RAIN (B2 Lesson)

B2 Lessons 2 comments

5. Waiting for the Clouds to Lift

a. Speak with a partner or group:

  • Thinking back to the paintings, songs and other artworks you looked at in part 4 of this lesson, what proportion used rain or rainclouds to create a mood of sadness or melancholy? (melancholy /’meləŋkəli/ = a feeling of depression or sadness that comes from inside you).
  • Why can rainy days often be associated with melancholy, and sunny days with happiness?
  • Can you think of idioms (in English or other languages) that make this association?
    • e.g. She’s like a dark cloud in the corner = she’s in a bad mood and not talking to anyone
    • e.g. She’s a ray of sunshine = she makes other people feel cheerful.

b. Read the mini-text and answer the question.

Did you know that rain can also be used as a technique to help us feel more positive during difficult or emotional times? Not rain as in water falling from the sky, but RAIN, an acronym used in meditation or mindfulness.

This four-stage technique was developed by meditation teacher Michele McDonald and is designed to help patients who are feeling strong negative emotions including depression, stress, fear, or hopelessness.

RAIN stands for:

  • Recognise
  • Allow
  • Investigate
  • Non-Identification.

But what do these terms mean in the context of dealing with intense negative feelings?

  • What do you think the 4 terms mean? Can you think of any examples of when and how they might be useful?

c. Do Worksheet 5.

This is a reading and text-matching activity about the RAIN technique.

d. Speak with a partner or group:

(i) How could the RAIN method be used by someone who…?

  • feels disappointment with family members not appreciating them
  • has feelings of worthlessness after dropping out of a course
  • keeps thinking back to a previous relationship and wishing they could change the past

(ii) How effective do you think this technique would be? What are its limits?

Main Photo: Aleksandar Pasaric, via Pexels.

Further Reading and Listening:

Extreme Rainfall (from Howstuffworks)

The effects of rain (from The Guardian)

The smell of rain (video for Reactions, produced by The American Chemical Society)

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2 comments

  1. Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into these lessons. I have used a few of your lessons with great success in one-to-one lessons. I love the way you move from one spect to another while linking all with one theme. Kudos!

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