The Examen

In 1521, a young Basque soldier named Ignatius of Loyola was badly wounded by a cannonball while defending the fortress of Pamplona. During his long recovery there was little to read except a life of Christ and stories of the saints, and he spent hours daydreaming.

He began to notice something. Dreams of glory and romance were exciting at the time, but left him dry and restless afterwards. Imagining a life like the saints' left him peaceful and consoled long after. Paying attention to these inner movements became the heart of what he called discernment, and he built a short daily review of the day, the Examen, into his Spiritual Exercises.

Ignatius used two words for what he noticed. Consolation: moments when you feel alive, grateful, connected, more yourself. Desolation: moments when you feel drained, cut off, or heavy.

The Examen is a few quiet minutes, often at the end of the day. Begin with gratitude for something in it, however small. Then look back gently: where did you feel consolation? Where desolation? What might that be telling you?

It ends by looking forward, with one thing for tomorrow. Over time, the pattern can show you what gives you life and what wears you down, which is useful whether or not you pray.

• Stoicism

  Seneca went back over his whole day each night, hiding nothing from himself.

• Islam

  Muhasaba is a brief, honest self-accounting: what went well, and what to improve.

Take a breath, and look back over today, or yesterday if it's still early. Start with one thing you're grateful for.

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What does the Examen begin with?