Tara Brach - Meditation: RAIN of Compassion (9 min.)

Episode Date: November 17, 2021

Meditation: RAIN of Compassion (9 min.) - In this short practice we are guided in bringing the mindfulness and self-nurturing of RAIN to a difficult emotion. This helps us shift from feeling stuck and reactive to the tender and spacious presence that is our true home.

The following meditation is led by Tara Brock. To access more of my meditations or join my email list, please visit tarabrock.com. What follows is a guided rain meditation and rain is an applied meditation bringing a weave of mindfulness and compassion to a place of emotional difficulty. I invite you to begin by taking some moments to settle, to become still, to become still, to let your attention turn inward and take a few full breaths. Scanning your life, sensing if there's a situation that's challenging right now, perhaps a conflict with somebody, challenge at work, financial difficulty, health difficulties,

a behavior and addictive behavior you're struggling with, something that brings up difficult emotions, perhaps. anger or fear, shame, anxiety. And I invite you not to choose something that feels traumatic because that won't serve in a short meditation. And when you pick out your situation, let yourself go right to it, imagining in your mind the scene, where you are, who you're with, words that might be spoken, let yourself get in touch with with the frame of, and in this mental movie where you feel most triggered, most reactive. Once you're in touch with strong feelings, we begin the rain practice. Rain is an acronym the first

letter stands for recognize, the second for allow, the third for investigate, and the fourth for nurture. So we begin with recognize and you might sense that you can recognize what emotion is strongest inside you right now. What has been triggered? Is it fear? Is it sadness? Is it hurt? Is it anger?

Is it frustration? As you recognize the emotion that's here, mentally whisper the word that most approximates it. You might whisper it two or three times. The A, allow, means to let whatever's here be here, not to judge it or to push it away, not to ignore it. Let it be. You might even say, this belongs, just like waves in the ocean, this is a wave of the current

moment. So allow acknowledges the reality that's here and lets it be. Investigate means that we get more intimate with what's actually happening. You might ask yourself, when this is going on, what am I believing? Am I believing I'm failing? That I'm unlovable? That I can't trust others. And with whatever you find, sense where you're feeling the experience in your body.

When you're believing something's wrong, how does it feel in your body? Where do you feel it? The most important part of investigating is to feel the somatic experience. and invite you to maybe put your hand on your heart as a way of accompanying what's here, feeling your throat, your chest, your belly, and sensing where feelings are the strongest, breathing into that area, inviting whatever vulnerability is here to be here. If it helps, you might let your facial expression reflect what you're feeling and even your posture so that you're really contacting intimately the difficult experience.

And as you contact the vulnerability that's here, you might sense what's most needed. What is this part of you most need to feel healed, to feel comforted? Does it need to feel loved? Forgiven? Accepted? Trusted? Accompanied? protected? As you sense into what's needed, you might adjust your posture a little and

sense that you can call on the most awake part of your heart to offer what's needed to the vulnerability within. This is the step of nurture and you might even let the feeling of your hand and your heart become more tender, communicating that nurturing through your hand. You might sense what message you want to send to your inner life, as if your spiritual heart can send a message to your human heart that's healing. It might be, it's okay. It might be trust your goodness. It might be you're doing your best. Or perhaps, I'm here and I'm not leaving. Feel held in love. forgive yourself. Just sense what words, what message will mostly bring some inner ease and freedom.

And if it's difficult to offer to your own being some healing, you might imagine it coming from a larger source, from someone you trust in love, from a deity or spiritual figure, from the natural world, from your dog, from someone no longer alive. But let the message and the love bathe you, just like with the real rain, the flowering comes afterwards. In the final phase called After the Rain, just sense the quality of presence it's here. Perhaps you can sense a little more space, a little more tenderness, a little more perspective, more presence.

And you can trust that this is more of the truth of who you are than any narrative or story and that the more you touch into this truth, the more you'll trust and embrace your being.