The Examen
This week I had to prepare a reflection on an aspect of spirituality to deliver to a gathering of folk at my local church community. I chose to speak on the examen. Even if you’re an atheist, doing the examen is a really handy way to get in touch with your feelings and to help you figure out what’s going on in your subconscious. It goes hand-in-hand with dream interpretation.
I based my talk on a little book called Sleeping with Bread: Holding what gives you life by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn and Matthew Linn.
Thought my blog readers might be interested, too.
Stop for a moment and think about two questions: For what are you most grateful? And for what are you least grateful?
They’re simple questions, but they are two of the most profound questions you can ask yourself. And two of the most helpful. Here’s why.
These questions constitute what is called the examen: a technique that Ignatius of Loyola used in his Spiritual Exercises 500 or so years ago. Jesuits were required to do the examen twice a day, once at noon and again at the end of the day. It’s a practice that Jesuits still uphold.
There are many other ways to ask the same questions:
• When did I give and receive the most love today?
• When did I give and receive the least love?
• When did I feel most alive today?
• When did I most feel life draining out of me?
• When, today, did I have the greatest sense of belonging to myself, others, God and the universe?
• When did I have the least sense of belonging?
• When was I happiest today?
• When was I saddest?
• What was today’s high point?
• What was today’s low point?
• If I could relive one moment from today, which would it be?
• Which moment could I happily forget or erase from the day?
The benefits of doing the examen
1. It helps us to get in touch with our feelings and to name them.
–when we discover something we are not grateful for, we are able to name it, feel it and not bottle it up or deny it. Because we are doing the examen from a place of being held in love, we can have a sense that we are not alone, or if you are a person of faith, that God is with us in it. We are able to acknowledge pain and take in love
2. It is healing for the unconscious to fall asleep with a grateful heart
–during sleep the unconscious continues to process what we have been thinking about when we are awake. Similarly, there is a healing that takes place if we acknowledge pain, name the uncomfortable feeling
3. The examen process can guide us, can be a tool for discernment, reveal to us aspects of ourselves or situations we find ourselves in that we might not otherwise have noticed had we not given ourselves the opportunity to get in touch with and name our feelings
4. The examen helps us to be who we are, not who we think we should be. It helps us get better at telling the truth about who we are and what we need.
When I looked back over my life as a child, teenager and young adult, asking myself the question, when do I feel full of life? I was able to see a pattern. It was when I was writing something down in a creative way, it was noting my penchant for pens and books with blank pages (never let me loose in a stationary shop!). It was when I was writing a song or poem. And interestingly the people I remember most from high school – apart from my immediate friends – were the two students who became journalists.
Writing is my consolation.
5. The examen helps us to see what would benefit us to do more and less of.
"Insignificant moments, when looked at each day, become significant because they form a pattern that often points the way to how God wants to give us more life." (p17)
6. Everyday experience is divine revelation.
Our deepest feelings and yearnings can be very telling. Ignatius called these our consolation and desolation.
Consolation: whatever helps us connect with ourselves, others, God and the universe
Desolation: whatever disconnects us
7. Finding our ‘sealed orders’ – the special purpose of our time on earth
When we’re in touch with our sealed orders, we experience a profound feeling of consolation or rightness, which often manifests in our whole body
A sense of rightness expresses itself physiologically, purpose-built into the very cells of our body
Similarly a feeling of desolation can manifest itself in the form of headaches, back pain, stomach ache and more
We can share the examen
With a friend, family, community, as a journal exercise
When can we use the examen?
– End of the day, week, year
– When stuck
– Following a meeting
– After a movie, reading a book
– Any time you like!
How to do the examen
1. Light a candle or create an atmosphere that helps you experience unconditional love. It may be helpful to go through the steps you would take to prepare for meditation
2. Become aware of the moment today for which you are most grateful. If you could relive one moment which one would it be? Sit with that moment for a while, in gratitude.
3. Bring to mind the moment for which you are least grateful. When were you least able to give and receive love? What was said and done in that moment that made it so difficult? Stay with the feeling without trying to work out how to fix or change it in any way. Remind yourself that you are loved and loving.
