🔼: [[🕯️ Meditation 🧘]], [[🕯️ Part-Tending]] #### RAIN Meditation ![[On Tools, Skills, and Practices...]] A [[🕯️ Meditation 🧘]] practice popularized (and altered) by [[👤 Tara Brach]]. > [!INFO] [[🧘 RAIN Meditation]] & [[⭐️ Internal Family Systems|Internal Family Systems]] Compared > Both RAIN and IFS are essentially [[⭐️ Parts Work|Parts Work]]. They both build on [[🧘 Mindfulness Meditation]] to help us move from [[💡 Blending|trance (blending)]] to [[💡 Presence|Presence (Self)]] and to meet our [[💡 Parts|Parts]] with [[☀️ Compassion]] and [[☀️ Equanimity]], but there are key differences: > > - [[💡 The IFS Process]] is much more in-depth and structured, and it can help resolve [[💡 Polarization|polarizations]]. It is able to get *extremely* granular, almost surgical. > - RAIN doesn't touch on polarizations at all, and is much broader. It's also simpler and easier to remember, and it's a practice designed to be done either alone or with a RAIN partner. RAIN meditation can be practiced for any length of time, from a few minutes to an hour or more. It's also helpful to have a comfortable seated posture and to close your eyes or gaze softly at a fixed point to help cultivate a sense of inward focus. ##### The Practice Don't start with the deepest trauma, we don't want to risk retaumatizing. Start with something that feels safe enough. The first two steps are the foundations of all [[🕯️ Mindfulness|mindfulness]] and [[🧘 Mindfulness Meditation]] practices. [[🧘 RAIN Meditation#Nurture|Nurture]] can come first if we might be meeting with something vulnerable or [[💡 Trauma|traumatic]]. [[🕯️ Unblending]] enough to bring love and [[☀️ Compassion]] and a sense of safety is vital and needs to come first – *then* do the other steps. ###### Recognize (Naming / [[💡 Labeling|Labeling]]) We pause, notice, and observe the [[💡 Trailheads|trailheads]] going on inside of us with [[☀️ Curiosity]]. We might name the [[⭐️ Emotions|emotions]] or mental activities (“Judging,” “Planning,” “Worrying,”) ###### Allow Simply allow what's here to be here with [[☀️ Compassion]] and [[☀️ Equanimity]]. We might ask ourselves, "[[🔑 All Parts are welcome exactly as they are|🔑 Can I be with this, exactly as it is]]?" We might whisper "Yes," or "This belongs," to it. We don't have to enjoy it or want it to stay forever, but just to let it be for now. If you don't want to say a verbal yes, mentally let it know that it belongs, or energetically just allow it to be there. ###### Investigate (I might prefer "Explore") We gently, tenderly feel into our [[⭐️ Body]]. We may bring [[🕯️ Loving Touch]] to the place in our body where we're feeling the sensation or [[⭐️ Emotions|emotion]], bringing [[☀️ Compassion]] and [[☀️ Curiosity]] to what's there. "What is the feeling or thought?" "Where do I feel it in my body?" “What am I believing (even if I know it isn’t true)?” ###### Nurture We respond to the wounded or vulnerable [[💡 Parts|Part]] that we find in the way we would nurture a dear friend or precious child – from [[💡 Presence|Presence]], offering all the love and [[☀️ Compassion]] we can as we experience the feelings and thoughts. This can involve offering loving words or understanding and care. If we're not able to do this step, it may be best to learn [[🕯️ Self-Regulation]] first and to create enough safety that our [[💡 Protector Parts|Protectors]] feel safe enough to [[🕯️ Unblending|unblend]]. [[🕯️ Resourcing]] ##### Resources - [[👤 Tara Brach]] - https://www.tarabrach.com/rain/ - [[📖 🟢 Radical Compassion - Learning to Love Yourself and Your World with the Practice of RAIN]] (I recommend the audiobook) - [[📖 🟡 The Power of Awareness]]