RAINS Meditation

Hello and welcome to this RAINS meditation.

RAINS is an acronym that you might be familiar with.

It's one that helps us provide a little bit of structure and guidance for especially meeting things that might be a little difficult in our life.

Difficult sensations in the body,

Difficult emotions,

Or different experiences that we may find difficult to stay with or to be with.

First,

Let me just go over again what the acronym RAINS stands for.

The R of RAINS stands for recognize.

So it's where we bring attention to what's happening right now.

We bring that awareness and that noticing to what's happening in the inner life.

The A of RAINS stands for allow.

And this is where we just allow life to be as it is in this moment.

Softening into what is here right now.

The I of RAINS stands for investigate.

And here we bring a gentle and kind and curious attention to what we experience in this moment.

The N stands for nourish.

Is where we begin to wonder what's called for now.

What does this experience need?

What do we need in this moment?

And the S stands for self compassion.

Where we begin to cultivate a sense of compassion for ourselves and ultimately expanding that to include compassion for all others who are experiencing something similar to what we're experiencing in the moment.

So let's begin by finding our position.

You can do this practice really in any position as long as it's one that allows you to remain alert and wakeful.

So you can be lying or sitting.

But whatever your position is,

Make sure that you're able to,

As I said,

Stay aware.

You might get too sleepy.

So just taking a moment to settle into your position.

Maybe seated and noticing your feet.

Grounding into the meeting of feet with ground.

The meeting of the body with a chair,

Cushion,

Couch.

And if you're lying down,

Bringing awareness to the meeting of all the parts of the body and the surface you're lying on.

Grounding everywhere in the body that is held by mat,

Floor,

Or bed.

Grounding into that.

Allowing yourself to really feel the extent to which you're held.

And seeing what it might be like to consciously release and relax a little bit more into gravity.

And finding your breath.

Locating it through the sensations associated with the breath.

And not making the breath do anything in particular,

But just letting it be easy and natural.

Letting the body just do what it knows how to do.

So noticing the breathing in,

The sensations of breathing in.

And the breathing out.

And those sensations of breathing out.

And as thoughts arise,

Reminding ourselves that that's perfectly normal and it's not a problem.

Just noticing the thought has come.

We've fallen into a story.

And just as you're able,

Gently releasing that thought.

Coming back to the sensations of the breathing.

The breathing in and the breathing out.

Coming home to the breath over and over again.

And now I'm going to invite you to bring to mind a situation in your life,

A recent experience,

Or maybe something that's happening for you right now,

That's a little bit difficult for you to be with.

You needn't choose the thing that's most disturbing or difficult or challenging right now.

Maybe you start with something that's less challenging.

Kind of easing into the practice.

Maybe it's an ache or a pain in the body.

Maybe it's a mood that's present.

Maybe it's remembering a recent interaction with somebody that was a little bit unsettling or uncomfortable.

Or maybe it's bringing awareness to something that you've been concerned or worried about.

So just finding what that is for you.

So again finding something that's a little bit difficult,

But not overwhelmingly so.

And now as you bring that experience into your awareness,

Let's practice with the R of rains.

Just recognizing what's happening.

What's going on in your inner life as you remember or tune into what is here.

And asking yourself maybe,

What's going on inside me right now?

What am I feeling?

What do I sense in my body?

What sensations are here?

What thoughts are here?

Seeing if you can soften into the experience with just a gentle recognition of what is already here.

Just sort of checking in and recognizing what the inner weather pattern is in this moment.

Sometimes it can help to connect with and to contact the experience by naming it.

Sometimes naming tames things.

So it might be like,

Oh,

Worry is here.

Or I notice restlessness or guilt or obsessive thinking.

Or it might be a recognition that it's hard for me to feel my body right now.

Or as I connect with this,

My breathing becomes rapid and I feel some tightness in my chest or my stomach.

Just checking in with what's here and maybe naming it if that feels powerful to you.

And the A of rain,

That allowing,

That can sometimes be a challenge with things that are difficult.

It means that we soften into what is here and letting be the thoughts,

The emotions,

The feelings or sensations that we discover.

