Leaning Into Discomfort With RAIN Technique

Hi,

I'm Emily and I'm a teacher here on Insight Timer.

I've been teaching mindfulness meditation and yoga for over 10 years and I'm passionate about showing how we can combine ancient philosophy with modern science through movement,

Through breath and through meditation to bring balance and a sense of true connection in our lives.

And I'm guiding these practices on the traditional lands of the Dudaroa,

The Tangarong,

The Waiwuru and the Yaitmataung here in Victorian Australia and I pay my deepest gratitude and respects to the elders of this land,

Past and present.

Welcome to your practice.

In this meditation I'm going to be guiding you to gently lean into a meditation practice called RAIN.

And RAIN is a mindfulness tool that stands for Recognise,

Allow,

Investigate and Nurture.

And the idea with this is to use this tool to lean into an uncomfortable situation,

Not something that's deeply traumatic,

But something perhaps that has caused you discomfort,

Something a little bit stressful,

Frustrating,

Irritating,

Something that has affected your nervous system and that might be today,

It might be the last week or the last couple of weeks.

And I'd like to make sure as we start this that if anything gets too overwhelming as we move through this practice,

Then you are welcome to stop at any time.

You're welcome to do anything you need to resource yourself,

Feel your feet on the floor,

Take some box breathing,

Perhaps inhaling for four,

Holding for four,

Exhaling for four,

Holding for four,

Maybe opening your eyes if they were closed and looking around you and noticing what you can see.

So use any tools that you need to come back to to to be present with your body.

If you are ready to begin,

Let's find a comfortable position,

Either lying down or sitting,

Whatever works for you.

And you might like to let the eyes softly close so that you can really bring your attention inwards.

And just for a moment,

Bring your attention to the muscles of your face and your jaw and your shoulders,

Perhaps taking a deep breath in and as you breathe out,

Imagining the skin and the tissues spreading,

Releasing,

Softening.

And again,

Perhaps bringing your awareness to your chest as you breathe in,

Feeling some space there and as you breathe out,

Allowing that area to soften as best you can.

And another maybe slightly deeper breath,

Seeing if you can allow that breath to fill up your belly,

Travel all the way down.

And as you breathe out,

Allowing your body to become a little heavier in your seat or on the ground,

More connected with the earth beneath you.

And then just allowing your breath to fall into its natural rhythm.

No need to worry about the breath at all,

Control the breath at all.

Allow your hands to rest wherever they feel comfortable.

And allowing yourself to settle and fully arrive here in this space.

And you might like to bring to mind an intention for this practice.

What is it that brings you to meditate today to take this time to be with yourself?

Creating space for presence here,

For curious and loving awareness.

As we lean into how we're honestly,

Truly,

Really feeling today.

And so bringing something to mind that could be something personal that's happened in your life or perhaps it is something that's going on in the world.

Maybe there's just a general sense of unsettledness that you're sensing in your body as discomfort.

It could be a physical sensation that is causing you discomfort.

Or there might be an emotion or an energy or a thought pattern or a particular person's behavior.

And without kind of overreaching or struggling to find something,

See if you can just settle on one example of something that brings you a general sense of discomfort.

And bring that to mind,

That experience.

It's paying attention to what's happening in your body,

This recognizing of what's going on with that feeling of discomfort.

Something that's challenging.

And then as you recognize and acknowledge and turn towards that sensation,

Asking yourself,

Can you allow this to be exactly as it is?

So often we resist and push away and close off to difficulty.

We might numb ourselves,

Distract ourselves.

But can you,

Just in this moment here,

Say yes to the experience?

If at any time it starts to feel overwhelming,

Know that you can come back to that feeling of your body on the earth,

That feeling of your breath in your body.

And if you're able to turn towards it,

To say yes to it,

To let it be exactly as it is,

Can you bring those qualities of curiosity and kindness with you?

And start to perhaps investigate a little bit deeper into what's happening.

Without analyzing,

But sensing with your whole being.

So you might,

You might be able to name an emotion that's present.

Maybe there's more than one.

Often there could be fear or sadness or grief or anger,

Anxiety or restlessness.

Rage.

And can you pinpoint a location in your body?

Perhaps naming the sensation or sensations that you're feeling.

Tightness,

Heat,

Recall,

Heaviness,

Numbness.

Sharp,

Constricting.

Perhaps there's tension somewhere in the body.

Does it shift?

Does it intensify?

Does it dissipate as you pay attention to it?

And simply breathe with it.

You might like to inquire what you're believing right now.

What thoughts might be present in relation to this sensation,

This emotion that you're investigating?

Are these thoughts and beliefs true?

Are they bringing that curiosity and that kindness in?

To perhaps inquire about what this part of you is needing right now.

Does it simply need to be acknowledged and to be heard,

To be seen?

And it might help you to imagine or to visualize perhaps the wisest part of yourself.

Maybe it's a future self or an external being of some sort that is offering kindness and compassion to this part of you that is perhaps requesting some tenderness and some support right now.

And you might find that it helps to place a hand over that part of your body that needs nurturing or perhaps over your heart and maybe there are some words that this wisest part of you or this wise being would like to offer.

It could simply be,

It's okay.

I see you.

You could imagine the kindness and compassion from this wise being or this wise part of you entering this space.

I'm taking a couple more breaths here if you like.

Continuing to be curious about what's present as you breathe here.

And then just the next breath out,

Letting go,

Letting go of that practice,

Letting go of the experience that you've just had and coming back to simply feeling the next breath in and the next breath out.

You might like to bake that breath a little bit deeper,

A little bit longer,

Perhaps counting the breath in for five and out for five.

Bringing your attention back into the simple presence of this breathing body.

And then just allowing yourself to settle again and being aware of how your body is,

How your energy is,

How your mind is after this tool of RAIN.

So often discomfort and pain is a message.

And rather than pushing it away and distracting ourselves from it,

When we can learn to turn towards it,

To acknowledge it,

To nurture that part of us,

We might be able to open to the wisdom that it is communicating.

And so take a moment here to allow yourself to be open to receive any wisdom or insight.

And RAIN is a practice,

So feel free to come back to this at any time that you need to practice it in times of more ease so that you're more able to draw on it when things get more difficult.

The more we practice these mindfulness tools,

The more we build up that mindfulness muscle.

We help to build more connections between our nervous system and rest of our body so that we can listen more easily to those messages of discomfort.

That also helps us to be more open to the messages of joy and gratitude too.

And so you might just take a moment as we close now to place your hands over your heart or bring the palms of the hands together and bring to mind something that you are grateful for right now.

What's gone well for you this week?

Perhaps there's a being,

A person,

A pet in your life that you'd like to offer some gratitude to.

Taking a deeper breath in,

Deeper breath out,

Maybe bowing the head gently and as you're ready to,

You can blink open your eyes,

Become aware again of the space around you and go gently into the rest of your day.

Thank you so much for being here.