The RAIN of Self-Compassion is a meditation taught by Tara Brach.

My experience is that the meditation carries long-term benefits in opening up to painful thoughts and feelings, especially if our minds beat ourselves up. Tara Brach calls this being at war with ourselves. The meditation is well aligned with the principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to open up.

Explained briefly, the RAIN meditation consists of the following four steps:

1. Recognize what is going on;
2. Allow the experience to be there, just as it is;
3. Investigate with interest and care;
4. Nurture with self-compassion.

Take care of yourself

• It’s important to truly acknowledge what is present in our inner world and to allow this experience to be there. You can practice this with other skills to open up, for example, Dropping Anchor.
• The meditation is not meant to be a quick fix: it is important to practice it consistently over a longer period.
• Be gentle and kind to yourself. Take it slowly in small steps.

Dive Deeper

Tara Brach‘s brilliant book Radical Compassion introduces the RAIN meditation and is a great source to go farther with this meditation and compassion in general.