Hello,
I'm Natalie and I'm here to guide you through a mindful process for managing difficult emotions.
This technique is called RAIN.
R A I N N.
And we'll go through it together now,
One step at a time.
R is for recognize.
Can you notice what you are feeling right now?
See if you can give your experience a name.
Maybe you're feeling very anxious or angry or sad.
You might be experiencing a wave of grief or a moment of insecurity.
Don't worry if you're struggling to find the right word.
It can be hard to think clearly at a time like this.
You can just recognize that you're experiencing something difficult.
You might say to yourself,
I am struggling right now.
A is for allow.
I know you don't want to be feeling this.
That's okay.
You don't have to like what you're going through.
Allowing our experience is simply about accepting the fact of how things are in this present moment.
It is the opposite of resisting,
Just letting it be.
Can you try to soften,
To not push away,
To allow?
This is just what you're feeling right now.
It's okay to feel this.
I is for investigate.
Now we will investigate our experience with curiosity and compassion.
What might have caused this feeling?
Try not to get too caught up in a story here or slide into self-criticism.
Emotions are involuntary neurobiological responses.
I wonder what prompted this one.
It's okay if you're not sure.
Sometimes feelings seem to come out of nowhere or are built up of lots of things.
If you can get some sense of context to what you're experiencing,
Then that's helpful.
But don't force the narrative here.
It's okay to just sit with the curiosity.
Let's explore this feeling a bit further.
Where do you feel it in your body?
Perhaps there is tension.
Weight,
Pain or numbness.
See if you can just observe for a moment what is happening in the body as you have this experience.
You might try placing a hand gently on this part of the body or imagining that you can breathe into it.
Once there's tension,
Can you relax your muscles or gently stretch?
Now we'll use our imaginations to investigate this feeling even more.
Imagine you could take your feeling out of your body and place it on a table in front of you.
What colour is it?
And what kind of shape does it have?
Is it moving or still?
If you were to touch it,
What would it be like?
Hot or cold?
Smooth?
Rough?
Spiky?
There are no right or wrong answers here.
Just allow your mind to show you what it wants to.
N is for non-identify.
Now that we've recognised,
Allowed and investigated this feeling,
We can non-identify with it.
This means that we can know that it is a temporary experience that is passing through.
It is not who you are and it does not define you in any way.
You are the sky and this is the weather.
This is energy passing through me.
This too shall pass.
Even though we can know it's temporary,
That doesn't mean it's easy.
The final part of this RAIN practice is nurture.
If this is what is happening in this moment,
How can you tend to yourself with compassion?
Is there anything you need to help you allow this feeling to move through you?
You might place a hand on your heart and offer yourself some kind words.
You are going to be okay.
This is hard but you can do hard things.
I care about this suffering.
Breathe.
Try to take a slow,
Steady breath.
Well done.
You have sat with your feelings even when they were painful.
That took courage.
I hope you are feeling a little better.
Remember you can repeat this process whenever you need to.
I wish you peace and happiness.
Take care.
