Mindfully addressing the difficulties and challenges of daily living

Tara Brach

I’ve been using the mindfulness tool RAIN for the past several weeks to help me respond to the inevitable difficulties and challenges of daily living. I awoke this morning realizing that I no longer need fear whatever lies ahead in my life journey - RAIN will always be available to me. I’m indebted to Mindfulness teacher Tara Brach for introducing me to this effective, easy to use tool. Tara explains:

About twelve years ago, a number of Buddhist teachers began to share a new mindfulness tool that offers in-the-trenches support for working with intense and difficult emotions. Called RAIN (an acronym for the four steps of the process), it can be accessed in almost any place or situation. It directs our attention in a clear, systematic way that cuts through confusion and stress. The steps give us somewhere to turn in a painful moment, and as we call on them more regularly, they strengthen our capacity to come home to our deepest truth. Like the clear sky and clean air after a cooling rain, this mindfulness practice brings a new openness and calm to our daily lives. 

I have now taught RAIN to thousands of students, clients, and mental health professionals, adapting and expanding it into the version you’ll find in this chapter. I’ve also made it a core practice in my own life. Here are the four steps of RAIN presented in the way I’ve found most helpful:

• R  Recognize what is happening
• A  Allow life to be just as it is
• I  Investigate inner experience with kindness
• N  Non-Identification.

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