Welcome to this Pregnancy After Loss meditation track.
My name is Lucy and I'm here today to guide you through this RAIN meditation track which is especially helpful if you're experiencing strong emotions or thoughts and it's a practice that has really helped and guided and supported me through my own pregnancy after loss,
But in general in terms of my my own life.
So this practice is helpful once you know how to do it and in time with practice you may well just be able to do the practice without actually listening to the track so it's really worthwhile following along a couple of times.
So finding somewhere to rest comfortably then wherever you are allowing your hands to rest gently on your belly wherever feels right for you and take a deep breath in allowing your chest and your belly and your back to expand with the in-breath and then gently releasing the breath releasing the breath out of your body and just doing this a few more times so taking in a deep breath noticing how your body expands releasing the breath and again taking a deep breath in and releasing that breath just allowing your breath to return to its own pace and rhythm here in this moment together as you notice the support of the ground beneath you allowing yourself to feel held and safe So I'm going to be guiding you through the RAIN meditation.
RAIN is a an acronym that stands for Recognize Allow Investigate and Nurture so we'll be moving through each part individually so let's begin then focusing first of all on the Recognize so this is about recognizing what's present now so taking a moment to acknowledge what you're feeling maybe it's grief,
Hope,
Fear,
Guilt or even joy or perhaps it's a complex mix of emotions whatever's there recognizing it without judgment and saying to yourself in your mind this is what I'm feeling now and if words don't come easily simply noticing the sensations in your body Is your chest tight?
Are your shoulders tense?
So just checking in with this moment now with how you are how you are physically how you are emotionally maybe even the nature of your thoughts So are the thoughts around the past or around the future or around this moment now?
So we're just noticing what's here observing not getting involved in the story of what we're noticing but just observing and then moving into the second part of the practice which is the Allowing so allow the experience instead of pushing away what you're feeling or trying to fix it allowing it to exist imagining opening your heart to hold all of your emotions the grief,
The love,
The hope,
The uncertainty because there's room for all of it remind yourself that it's okay to feel this way and that these emotions and these thoughts are all part of this journey now So as you sit with whatever you're experiencing breathing deep into your body allowing the breath to flow naturally like waves rising and falling with the in-breath and the out-breath breathing deep into this moment now and then moving in a little bit more now so we're moving on to the third part of this process which is the Investigate so we're gently exploring the emotions or the sensations and then ask yourself what am I really feeling and what's behind this emotion?
What do I need right now?
If grief is present it might carry memories or a sense of longing or if fear is present it might hold a story about uncertainty or protection so you're just investigating what's there what am I really feeling?
What's behind this emotion and what do I need right now?
And then moving into the final part of this practice which is the Nurture part so this is all about offering yourself kindness and care imagining speaking to a friend,
Your partner,
A family member you might say I'm allowed to feel everything that I feel and I'm doing the best that I can and that's enough both grief and hope are all part of this journey now so bringing in a sense of compassion for all you're experiencing a sense of kindness,
Visualizing a warm life filling your chest and radiating outwards it's like representing strength and love and resilience allowing it to remind you that you're enough you are enough exactly as you are in this moment now and then taking in a really deep breath now deep into your body releasing the breath out feeling the ground beneath your feet the strength in your body and the space that you've created from today's practice in your own time if your eyes have been closed you can gently open your eyes maybe moving the body in any way that feels right taking a gentle stretch knowing that you can return to this practice any time you need and that in time with repetition this practice gets easier so that you can apply the RAIN technique wherever you are you don't even have to listen to a guided meditation you can just remember the steps recognize allow investigate and nurture this can be a very helpful practice so we at the project here are sending you all our love whoever you are wherever you are in the world i too as a mother understand how terribly difficult this is and our others who are walking this path understand and how important it is to reach out and get support please lean into the community here please seek support if you need support and make use of these free resources sending all my love you take care