So right now to the best of your ability,

Seeing if you can just allow things to be as they already are.

Asking yourself maybe,

Can I be with this?

Can I say yes to this,

To this experience?

And you may feel a natural sense of aversion or wishing that these unpleasant feelings would go away.

And that's normal.

That's human.

And seeing if you can in this moment commit to be willing to be present with what is.

Maybe even just whispering to yourself,

Yes,

Or this too.

And bringing a gentle and patient allowing of what is in the moment.

As we connect with and allow what is here to just be,

We activate our curiosity.

We investigate with gentleness.

Noticing the quality of what's here,

Touching into the experience as best we can with an intimate and gentle intention.

Cultivating an attitude of non-judgment.

We may ask ourselves,

What is the felt sense inside?

Is there a temperature sense?

Is there a sense of movement?

Is it still?

Are there sensations?

Is there tightness?

Or openness?

Warms?

Tingly?

Numbness?

Just seeing what's here,

Getting curious about it.

We may ask ourselves,

What most wants attention right now?

We can also connect with any thoughts or beliefs that surface.

Maybe identifying a belief and getting curious about the sensations associated with that belief or the thought.

Maybe noticing how the thought or thoughts or belief affects your energy or your mood.

An important aspect of this practice is to keep coming back to the direct experience of the body.

It's human and so common to get pulled into thoughts or stories.

Remembering that mindfulness meditation is the skill of noticing when we have wandered into or gotten lost in thought or story and then releasing those,

Releasing that chatter and coming back into the reality of the experience right now.

Also paying attention to if you feel like you might be getting too close to the too much zone.

So honoring your own limitations.

If you feel like you may be approaching overwhelm or too muchness,

Allowing yourself,

Giving yourself the kind permission to pull back,

Maybe returning your attention to the breath or to hands or to feet,

To the places where your body is in contact with the floor,

With a bed or mat.

And then you may sort of steady and gather yourself and prepare to touch in again to what is difficult.

So continuing to be curious about your experience,

The experience in the body,

The energy.

And now we turn towards the N and the S of the practice.

The N standing for nourish,

The S for self compassion,

As we nourish with self compassion.

We might ask ourselves,

What is called for now?

What does this part of me need?

What does this feeling want from me?

This is a point where if you haven't already,

You might want to place a hand on your heart,

Maybe another hand on your belly,

Bringing a gentle and soothing touch to yourself,

To your experience.

Or maybe you'd like to bring your hands to your face,

Allowing your hands to sort of hold and cradle your face.

You might find a little bit of a rocking motion or humming,

Soothing.

Just seeing what it is that speaks to you,

What sort of self nourishing and self compassion can you bring to yourself and to this experience right now?

This will be a good time to expand your awareness to include all the people who are also experiencing this particular difficulty or something like it.

So seeing if you can sense into the possibility of greater compassion for your own pain and for the pain of others.

The fact is that whatever guilt,

Depression,

Physical pain,

Anxiety,

Or other difficult experience that you may be having is also a human experience.

And understanding that,

You recognize that we're not alone,

And that in this very moment there are thousands if not millions of people who are experiencing this very same feeling.

So taking a moment to just rest in that knowing and that understanding.

You are not alone.

You are never alone in your experience.

At this point,

This might be a good time to turn towards a loving kindness practice.

Starting with loving kindness phrases to bring some caring and soothing into any pain or suffering that's present for you or for others.

You might begin by placing,

If you haven't already,

A hand over the heart,

Maybe a hand on the belly as well.

And then either out loud or thinking in your mind,

Phrases like,

May I feel loved?

May we all feel loved?

May I feel safe?

May we all feel safe?

May I have peace and well-being?

May we all have peace and well-being?

May I feel loved?

May we all feel loved?

May I feel safe?

May we all feel safe?

May I have peace and well-being?

And may we all have peace and well-being?

May I feel loved?

May we all feel loved?

May I feel safe?

May we all feel safe?

May I have peace and well-being?

And may we all have peace and well-being?

And resting in that loving kindness as we end this meditation.

Congratulating yourself for taking the time out for this important practice.

Namaste.