RAIN
See also SOBER in Mindfulness Practice.
References
- RAIN. It stands for Recognize, Allow, Investigate, and Non-identification. Mindfulness teacher Michele McDonald is popularly credited for creating RAIN as a meditation, and several psychologists have since adapted and expanded on it, including Tara Brach, Ph.D., in her book Radical Compassion. In Brach’s take on RAIN, the N stands for Nurture.[1]
From GYE Members
You’ll use an acronym RAIN, as your surfboard to help you ride the wave.
First you need to Recognize it is coming and Relax. You get thrown from your board if your legs are too stiff and believe it or not this can be fun so just relax into it.
Then remember that you have no control over the craving coming, so see if you can Accept or Allow the wave to come as it is. Don’t try to ignore it or distract yourself.
To catch the wave you have to study it carefully Investigating the wave as it builds, crests and then falls. Become Interested in the body sensations, the thoughts and emotions that come with this craving. Get really curious about them. Let your eyes open really wide as you explore them all.
Finally to ride it out Note your experience. Note to yourself mentally or out loud what’s going on in your body from moment to moment. For some people cravings can start in their belly as a tightness or burning sensation. So they would note tightness or burning at the beginning. Then this sensation triggers an urge to do something to make it go away. Or it triggers a spiral into out of control thinking. You can note this as thinking. Other sensations could be contraction, heat restlessness and so on.
Keep noting what the sensations feel like as the craving builds, crests and then subsides. Keep the notes to single words that really describe what your body feels like in those moments. (i.e. anxiety, clenching, fear, rising, vibration, tingling, burning). The more you can note your actual experience from moment to moment the more likely you are to be able to ride the wave to its end. Using RAIN you can ride your cravings out all the way to the shore.