The RAIN Process
Buddhist teacher Tara Brach describes a process called RAIN* for dealing with difficult situations and emotions. It breaks down as follows.
Recognize what is happening. Notice what is happening and how it feels in your body.
Allow life to be just as it is. Let whatever arises be, even if you feel resistance. This is a part of the healing process. Feel the feelings.
Investigate inner experience with kindness. Be gentle and kind with yourself.
Non-Identification. This is a resting in present awareness and not identifying (or attaching) to the emotions, knowing that they will pass in time.
* Learn more about RAIN from Tara Brach – Working with Difficulties
Getting Caught in the Rain
The image above was taken a few days ago (with my iPhone) when my husband and I were caught in a sudden downpour, without an umbrella. Now, I don’t mind getting a little wet, and sometimes it’s even fun to get drenched.
We had a decision to make.
1. Ignore it, keep walking and get drenched.
2. Run to a nearby store or restaurant (still a block away) and get drenched.
3. Stay under a building ledge, and wait it out.
I’m sure there were numerous other options too, but we chose #3 and spent the next 15 minutes watching the world go by and the people who chose to do the other two options.
We didn’t moan and complain. We didn’t berate the other for not bringing an umbrella.
An unexpected pause in our day turned out to be peaceful and intimate.
I love your photo on the pouring rain and the solution you chose with your husband when you got stuck in the downpour! So interesting to see what Tara Brach says about ‘Working with Difficulties’.
My last blog entry was on rain too, but with a another little story!!
What a beautiful way to pause on a rainy day! Lovely image and great wisdom!
Pausing and enjoying the rain –what a lovely experience! It’s all about attitude, isn’t it? Your image is a perfect illustration of the beauty of the rain.
A wise lesson hidden within a lovely story!
Rain is actually one of my calming elements..I love to sit on my porch when it is raining and just be. I will be remembering the RAIN concept now when things get stressful. I think I would have made the same choice to wait out the rain and watch other people. A good story for me. Thanks for sharing.
I just finished reading Laura Vanderkam’s book 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think. Vanderkam is proposing that we look carefully at how we are using the 168 hours each week and question whether we are spending the hours where we find the most benefit. I can’t disagree with that. But she interviews many people in this book, all of whom are incredibly “successful” in terms of what they have been many of her examples are women, who raise children, work full time and are able to launch new NGOs before breakfast. I was exhausted just reading it.
My main concern with Vanderkam’s approach is that she seemingly has only one definition for success. I hear very little about nurturing a life that’s detached from these standard measures of “output”. Her examples, which include suggestions such as doing strength training exercises while waiting for the microwave to ding, seem to encourage the standard of being scheduled to within an inch of your life each day. What ever happened to these quiet moments such as the one that you describe in the rainstorm? How do we measure that against a success-o-meter?
I’m all for setting priorities so that we have enough time to do nothing. Not like watching TV nothing, but real nothing. Meditation, sitting still, just looking, all of these activities ultimately have a value in my life. There is rejuvenation gold in those moments watching the rainstorm. Just stay put.