Coaching practices for How to Practice the Examen
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For How to Practice the Examen, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- I keep starting this nightly prayer practice and then dropping it the second life gets busy, because I’ve made it this long involved thing
- I’ll do this big thorough reflection once, feel great about it, and then not do it again for three weeks
- I’ve got the textbook down but I freeze the moment a real exam-style question asks me to actually apply it
- My days just blur past on autopilot and I crawl into bed having never paused to ask where I was at my best today and where I drifted from who I want to be
- I always peek at the answer the instant I’m unsure, so I never actually make myself dig it out of memory
Practices that may help
- The Daily Examen: Reviewing the Day
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 Ignatian Examen: Five Movements of Daily Review
The Ignatian Examen is a five-step daily prayer and reflection practice developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola: give thanks, ask for clarity, review the day, face what fell short, and resolve what comes next. As a structured reflection method it is centuries-old and widely practiced; its benefits are supported by the broader research on gratitude, emotional review, and implementation intentions, not by trials of the Examen itself. - Practice the Examen daily and briefly
Do a short Examen most days rather than a long one occasionally.
The Ignatian Examen: Five Movements of Daily Review - Keep it brief and daily
Do a short Examen most days rather than a long one occasionally.
The Daily Examen: Reviewing the Day - Solve practice questions before checking the answer
Work through exam-style questions on material you just studied — and attempt every question before checking.
Active Recall: The Most Effective Way to Study - The Examined Life
Socrates’ claim that "the unexamined life is not worth living" (Apology, 38a) means that a life lived without sustained reflection on one’s values, beliefs, and actions is a kind of sleepwalking. The Socratic method — elenchus — is a specific form of examination: honest questioning that surfaces inconsistencies and untested assumptions. As a practice, it overlaps with metacognition and reflective practice, which have genuine evidence bases, though Socrates’ philosophical claim is stronger than any psychological finding. - The daily examen (end-of-day review)
Spend five minutes each evening reviewing where you were most and least true to yourself today.
Svadhyaya: Self-Study as a Daily Practice - Recite: self-test from cue questions before re-reading
Cover your main notes and attempt to answer each cue question from memory before uncovering the answers.
Cornell Note-Taking: A System for Learning, Not Just Recording - Become aware of God’s presence and give thanks
Open the review by pausing, settling, and naming specific gifts from the day.
The Ignatian Examen: Five Movements of Daily Review - Replay the day with honest attention
Walk back through the day’s events and notice them without rushing to judge.
The Daily Examen: Reviewing the Day
Related concerns
- Daily Examen Practice
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.
- Daily Examen
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 To Do The Examen
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.
- Daily Examen Habit
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.
- Evening Reflection Practice
End by choosing one concrete intention to carry into the next day.
Close with a resolve for tomorrow
- How To Do Nightly Self Examination
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.
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