Meditations with rain sounds

Why rain

Rain is steady, and it has no tune to follow. That gives your mind something easy to rest on, with nothing to keep track of. It can also cover the small sounds that keep you awake, like traffic or a door down the hall.

That’s how people describe it. The research is thinner. A 2021 review looked at steady background noise as a sleep aid. It found the evidence was of very low quality. Some studies found it helped sleep, and some found it got in the way. So treat rain as something to try, not a cure.

Studies of natural sounds while you’re awake are more hopeful. In one small study, 40 people recovered from a stressful task a little faster while hearing nature sounds than while hearing traffic noise.

The rain in these meditations

The rain here is recorded, on roofs and windows. Most of these meditations are for bed. In Let It Rain Tonight, the rain keeps falling after the voice has gone. The two Warm Rain meditations begin with crickets and far thunder, and then the storm breaks. The Pause has gentle rain to sit with during the day.

Keep the volume low. The rain should sit behind the voice, never over it.