If the weather you are in includes thoughts of suicide or self-harm, please reach out before the practice.
US: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text 24/7) · Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 · UK: 116 123 Samaritans · AU: 13 11 14 Lifeline · International: findahelpline.com. The practices below are a complement to clinical care, not a substitute.
Quick Answer
The Seven Inner Weathers map any present-moment state to one classically-cited practice. Take the 12-question assessment to find which weather you are in today. Each weather points to one primary practice from the comparative-traditions canon, Theravada Buddhist, Stoic, Hindu yogic, Christian contemplative, or modern grief research.
Key Takeaways
- Twelve present-moment statements surface your dominant inner weather and a runner-up.
- Each weather points to one classically-cited primary practice (Visuddhimagga IX, Ānāpānasati Sutta, Yoga Sutras, Marcus Aurelius, Pema Chödrön, Tara Brach, modern grief research).
- Every prescription names its contraindications and the therapist co-practitioner threshold above the fold.
- Trauma-sensitive: David Treleaven's corrections are integrated; external-anchor alternatives are named where interior focus retraumatises.
- Free. The practice is the answer. Email-capture is optional and never gates the result.
The framework
The model is simple. Any present-moment state in a human being maps to one of seven dominant weathers, The Storm (anxious), The Fog (numb), The Wildfire (resentful), The Drought (depleted), The Restless Wind (scattered), The Heavy Rain (grieving), The Long Winter (chronic low mood and spiritual dryness). According to the texts, each of these weathers has a SPECIFIC practice the canon prescribes for it.
The Storm answers to the physiological sigh, the fastest known somatic down-regulator of acute anxiety. The Wildfire answers to mettā for the difficult person, the only practice old enough to hold that much heat. The Heavy Rain answers to karuṇā for self, the second arrow teaching from the grief practice library. The Long Winter answers to sitting with groundlessness, Pema Chödrön's inheritance of John of the Cross and the Zen great-doubt teachings.
The texts agree on one further teaching: meditation is not a cure. Each prescription names the therapeutic threshold past which a qualified clinician becomes the co-practitioner. The practice is one limb of a two-limb plan when the state is clinical. Anything sold as easier than that is selling something else.
The assessment
Twelve statements about what is actually happening right now. Answer each on a 0 to 3 scale. The scoring is deterministic and the math is published, there is no AI guessing here, just pattern recognition mapped to the canon.
How the assessment works: Twelve present-moment statements. Notice how strongly each one matches what is actually happening right now, not what you wish were happening, not what was happening yesterday. The answers score across the seven weathers and surface the practice the classical sources prescribe for your dominant state.
0 of 12 answered
Question 1 of 12
Right now, my heart is racing or my chest feels tight.
Question 2 of 12
Right now, I feel emotionally flat or watching myself from a distance.
Question 3 of 12
Right now, my mind is jumping between topics every few seconds.
Question 4 of 12
Right now, I am rehearsing arguments with someone in my head.
Question 5 of 12
Right now, I feel heavy and have very little energy.
Question 6 of 12
Right now, tears arrive easily or my chest feels full of held weight.
Question 7 of 12
Lately, practices that used to feel meaningful have started feeling mechanical or empty.
Question 8 of 12
Right now, my body is moving but I cannot really feel it.
Question 9 of 12
Right now, I am cycling through "what if" thoughts about the future.
Question 10 of 12
Right now, I cannot stop thinking about a specific loss.
Question 11 of 12
Right now, I feel righteously certain that someone has crossed a line.
Question 12 of 12
Right now, deciding what to eat or what to do next feels exhausting.
Or browse the seven weathers
If you already know which weather you are in, jump directly to its page for the full prescription.
The Storm
The Physiological Sigh
The Storm is the inner weather of full alarm, fast and high and hurried, with the mind cycling possibilities that have not happened yet.
The Fog
Gentle Mettā Bhāvanā (Self-Directed)
The Fog is the inner weather of shutting down, the lights low inside.
The Wildfire
Mettā for the Difficult Person
The Wildfire is the heat of moral injury, somebody crossed a line, or you crossed your own, and the body is doing the work of registering the violation.
The Drought
Yoga Nidrā (Conscious Rest)
The Drought is what the body says when the well is empty.
The Restless Wind
Ānāpānasati (Mindfulness of Breathing)
The Restless Wind is the mind moving so fast it cannot settle on anything for more than a breath.
The Heavy Rain
Karuṇā Bhāvanā (Compassion Practice)
The Heavy Rain is the inner weather of grief and acute mourning, the body doing the work of registering that something is gone, a person or a relationship or a chapter or a self.
The Long Winter
Sitting With Groundlessness (Pema Chödrön)
The Long Winter is the season the contemplative traditions know best, the John of the Cross dark night, the Zen "great doubt," the Pema Chödrön groundlessness, the long stretch when the practice itself stops feeling like anything.
Notes from Aria Stillwater
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is an inner weather?
An inner weather is a dominant present-moment state, anxious, foggy, restless, grieving, depleted, resentful, dry. Aria's comparative-traditions framework maps each weather to one classically-cited practice from the canon. The framework is a meta-synthesis, not a new lineage; the practices come from named traditions and are cited by source on every page.
How is this different from a mood?
A mood is a feeling; an inner weather is the somatic-and-cognitive pattern underneath it. The classical contemplative traditions agree that the practice should be matched to the pattern, not to the label. The assessment surfaces the pattern through twelve present-moment statements about body and mind, then routes to the practice the texts agree on for that pattern.
Should I take this when I am in acute distress?
Yes, and then take the named action above the fold first. If the weather includes suicidal thinking, contact 988 or your local crisis line before the practice. If you are in acute panic, the assessment will route you to The Storm prescription whose primary practice is the physiological sigh, a 1-3 minute somatic reset, not a sit. The practice is one limb of a two-limb plan when the state is clinical.
Is this therapy?
No. The practices come from named contemplative and philosophical traditions (Theravada Buddhist, Stoic, Hindu yogic, Christian contemplative, modern grief and stress research). They are reflective practices, not clinical interventions. Every result page names the therapeutic threshold past which a clinician becomes the co-practitioner, never replaced by the practice.
What if multiple weathers fit me right now?
Common, and useful information. The assessment surfaces a runner-up when its score is within 70% of the winner. Storm-and-Fog overlap is common (the panic-shutdown oscillation); Heavy-Rain-and-Long-Winter overlap is common (acute grief that has crossed into prolonged-grief territory). Read both prescriptions. The texts agree that pattern recognition is the first practice.
How often should I take this?
As often as you want a fresh read. The weather changes; the framework asks where you are today, not where you were last month. In Aria's eight-week MBSR companion the assessment opens Week 1 and re-opens Week 6, those are good rhythm points for self-tracking. Save the result if you want to compare over time.
Explore More Tools
Daily Meditation Picker
A 5-question picker that lands on the same practice library, faster than the 12-question assessment when you already know your state.
Open →R.A.I.N. Walkthrough
Tara Brach's four-step practice, the Wildfire and Heavy Rain prescriptions both route here when the difficult is what you need to sit with.
Open →Breath Timer (4 patterns)
Box, 4-7-8, alternate-nostril, and physiological-sigh patterns, the signature breath for The Storm is here.
Open →Grief Practice Library
Twelve grief-specific practices for the Heavy Rain and Long Winter weathers, Buddhist karuṇā, Frankl's meaning search, Pema Chödrön's groundlessness work.
Open →8-Week MBSR Companion
The eight-week structured sequence, Kabat-Zinn's curriculum reframed in Aria's voice. The Inner Weather assessment opens Week 1.
Open →