We have been discussing and placing emphasis on managing our emotions and building emotional resilience. We were given emotions from God, but if not careful, our emotions can lead us to sin. So, lets discuss this stress exercise, RAIN, which was created by Michelle McDonald and is a popular tool for developing emotional resilience.

R= RECOGNIZE: Acknowledge and name the emotion you are feeling. Don’t judge yourself for having it, just acknowledge it. Take note of what it feels like in your body. For example, I’m feeling anxious and there is tightness in my chest when I feel anxious. To get rid of this tightness, take a deep breath in and exhale slowly several times to calm down your nervous system. My friend Gayle usually repeats the name Yahweh with the in/out breaths. Yahweh.

A= ALLOW: Let the emotion exist without trying to push it away, change it or suppress it. Now of course with the example above, anxiety and the feeling of chest tightness, the deep breaths help calm that nervous system down to rid the chest tightness, but you are still aware and except the fact that you are anxious. It is okay to allow your feeling to exist

I= INVESTIGATE: Be curious about what caused this emotion. Were there any bad or negative thoughts that crossed your mind? What kind of sensations did you experience in your body? Like above, you experienced chest tightness.

N= NURTURE: Don’t beat yourself up for feeling this emotion, specifically if it was a bad feeling. Be kind and compassionate to yourself. I mean, you are a human being and not a robot!