Dessert Practice: The R.A.I.S.E. Method — A Mindfulness Meditation for Self-Judgment

Self-judgment often feels automatic—like a reflex you didn’t choose. This dessert practice offers a different option: meeting yourself instead of fixing yourself.

In this guided meditation, Alyssia walks you through the R.A.I.S.E. Method, a Relish-adapted mindfulness practice for working with self-criticism, shame, and inner judgment. Rather than trying to eliminate judgment, this practice helps you relate to it differently—through awareness, curiosity, and embodied presence.

RAISE is inspired by Tara Brach’s RAIN practice, with an added emphasis on somatic integration and responding rather than reacting. You’ll be invited to gently notice judgment as it arises, allow the experience in the body, inquire into what the judging part needs, soften around the contraction, and finally embody the qualities of kindness and presence that restore choice.

This practice pairs with Episode 27: “You Were Never Broken”, offering a direct, felt experience of how mindfulness interrupts the cycle of shame and self-fixing.

🧘 In this guided meditation, you’ll:

• Recognize self-judgment without identifying with it
• Allow sensations in the body without resistance
• Inquire gently into fear, need, or protection beneath judgment
• Soften physical and emotional contraction
• Embody kindness, presence, and non-judgment

This is not a mindset exercise. It’s a nervous-system practice—one you can return to whenever judgment shows up.

💭 Reflection to try:
After the meditation, notice how your body feels when you meet yourself with curiosity instead of criticism. What becomes possible when you stop firing the second arrow?

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Relevant Episodes: 

• Episode 27 — You Were Never Broken: How Self-Judgment Hijacks You
  (The main teaching episode introducing judgment, shame, and the R.A.I.S.E. Method.)
• Basic Mindfulness Meditation (Dessert Practice)
  (Referenced as a foundational practice for noticing mind-wandering without judgment.)

Relevant Links & Resources:

• Tara Brach — RAIN Practice (The foundational mindfulness practice that inspired R.A.I.S.E.)
  https://www.tarabrach.com/rain/