In her regular feature, Times wellbeing guide Lucy Parker, from Flow Tunbridge Wells, explores the unique benefits of the R.A.I.N technique to support your mental health…
Have you been looking for a simple trick to help keep you calm whenever you feel overwhelmed or begin to question unhelpful thoughts or feelings? You could try adopting this simple anagram – R.A.I.N.
Last time we looked at the art of letting go and this brilliant tool might just change your perspective and support your need for change.
R. Is for Recognise
A. Is for Allow
I. Is for Investigate
N. Is for Nurture
The moment you feel anxiety or panic wash over you give it a go!
The first step is to recognise, which can be harder than it sounds. To recognise our truth and see clearly what’s going on for us is a brave act. It’s often far easier to ignore that painful reality or look away, distracting ourselves easily with work, tech, or wine. However, it’s also a vital step as only through seeing what’s truly going on for us do we have an opportunity to address it.
Once we recognise what happening, the next step is to allow it. Allowing is part of acceptance and through acceptance, we are inviting in the truth. We’re not entering into an argument, we’re not criticising or judging, we’re saying to ourselves, yes, that is how it is.
Now, we can begin to investigate the why of it. ‘What is that like for me? What has happened to bring me to this place and what might I choose to do about it? What can I change in this situation and what can’t be changed?’
Finally, we nurture and nourish ourselves. Bringing kindness to the fore to push negative internal dialogue and punishing thoughts away.
I call this a simple trick, but of course, all tools take time to perfect and refine. It can be hard to allow some things to stay or to recognise the pain or effect they have had on your life. Some of the hardest things to let go of are of course living things such as beloved pets, and people. It may be that someone close to you has moved away, left home, changed jobs or sadly died. These losses take time and adjustment, as well as professionals help to soften the pain and embrace the reality of their loss and your continuation.
This is when working with a therapist through counselling or coaching can be powerfully transformative, bringing these simple tools into their most powerful manifestations and allowing you to keep your head above the water.
The more you embrace the R.A.I.N the more it will show you just how powerful it is in washing away the stress, preparing new ground for growth and bringing the sunshine back out.
Lucy Parker, Coach, Counsellor, and
Senior Yoga Teacher
Flow Tunbridge Wells
