R.A.I.N. Meditation: A Body-Focused Approach to Working With Emotions
In my early twenties, a dear friend of mine introduced me to Tara Brach, she’s a meditation teacher, clinical psychologist, and Buddhist practitioner. This wise woman and teacher of mine has supported me tremendously in my healing journey, especially in the areas of self-compassion.
During my young adulthood, I struggled quite severely with depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Learning and integrating the 4-step mindfulness process of R.A.I.N. has become almost a daily practice for me and has been an instrumental building block for helping me to connect more deeply with the sensational experience of my emotions. Furthermore, it has also supported me in becoming more attuned to working through my emotional landscape somatically. The result has been a greater capacity to digest rather than repress the more difficult emotions that would and still do appear, and has helped me become better at creating space for responding to my life rather than reacting.
Nevertheless, I’d like to share this practice with you in hopes that it will provide you with reprieve, further bodily awareness, self-compassion, and the capacity to gently experience and release the more challenging mood states that can entrap us all. In essence, this mindfulness practice is an opportunity to give yourself the self-nurturing you deserve when faced with an emotion or emotions that require a compassionate presence. You could think of it as having tea with the beast, so he/she/they are satisfied!
Here’s how it works:
R.A.I.N: A FOUR-STEP PROCESS FOR USING MINDFULNESS IN DIFFICULT TIMES
The 4 steps in brief…
1. R Recognize what is going on
2. A llow the experience to be there, just as it is
3. I Investigate the inner experience with interest and care
4. N Nurture with self-compassion or Non-Identification
The acronym RAIN is an easy-to-remember tool for bringing mindfulness and compassion to emotional difficulty.
Recognize what is going on;
Allow the experience to be there, just as it is;
Investigate with interest and care;
Nurture with self-compassion.
You can take your time and explore RAIN as a stand-alone meditation or move through the steps whenever challenging feelings arise.
R—Recognize What’s Going On
Recognizing means consciously acknowledging, at any given moment, the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are affecting you. This can be done with a simple mental whisper, noting what you are most aware of.
A—Allow the Experience to be There, Just as It Is
Allowing means letting the thoughts, emotions, feelings, or sensations you have recognized simply be there, without trying to fix or avoid anything.
You might recognize fear, and allow it by mentally whispering “It’s okay” or “This belongs” or “Yes.”
Allowing creates a pause that makes it possible to deepen attention.
I—Investigate with Interest and Care
To investigate, call on your natural curiosity—the desire to know truth— and direct a more focused attention to your present experience.
You might ask yourself: What most wants attention? How am I experiencing this in my body? What am I believing? What does this vulnerable place want from me? What does it most need?
Whatever the inquiry, your investigation will be most transformational if you step away from conceptualizing and bring your primary attention to the felt sense in the body.
For instance, where are the emotions showing up in your body…tension in the neck? Jaw? Throat? Stomach?
N—Nurture with Self-Compassion
Self-compassion begins to naturally arise in the moments that you recognize you are suffering. It comes into fullness as you intentionally nurture your inner life with self-care.
To do this, try to sense what the wounded, frightened, or hurting place inside you most needs, and then offer some gesture of active care that might address this need. Does it need a message of reassurance? Of forgiveness? Of companionship? Of love?
Non-identification means that your sense of who you are is not fused with or defined by your thoughts and emotions. This brings about a natural sense of freedom and ease. It gives a sense of having peace in the middle of it all. No matter how intense and painful the emotional storm there is always a part of you that is still, silent, and untouched.
*** Feel free to book a 15-minute consultation, I would be happy to lead you through a RAIN Meditation and serve you on your healing journey!
Resources:
10-minute RAIN meditation led by Tara Brach, give it a try!-
Michael Stone also provides an insightful exploration of this practice with his students and shares certain tips and tricks for greater efficacy in it’s application for daily life. I’ve provided a link below so you can deepen your own practice of RAIN or as he calls it “PAIN” P-AUSE A-llow, I-nvestigate, N-on-identification.
