Let It RAIN: A Mindful Path Through Difficult Emotions

The RAIN meditation is a powerful, heart-centered mindfulness practice that helps us work skillfully with difficult emotions, habitual patterns, and inner struggle. Through the steps of Recognize, Allow, Investigate, and Nurture, we develop self-awareness and self-compassion in the midst of challenge. RAIN guides us home to a place of clarity, tenderness, and deeper connection with ourselves.

Transcript

Hello,

I'm Stephen Hick,

And I want to thank you for joining me in the practice today.

What we're going to be doing today is a blend of mindfulness and self-compassion.

It's a process called RAIN.

It's a meditation practice,

But it's also something that you can apply during your daily life,

Especially during difficult times.

So RAIN is an acronym.

It stands for Recognize,

Allow,

Investigate,

And Nurture.

And these four steps can guide us when we're stuck in anxiety or shame,

Addiction,

And self-doubt.

When we're overwhelmed or unsure of what to do,

RAIN can help us bring us home to a place of clarity and wisdom.

What many people love about this practice is that it's simple.

In the moments when mindfulness can feel far away,

When emotions are their strongest,

And the path is kind of unclear,

RAIN offers us kind of a map back to presence and self-compassion.

So let's begin the practice.

First,

Find a comfortable position,

Sitting upright but relaxed.

You might be on a cushion on the floor or in a chair,

Whatever feels most natural and comfortable for you.

Your hands can rest gently,

Either on your thighs or on your lap,

Wherever it's most comfortable,

Allowing your eyes to close or simply lowering your gaze to the floor in front of you,

Finding an upright,

Relaxed,

And dignified posture.

Taking a few breaths,

Inhaling slowly through your nose and exhaling,

Just breathing naturally,

Not trying to change the breath in any way,

Letting the breath soften the body.

As you breathe,

Feeling your shoulders drop a little,

Your letting go of any clenching or holding in your jaw,

Letting your belly soften,

Your hands,

Still allowing the breath to soften and release the body,

Breathing in ease and breathing out any tension,

Allowing the breath to return to its natural rhythm.

No need to control it,

Just feeling the breath,

The steady flow of air in and out of the body,

Like waves moving in and out along the shore,

Sensing into the felt sense of the breath,

Might be felt most predominantly at the nostrils,

The belly,

Or the chest,

Simply feeling the breath where it's most predominant and most natural for you.

Now I invite you to bring to mind a difficult situation,

Something that brings up emotional discomfort.

This could be a recent or ongoing event in your life,

A moment of conflict,

Or even the harsh inner critic that might exist within,

A habit that you're struggling with,

An area of grief or fear,

Regret,

Anger.

Let it be something real,

But not too overwhelming.

You want to stay connected,

Not consumed.

Pick something that feels workable in this moment.

And once you've identified your situation,

Take a moment to visualize it.

Picture where you are,

The setting,

The other person,

If there was another person involved.

Being as specific as you can,

Recalling the specific moment when you felt most activated,

When the difficult emotion was the strongest.

And once you get that sense in your mind's eye,

Almost like pressing pause on a movie,

Freeze the frame there.

Let yourself feel what it's like to be in that moment,

In that difficult situation.

Now we'll begin by recognizing the R of RAIN.

Start by recognizing what's happening inside you.

Ask yourself gently,

What am I feeling right now?

What emotions are here?

What's alive and present within?

You might notice sadness,

Fear,

Irritation,

Confusion,

Shame.

Maybe there's more than one emotion.

Letting yourself name whatever is present in this moment.

You might gently say to yourself,

What is present?

This is fear.

This is hurt.

This is anger.

Naming it might help you acknowledge it.

You're not running from it,

And you're not identifying with it.

You're simply recognizing it.

If you feel yourself getting overwhelmed by simply tuning into a difficult emotion in this moment,

That's okay.

That happens.

Be gentle with yourself.

There's no need to judge.

You can go back to the breath as your home base.

In fact,

You can do this at any time during the meditation.

Simply go back to the breath and reconnect with the moment as it is.

But if you're still with me in this,

Continue to name and acknowledge,

Recognize the motion that arises,

The thoughts that arise around this difficult situation.

As you sit with the emotional and thinking aspects of the content,

Notice what's most vivid right now.

Where's your attention naturally drawn with regards to this difficult situation?

Continuing to gently observe and recognize what's happening inside right now.

