Hello friends,
This is David.
In today's meditation,
We'll be practicing the RAIN acronym,
Which is a meditation method specifically designed for working with difficulties.
We'll begin the meditation by taking three slow,
Deep breaths.
On the inhale,
The torso filling with air like a balloon.
On the exhale,
The whole body relaxing.
And using the momentum of these deep breaths,
We'll invite even more relaxation to our bodies,
Bringing our awareness to our forehead,
Our eyes,
Softening.
Likewise,
Relaxing our jaw and tongue,
Relaxing our shoulders and hands,
Relaxing our abdomen and pelvis.
All the muscles unclenched.
With this relaxation sweeping through the body,
Feeling at ease in our posture,
We can bring our attention to a mindful anchor,
Something obvious like sounds,
A breath,
Or a particular sensation like the feel of the hands or feet.
And gently let your attention rest in that anchor,
Relaxed.
And with this little grounding in,
Take a look and see if there is anything difficult,
Uncomfortable,
Or unpleasant about your present experience.
Maybe it's physical discomfort,
Emotional turmoil,
Something in the environment.
Whatever you've observed,
We start with the R of the RAIN acronym,
Which is recognize.
Perhaps even naming it.
Anxiety is here.
Back pain is happening.
Or more simply,
Thinking,
Sleepiness.
Staying with our anchor.
And just in the act of recognizing,
There's a little space that comes in.
We shift to the A of the RAIN acronym,
Which is allow.
We really let go of any resistance to this difficulty being here.
We let go of the war within,
Of the wanting it to go away or be different.
And we take to heart a meditation is about finding a sense of peace and well-being,
Not by changing things,
But by settling more deeply into what's already here.
Maybe taking a nice deep breath or two,
Relaxing the muscles again.
Allowing.
Maybe taking a nice deep breath or two,
Relaxing the muscles again.
To help us drop even more deeply into allowing.
We then shift to the I of the RAIN acronym,
Which is investigate.
This is all about getting curious about what this difficulty is like beneath the layer of our stories,
Our judgments,
Our likes and dislikes.
What does this actually feel like in the body?
Is it hot or cold,
Hard or soft,
Piercing,
Pulsing,
Vibrating,
Tense,
Hazy,
Changing?
Just feeling it directly,
Being with it,
As if we've never experienced this before.
Is there anything else you notice about this difficulty?
Maybe how it leads to various impulses or thoughts,
Or leads to particular reactions or other emotions.
Not turning this into a big analytical project,
But again,
Just staying curiously open.
What's this like?
We then arrive at the N of the RAIN acronym,
Which is actually a fork in the road.
We could lean towards the wisdom side,
Where the N means non-identification.
Or we could lean towards the love side,
Which is nurture.
In non-identification,
We simply remind ourselves that this difficulty is not who we are.
It's just like a passing cloud in the sky,
Temporary.
In nurture,
We offer ourselves self-soothing phrases like,
You're doing okay,
It's going to be all right,
May I be kind to myself,
Or any other self-soothing phrases that connect with you.
And so,
In practicing the N,
If you're feeling more balanced today,
I'd suggest going into non-identification.
But if you're feeling more tender,
Or it feels quite difficult to be with this,
Go into nurture.
The point of doing the RAIN meditation isn't to make difficult things go away,
But rather to change our relationship to them,
To find more peace and grounding amidst their presence.
So letting the steps fade to the background,
We'll take another minute to come back into our anchor,
Relaxed,
And letting any tension that remains fade away.
And with that,
We bring our meditation to a close.
See you next time.
