Hi everyone,
And welcome to week four's meditation on mindfulness of emotion.
In this week's practice,
We'll be using an acronym called RAIN.
And we'll be exploring our emotions,
Really cultivating a sense of acceptance,
Kindness,
Curious attention towards whatever feelings,
Inner weather is here.
So with that,
I'll invite you all to find a comfortable seat where you can sit in an easy and relaxed way,
Letting your body fully loosen and let go of any tension that might be residing,
And bringing some attention to the spine,
Sitting in an upright and bright way,
So that you feel wakeful and alert as you sit here.
Letting your chest be open and receptive,
Finding your contact with the ground,
The earth,
Your feet touching the floor and the floor and the earth,
Rising up to meet you,
This grounded connection.
Letting your breath be easy and natural,
Sensing it flow down deep into your belly,
Swelling of the belly as the breath moves in,
And deflation of the belly as the breath moves out,
One breath at a time.
That's all we have to be aware of.
And letting other aspects,
Other parts of your body be included in your awareness,
Maybe feeling this whole body breathing with each breath in,
Each breath out,
This body rising and falling with each breath,
And sensations of vibrating or tingling,
Warmth,
This inner aliveness of the body,
Body and breath,
Feeling the sensations of your body sitting here,
Grounded and connected,
The body being a portal to presence,
A portal to here-ness and now-ness,
Our senses awake,
And also including your external environment,
Noticing any sounds in the background,
Temperature of the room,
The general environment in which you're practicing,
Noticing any sensations or any sounds as either pleasurable or painful or more ordinary in nature.
And now attending to another layer of our experience,
Our inner climate of the heart and the mind,
Our emotions,
Our feelings,
Our mood,
What's here for you today,
What's present in the heart and the mind.
They may be more subtler states of calm,
Peace,
Ease,
Stillness,
Warmth,
Or maybe a bit of restlessness,
Irritation,
Anxiety,
Sadness.
With whatever is present,
We'll apply the first principle of RAIN,
Which is R,
To recognize,
To recognize and name what's here for you,
To really get a sense of that in the body and how this emotion is showing up for you in your senses and also in how your mind feels.
Maybe things feel more open and calm and clear.
Maybe there's a bit more cloudiness,
Fogginess,
A bit of tightness or contraction,
Just seeing what feels true to you.
We may say calm is like this,
Or sadness is like this,
And if no strong emotion is calling your attention,
You may always shift your attention back to the breath in the body and let yourself rest there.
Now moving on to the A of RAIN,
Which is to allow,
To really bring in a sense of acceptance and openness,
Welcome to the emotion that's present.
We do this again by meeting the emotion in the body,
Letting any contraction or tightness around our emotion,
Seeing if we can relax a bit more into it,
Allowing ourselves to really feel the inner movement of this emotion,
The inner climate.
We may use phrases such as,
This belongs,
Or this is part of my experience at the moment,
As ways to really bring that quality of acceptance and allowance.
And if an emotion feels too strong or too intense,
You may always shift your attention to something more neutral,
Maybe opening the eyes and attuning to the sounds in the environment,
Or again,
Just returning back to the sensations of your body and breath.
Now we'll be moving on to the I of RAIN,
Which is to investigate or to become intimate with this emotion,
Noticing what the attitude in the mind is toward this emotion,
What our relationship is to it.
Is there an enjoyment or a liking,
A wanting,
This particular emotion to stay?
Or is there more of a welcoming and an accepting,
Or more of a resistance and a tension,
Sort of turning away from what's here?
Noticing with kindness,
Kindness infused in our attention,
Not judging or critiquing,
Just noticing.
That's all we're doing here.
Now we'll close with the N of RAIN,
Which is to nourish with kindness,
To really tend to whatever emotion is here,
Whether it be calm,
Peace,
Ease,
Or maybe more difficult ones,
Such as sadness,
Anxiety,
Or fear.
Whatever's here,
Notice that it's not so personal,
That just like the weather,
This emotion or mood is just blown through due to different conditions in our lives,
And it won't be here forever,
Soon,
Shift and change.
So for the time being,
Can we hold whatever is here more compassionately,
More lovingly?
You may ask yourself,
What do I need to feel supported?
Really letting your inner wisdom arise and help you meet this emotion more skillfully.
This could be a hand on the heart to demonstrate this kind presence.
Maybe phrases such as,
I'm here,
And I'm listening,
Or I care.
As our meditation comes to a close,
Just noticing how this emotion maybe has shifted,
And maybe too how your relationship to it has blossomed or changed in some way.
I thank you as always for sitting with me,
And wish you a wonderful day or evening.
