts.
You're not your emotions.
And that you are separate.
This really allows us to create some space in between ourselves and the way that we feel when we recognise that we are in fact separate.
No matter how painful or how difficult this is for you.
Know that you are separate and there is a part of you,
Deep inside of you that is silent.
And you may not be able to reach that place now.
But it's there.
It's always there.
I want to invite you also now to bring in a sense of loving kindness to your experience.
To really nurture yourself now.
Maybe even placing a hand on your heart.
To recognise that this is hard for you.
This is difficult.
But really acknowledging that you deserve to be cared for.
You deserve to be loved.
And this is really hard for you now.
So show yourself some compassion.
This is too difficult for you.
There are many people who struggle to show themselves compassion.
It can also be helpful to imagine instead a loved one or a friend or even a pet.
And imagine them sending you loving kindness.
Showing you nothing but compassion.
Nothing but care.
Really opening up to that experience.
Letting it all in.
Now this technique is a technique that you can complete anytime,
Anywhere you are.
You don't have to listen to this recording.
You can just work through that full stage process.
To recognise,
To allow,
To investigate,
To nurture.
Rain.
Remember rain.
When loss can feel like one big minefield of emotional triggers.
Smells and sounds,
Sights and places.
Triggers can come anytime.
Difficult emotions can arise.
But know that you always have the tools within you to access a state of mind.
One which is calm,
Relaxed,
Rational.
So using this full step process may just help you to navigate your way through these difficult emotions when they do arise.
So I wonder if you would like to join me now in taking some deeper breaths before we bring this practice to a close today.
Taking in those long slow breaths.
Breathing slowly in and slowly out.
Know that you are not alone on this journey of loss.
I too am a bereaved mother,
Bereaved parent.
I know the heartache.
I know the sadness.
I know the difficult emotions.
The triggers.
The sleepless nights.
But know that even though you may feel that you are alone in your suffering.
There are in fact so many of us who all know what this pain is like.
We all share this suffering together.
So know that my heart really goes out to you.
Wherever you are in the world.
May this recording bring you some comfort and help you navigate through those troubling times that may so often arise.
Sending all my love.
You take care.