What are you feeling right now?

Moving on to the second letter in RAIN,

The second step in this meditation is the A for allow or accept.

Allowing whatever is here to be here,

It doesn't mean you have to like it or want it to stay.

It simply means you're making space for it without pushing it away or trying to fix it.

Accepting it just as it is.

Recognizing that this is part of your experience right now.

Allowing,

Not resisting,

Not suppressing.

Simply letting it be.

You might place a hand gently on your heart or belly and softly say,

Yes,

This too.

Let it come.

Let it be.

Continuing to allow your experience to be just as it is.

Letting it be.

Noticing what happens when you allow your emotions to be here without judgment.

You might feel more space or perhaps more discomfort.

In either way,

It's okay.

The practice is simply in the allowing,

In the accepting of the moment.

Continue to simply allow your experience,

Emotions,

Thoughts,

Body,

To just be.

If it helps picturing your emotion as a wave in the ocean,

It rises,

It peaks,

And it eventually falls away.

Your job isn't to fight the wave,

Rather to let it move through.

Now moving to the third step,

The I in RAIN,

Or investigate.

This part is about exploring your experience with curiosity.

It's not analyzing or fixing.

It's just simply being with what's here.

You might ask,

What is this really about?

What am I believing right now?

What thoughts underpin this emotion that's arising?

Is there a belief that I'm not good enough,

That I failed,

That I'm unlovable?

Just seeing with curiosity what beliefs and thoughts might also be present.

Bringing your investigation to the body.

How does this feel in the body?

Where do I feel this emotion most strongly?

Maybe there's tightness in the chest or a lump in the throat,

Tension in the shoulders or a clenching of the jaw,

A churning in the belly,

Some tension around the eyes,

The forehead.

Simply noticing how this emotion manifests in the body.

And wherever you feel it in the body,

Bringing your attention to that area of the body.

Simply focusing in on that area and feeling it directly.

So the bare essence of whatever is appearing in the body,

The warmth or the pressure,

The ache,

The tingling,

Constriction.

Simply noticing without judgment and staying with it gently.

And simply listening to what is also present with the emotion,

The thoughts and body sensations.

The central part of this investigation is being honest and compassionate with yourself.

Remembering you're not fixing,

You're simply listening.

Simply seeing,

Observing what's present with curiosity.

And now moving on to the N in RAIN.

For the purposes of today's meditation,

It will stand for NURTURE,

But it can also stand for NON-IDENTIFICATION.

The sense that this isn't who you really are.

In terms of nurture,

Asking the part of you that feels most tender or vulnerable in this moment,

What do you need right now?

Maybe it needs reassurance and to be told that it's okay,

That it's not alone,

That it's lovable and worthy just as it is.

Remembering that you're okay,

That you're lovable.

You don't have to do anything to be enough.

Speak to yourself the way you would speak to someone you dearly love.

It's often the harsh inner critic that causes the most difficulties and the most difficult emotions for ourselves.

Letting go of that inner critic,

Instead speak to yourself with the loving words that you would speak to someone you love dearly.

If this feels difficult to offer that kind of care and nurturing to yourself,

You might imagine someone who can.

A loving friend,

A wise teacher,

Even your pet.

Imagining their caring gaze,

Their unconditional acceptance.

Letting it flow through you like a warm light.

Letting that nurturing presence,

Whether from yourself or from another,

Fill the part of you that feels most tender,

Most vulnerable.

Letting it soak in,

Letting it be received.

Imagine that love flowing throughout the body,

Into every cell.

Imagine it flowing into your heart space,

Around your heart,

Spreading through your entire being.

Letting go of all effort,

Letting everything be as it is,

Simply resting.

Notice the shift in your sense of being,

From where you began to now.

Do you feel more spacious,

More at ease?

You may still feel the emotion and that's okay.

The difference is that now you're not inside the emotion.

The emotion isn't controlling you.

You're simply holding the emotion with kindness and compassion.

This space,

The spaciousness,

Is who you truly are.

This is the place where healing truly begins.

Now gently bringing your attention back to the breath and feeling the body breathing.

If your eyes were closed,

Slowly beginning to open them,

Taking in the space around you,

Taking a moment to congratulate yourself,

Having the courage to participate in the RAIN meditation with a difficult emotion.

Reviews

Great Meditation Session. Merci beaucoup

🙏💗