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The Daily Examen: Reviewing the Day

A five-step contemplative review, adapted honestly for daily reflection

What is the daily examen and how do you practice it?

The Examen is a short, structured evening review from the Ignatian tradition: you replay the day with gratitude and honest attention to where you felt drawn toward or away from your values, then carry one resolve into tomorrow. It is a centuries-old contemplative practice; its benefits are best described as mechanistically plausible and widely reported rather than established by controlled trials.

The Examen is a daily review St. Ignatius of Loyola considered indispensable — a few quiet minutes at day’s end to look back over the day with gratitude and honesty. Stripped of its specifically devotional language it remains a remarkably well-designed reflection practice: gratitude, emotional review, honest self-examination, and a forward resolve, in sequence. Below are its movements as practices, each with the mechanism behind it and a calibrated, honest read on the evidence — which for a contemplative practice is mechanistic and anecdotal, not RCT.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the daily examen and how do you practice it?

The Examen is a short, structured evening review from the Ignatian tradition: you replay the day with gratitude and honest attention to where you felt drawn toward or away from your values, then carry one resolve into tomorrow. It is a centuries-old contemplative practice; its benefits are best described as mechanistically plausible and widely reported rather than established by controlled trials.

How do you begin with gratitude?

Opening with gratitude sets the emotional frame for the whole review, so the honest self-examination that follows happens from a stance of security rather than threat. Recalling specific goods also counters the negativity bias that would otherwise let the day’s good moments go unregistered.

How do you replay the day with honest attention?

Sequentially replaying the day consolidates it from a vague blur into something legible, which supports learning and self-awareness. Reviewing before judging lets you see what actually happened — including patterns you would miss in the moment — rather than only the parts your mood has flagged.

How do you notice the feelings (consolation and desolation)?

Ignatius treated emotional movements — consolation (toward connection, life, your values) and desolation (toward isolation and away from them) — as information about where you are being drawn. Attending to these felt shifts surfaces what genuinely nourishes or depletes you, data that pure event-recall misses, supporting better-aligned choices.

How do you look honestly at your responses?

Reviewing your own choices from the earlier gratitude-grounded stance allows honest self-examination without the defensiveness that triggers either denial or shame spirals. Acknowledging both shortfalls and good responses keeps the self-image accurate, which is the precondition for actually changing rather than just feeling bad.

How do you close with a resolve for tomorrow?

Closing the review with a single forward-looking resolve converts reflection into intention, linking the insight from the review to tomorrow’s behavior. A concrete next step also gives the mind closure on the day, which supports letting it go rather than ruminating.

How do you keep it brief and daily?

The Examen’s power comes from repetition, not duration — a brief daily review compounds self-knowledge and keeps the day’s patterns visible while they are still fresh. Making it long turns it into an event you skip when busy, which is exactly when the review matters most.