Tara Brach - Meditation: Light RAIN in Difficult Times (2020-05-23)

Episode Date: May 27, 2020

Meditation: Light RAIN in Difficult Times (2020-05-23) - This meditation guides us in bringing the mindfulness and self-compassion of RAIN to a challenging part of our life, and particularly, to places of self-judgment or feelings of failure.

The following meditation is led by Tara Brock. To access more of my meditations or join my email list, please visit tarabrock.com. So welcome. We'll do a guided meditation together, what I call a light rain of self-compassion, a really sweet practice. So please come sitting comfortably.

Find a way, a posture that lets you be at ease, and also alert, awake, and you might close your eyes, scanning and sensing your life, and what might want a healing attention. Perhaps somewhere where you've turned against yourself, somewhere that you've been judging or blaming yourself, or somewhere you're having a hard time. Wherever you're feeling some difficulty in your life, kind of bring you close in now so you can sense the situation or maybe it's something you're

anticipating is going to happen and just with some bravery kind of go close into that situation and sense what's most disturbing what ways you feel like you've been failing or something's going to go wrong with the hour of rain let mindfulness recognize whatever's predominant whatever emotion or mood is strongest. And it might be blame or judgment or it might be fear or anxiety. It might be anger, irritation. With a mental whisper, just name whatever you're most aware of right now. And with the A, allow, really let it be here.

And this again takes some courage to just pause with it. Let it belong like a wave in the ocean. It's okay. Just let it be here. Not to add any judgment, not to try to fix it or ignore it. Let him be. With the eye of rain, a simple investigating into the body. Check your throat, your chest, your belly, gently placing a hand wherever you feel the most

agitation or the most emotion. Let that touch help you to breathe with and be with a little. what's right here. And you might sense what you're believing, what's going to go wrong, what's wrong with you, and then deep in attention to where that belief lives in your body. Often it's the throat or chest or belly. And again, it takes courage, but to directly contact that, sense it as a vulnerable place inside you that you're willingly paying attention to right now. the feeling of failure, a fear, perhaps of isolation, sadness, anger. You might sense the most vulnerable part of this experience, where that vulnerability is strongest.

And then asking, what does this place need? What's the flavor of nurturing it most needs? Is it acceptance? forgiveness, understanding, love, compassionate embrace, belonging. And as you attend, sense the witness right now, that most compassionate place in your being and how that awake heart part of you can offer something right now, some kindness to this place of vulnerability. Let your touch now really be tender to communicate care.

Let there be some message to this place, some reminder that you can trust your goodness, trust you belong to love, that truly it's okay. And see if you can let in the nurturing. That's sometimes the most challenging of all. to sense that love, light, warmth is coming into you, perhaps from your own away card, or if it's easier to sense the message and love coming from some being that you trust, spiritual figure, healer, teacher, grandmother, therapist, friend, that's okay too. Just let it in. And then taking some moments to sense the presence that's right here to notice the shift,

whether it's small or large, from the sense of self when you started, the failing self or the anxious self, to some more degree of presence and compassion, to the heart space that's here. And know that this opening into heart space, this loving presence, is more the truth of who you are than any story of self. and let that knowing deep in your trust and your basic goodness. From the teachings of an Indian master, Babuji, break your heart no longer. Each time you judge yourself, you break your heart.

You pull away from the love that is the willspring of your being. Now the time has come, your time, to live, and to trust the goodness that you are. there is no evil no wrong in you your true essence is pure awareness aliveness and love let no one no thing no idea obscure this truth if one comes forgive it for its unknowing do not fight it just let go and breathe into the goodness that you are