Rain in Southern California is a rare treat. Wind, water exploding from the sky, hail pelting windows, heavy mist, thunder, anything resembling weather is a bit shocking, electrifying. It’s been a strange May—actually the wettest in 94 years. The May gray has kept sprinklers off and given us cooler temperatures, but we’re Californians and it’s cold. We live for sun, and the rain just gets things dirty. Although it’s been our wettest May (that’s a whopping 1.63 inches in San Diego), we desperately need all the water we can get.

If you’re interested in an eye-opening education on water and the crucial needs for changes, check out the classic Cadillac Desert, also made into a PBS documentary, listed here, as part of a great curated list of documentaries on all angles of the water crisis.

Our recent rain asked me to step back and observe, to experience. Here are a few of these moments:

Babe my partner whispers to me in bed, and reaches out to hold my hand. In a stupor of sleep I hear it: rain. We hold hands in our dark room, listening, soaking the sound into our own dry bodies, feeling it move into the earth.

The pavement and railings become mirrors, our neighbors house, the eucalyptus trees, a single yellow bird reflected on their surfaces.

In the morning, I do my yoga practice with the slider open, listening to the acoustics of nature.

A hummingbird, protected by branches, swashes back and forth on a leafy raft.

The whispered pattering of sky to earth refreshes the world’s breath.

Writing Prompt: I invite you to set a timer for 10 minutes and describe rain: its sound, texture, smell. Write every moment, memory, description you can of experiencing rain. Keep writing the entire time. Share your descriptions in the comments below.

I ask that we all do a collective rain dance, putting our thoughts into the atmosphere, playing our instruments, doing yoga, putting pen to paper, for more rain. As yogis, we do plenty of sun salutations, but how about rain salutations? Weigh in with creative ideas for a… Click To Tweet

I’ll leave you with a Moment of Mindfulness: Breathe, sit up straight, tap into your inner calm, and be cleansed by the rain with–let your soul stir and recharge.