Emotional Healing Meditation

This is a RAIN meditation for helping you when you're feeling big emotions, to help you regulate your emotions, release emotions, and let them flow through you. Emotions really only last a couple of minutes, yet it is our holding onto them or resisting them that makes them last for hours and sometimes days. This practice is great for helping you how to learn to better navigate and move through difficult emotions with more ease. It can be used both at the time when you are feeling a big emotion, or also retrospectively. So whether you're experiencing anger, sadness, grief, or any big difficult emotion this practice can be helpful for accepting, forgiving, letting go, and moving into the rest of your day.

Transcript

So this is the RAIN meditation with intentional focus on just learning to feel and be with emotions. Getting comfortable if you're not already. Be sitting down or lying down up to you. And when you're ready gently closing the eyes, Softening the face. Maybe just starting with three deep breaths, So just taking three deep breaths on your own. Deep nourishing breath in the belly rises And then slowly sighing out on the exhale. On your own. Two more deep nourishing breaths. A bit of a sigh out on the out-breath. And then when you're ready, Letting the breath settle. So bringing back a memory of the more recent, The better. So if you have anything from today, Great. But if not past week or so, Just some situation where there was a strong emotional trigger or a strong emotional charge. And. . . I just bring the memory back, Picturing it, Picturing where you were, Your surroundings. Who was there, If there was anybody there. And when what was happening, What was being said or done, It's bringing yourself back to that memory. Are you playing it a little bit, But without, If possible, Without getting totally absorbed in it, You know, With a bit of a, As if you're looking at yourself from the outside. You're bringing the memory back. And as you bring the memory back, Starting to notice what's happening in your body. Are there any sensations that you're aware of? And sometimes the absence of sensations or numbness is a sensation as well. Just noticing where there are sensations or lack of sensations in your body. And as you notice these sensations, How would you describe them? What words? Are they tightness? Punching? Is it cold? Hot? Frozen? Fuzzy? Shivery? Energetic trembling. What words would you use to describe this sensation? Really focusing in on the body. You know, Noticing if your mind is getting drawn away into the story, But having just really as much as possible, Bring awareness to what's happening in your body now. I'm just watching. Where you feel the sensations and what they feel like. I'm just sitting and being with this experience right now. Notice if there's a desire to change and just see if you can let that set to one side and just be with it. You might notice your body breathing at the same time too. Just being with the sensations of your body, The sensations that tell you something, Something is happening for you. Noticing perhaps how this experience changes as you watch it, Or doesn't change. If there is any change, Noticing that too. And giving yourself permission to feel this way, You're allowed to have this experience. And now starting to explore the emotional experience. Are there emotions there? You might have a word to describe it and you might not. If there is a word to say sadness, Anger, Happiness or whatever it is, Labeling whatever feeling is there. You might even say, I'm feeling whatever it is you're feeling. And I'm allowed to feel this. You are allowed to feel this emotion. It is a normal human emotion. Everybody feels it. Just giving yourself permission to feel the feeling as well. I'm allowed to feel. This feeling and labeling that feeling. And if you're not sure of the exact word, Then it's just I'm allowed to feel this way and you are allowed to feel this way. And you're still staying with the body, The sensations of your body, What's happening in your body. Noticing if there's any changes or if it's the same. And if there is change, You know, Sometimes the sensations can move or the. . . Intensity can change or they can totally change. And sometimes they say the same. So just being curious about what is happening in your body. Another way to recognize the feeling can be just to gently rest a hand on that area where you feel. The activation or the numbness. Just resting your hand there. Again, Acknowledging this, You might say, I acknowledge you, Or I acknowledge this, Or I see you, Or I feel this. In your own words, A way of acknowledging your feeling, What you're feeling. Noticing if there's any tension, Unnecessary tension in the jaw, Maybe unclenching the jaw, Softening the eyes, Softening around the eyes. And as we come to the end of this, Just checking in, Is there anything you need right now? There might be, There might not be. Just asking the question, Is there anything you need right now? And if there is, You know, It might be an action, It might be to give yourself a hug, A squeeze, Or it could be something that you might do later, You know, Maybe for a walk. Setting that intention to, If something has come up, Setting the intention to do whatever it is that has come up. And otherwise, Maybe just finishing up with a few deep breaths on your own. A deep, Expansive breath. With these slow sigh outs through the mouth. Three deep breaths. Maybe it feels right, Maybe even thank yourself for taking this time for yourself. Once you've taken the three deep breaths, Letting the breath settle. When you're ready, Open your eyes and back to your day, If you'd like. Now you can do it, You know, A short regulation exercise, But otherwise you don't have to just go on into your day.