4. Give thanks for whatever you have experienced and share the answers with a friend if you want to, or journal it.
Every night, just before I go to sleep, I write the answers to these two questions in a little book I found at the Writers Festival. The pages are only big enough for a one sentence answer. But that's all I need.
Give it a try.
I based my talk on a little book called Sleeping with Bread: Holding what gives you life by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn and Matthew Linn.
Thought my blog readers might be interested, too.
Stop for a moment and think about two questions: For what are you most grateful? And for what are you least grateful?
They’re simple questions, but they are two of the most profound questions you can ask yourself. And two of the most helpful. Here’s why.
These questions constitute what is called the examen: a technique that Ignatius of Loyola used in his Spiritual Exercises 500 or so years ago. Jesuits were required to do the examen twice a day, once at noon and again at the end of the day. It’s a practice that Jesuits still uphold.
There are many other ways to ask the same questions:
• When did I give and receive the most love today?
• When did I give and receive the least love?
• When did I feel most alive today?
• When did I most feel life draining out of me?
• When, today, did I have the greatest sense of belonging to myself, others, God and the universe?
• When did I have the least sense of belonging?
• When was I happiest today?
• When was I saddest?
• What was today’s high point?
• What was today’s low point?
• If I could relive one moment from today, which would it be?
• Which moment could I happily forget or erase from the day?
The benefits of doing the examen
1. It helps us to get in touch with our feelings and to name them.
–when we discover something we are not grateful for, we are able to name it, feel it and not bottle it up or deny it. Because we are doing the examen from a place of being held in love, we can have a sense that we are not alone, or if you are a person of faith, that God is with us in it. We are able to acknowledge pain and take in love
2. It is healing for the unconscious to fall asleep with a grateful heart
–during sleep the unconscious continues to process what we have been thinking about when we are awake. Similarly, there is a healing that takes place if we acknowledge pain, name the uncomfortable feeling
3. The examen process can guide us, can be a tool for discernment, reveal to us aspects of ourselves or situations we find ourselves in that we might not otherwise have noticed had we not given ourselves the opportunity to get in touch with and name our feelings
4. The examen helps us to be who we are, not who we think we should be. It helps us get better at telling the truth about who we are and what we need.
When I looked back over my life as a child, teenager and young adult, asking myself the question, when do I feel full of life? I was able to see a pattern. It was when I was writing something down in a creative way, it was noting my penchant for pens and books with blank pages (never let me loose in a stationary shop!). It was when I was writing a song or poem. And interestingly the people I remember most from high school – apart from my immediate friends – were the two students who became journalists.
Writing is my consolation.
5. The examen helps us to see what would benefit us to do more and less of.
"Insignificant moments, when looked at each day, become significant because they form a pattern that often points the way to how God wants to give us more life." (p17)
6. Everyday experience is divine revelation.
Our deepest feelings and yearnings can be very telling. Ignatius called these our consolation and desolation.
Consolation: whatever helps us connect with ourselves, others, God and the universe
Desolation: whatever disconnects us
7. Finding our ‘sealed orders’ – the special purpose of our time on earth
When we’re in touch with our sealed orders, we experience a profound feeling of consolation or rightness, which often manifests in our whole body
A sense of rightness expresses itself physiologically, purpose-built into the very cells of our body
Similarly a feeling of desolation can manifest itself in the form of headaches, back pain, stomach ache and more
We can share the examen
With a friend, family, community, as a journal exercise
When can we use the examen?
– End of the day, week, year
– When stuck
– Following a meeting
– After a movie, reading a book
– Any time you like!
How to do the examen
1. Light a candle or create an atmosphere that helps you experience unconditional love. It may be helpful to go through the steps you would take to prepare for meditation
2. Become aware of the moment today for which you are most grateful. If you could relive one moment which one would it be? Sit with that moment for a while, in gratitude.
3. Bring to mind the moment for which you are least grateful. When were you least able to give and receive love? What was said and done in that moment that made it so difficult? Stay with the feeling without trying to work out how to fix or change it in any way. Remind yourself that you are loved and loving.
4. Give thanks for whatever you have experienced and share the answers with a friend if you want to, or journal it.
Every night, just before I go to sleep, I write the answers to these two questions in a little book I found at the Writers Festival. The pages are only big enough for a one sentence answer. But that's all I need.
Give it a try.
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Carole