
Skillful Means Podcast
Skillful Means Podcast offers practical wisdom for everyday life. Host Jennifer O'Sullivan explores navigating life's challenges through the lenses of Buddhist mindfulness, yoga, Internal Family Systems, and positive psychology.
Each month, episodes feature grounded guidance and accessible practices for meeting whatever arises with greater ease.
Jennifer is a Certified IFS Practitioner with over 20 years of experience teaching yoga and mindfulness.
Skillful Means Podcast
#6 What is RAIN meditation?
RAIN (Recognize, Accept, Investigate, Nurture) is a mindfulness meditation method developed by western Insight Meditation teachers to support practitioners in skillfully dealing with difficult emotions. RAIN can be used as an antidote to obstacles when they arise during meditation practice, as a practice in and of itself, in partnership, or off-the-cushion as a means to simply and mindfully pause during a challenging situation.
Sarah Jane is a regular practitioner of RAIN, and Jen has questions. In this episode, Jen shares what she has heard about RAIN meditation and asks Sarah Jane to help fill in the gaps. Together they cover its purpose, method, and benefits...and how it fits with each of their developing understandings of the Buddhadharma.
In an effort to make what she believes is an incredibly transformative meditation practice seem as accessible to others as it feels to her, Sarah Jane attempts to breathe life into what may at first sound systematic. Get a sense of the creativity involved in using RAIN to go from a contracted state of over-identification, confusion or denial into a state of loving awareness.
Sources and Resources:
- Insight meditation teacher Michele McDonald coined the term RAIN and offers an online course through Tricycle.com.
- Psychologist and meditation teacher Tara Brach champions RAIN with a robust website that includes an accessible recorded meditation practice as well as a RAIN Partner Protocol and audio guide.
~ ~ ~
SMP welcomes your comments and questions at feedback@skillfulmeanspodcast.com. You can also get in touch with Jen through her website: https://www.sati.yoga
Fill out this survey to help guide the direction of the show: https://airtable.com/appM7JWCQd7Q1Hwa4/pagRTiysNido3BXqF/form
To support the show, consider a donation via Ko-Fi.