Tara Brachs Buddhist Inspired Mindfulness Practice Can Help You Overcome Stress Heres How Rain Works

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Buddhist meditation teacher and psychologist Tara Brach recently returned to this idea in a July 2026 talk, where she explored what she calls the “worrier pose”, a pattern of anxiety, overthinking and tension that can keep you caught up in fear. Rather than trying to push fear away, Brach suggests learning to meet it with awareness, compassion and patience.

One of the practices she recommends is RAIN, a mindfulness technique she has used to work with difficult emotions.

RAIN stands for recognize, allow, Investigate and nurture. Brach describes it as a simple way to bring mindfulness and compassion to moments when difficult feelings arise.

2. Next, allow the feeling to be there. This does not mean that you have to like it or agree with it. It means giving yourself permission to acknowledge the experience rather than immediately trying to escape it.

3. The third step is to investigate. Brach encourages you to approach your experience with curiosity and kindness. You might ask yourself what is bothering you most or where you feel the emotion in your body.

4. Finally, nurture yourself with compassion. Instead of criticising yourself for feeling afraid, overwhelmed or uncertain, try responding to yourself with the same kindness you might offer someone else.

Brach does not suggest that you can simply make fear disappear. In her recent talk, she describes fear as a natural part of being human and focuses instead on changing how you relate to it.

This is an important part of the practice. You are not being asked to convince yourself that everything is fine. You are simply creating a little space between yourself and the difficult emotion.

Brach has also described RAIN as a practice that can help you recognise anxiety and notice how it shows up through thoughts and physical sensations.

The next time you feel overwhelmed, you can pause for a few moments and ask yourself:

Once you recognise the emotion, give yourself permission to experience it without immediately judging it. Then notice where you feel it in your body and what thoughts are connected to it.

You can finish by offering yourself a little kindness rather than criticism.

For Brach, the goal is not to eliminate every uncomfortable feeling. It is to become more aware of what is happening inside you and learn to meet difficult moments with greater compassion.

Mindfulness should not be treated as a replacement for professional care when anxiety is severe or persistent. But as a reflective practice, RAIN offers a simple invitation: instead of immediately running from a difficult emotion, pause and get curious about it.

Soumi Pyne is a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times with four years of work experience. She started her career as a digital journalist with HT after completing her master's in media and communication from NSHM Kolkata. She covers topics in astrology, manifesting, and tarot readings, and also interviews astrologers to share their stories. In 2022, she interviewed the young indigo pilot who had saved Indian students from Ukraine. She has also covered stories about the Dhoomimal Art Gallery and a few lifestyle stories. She is now a fervent reader of astrology, but before working full-time on the Astrology beat, she coordinated and published think tank stories in the HT insight section. Additionally, produced Live Mint and HT newsletters, during which she had the scope to publish news articles by HT's editor-in-chief, Sukumar Ranganathan. She puts in her best effort to make her readers justify the statement "Astrology is a pseudoscience". While she believes that Astrology is not intertwined with Science, she aims to help her readers understand that the human body can be influenced by planetary alignments, drawing on insights from Indian and USA astrologers. Outside her professional sphere, she enjoys a healthy lifestyle through yoga, journaling, meditation, running, and cooking gluten-free meals. She is an avid documentary enthusiast who loves watching BBC, Discovery, and other channels, with a focus on ancient history, space, art, and culture. Also, you'll often find her taking her pooch to new cafes and often taking short trips with her girls or her family to offbeat places.Read More