The practice of Examen: A daily review for noticing God or Spirit
At the end of a noisy day, it can be hard to know what actually mattered. The practice of Examen offers a deliberate way to look back: to notice events, feelings, moments of connection and places of disconnection. Rooted in the spiritual exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, it belongs to Christian tradition, yet its attention to presence and meaning can speak to people who understand God or Spirit differently.
Used faithfully, it is more than a gratitude list or a diary entry. It reveals where life has invited trust and where fear, resentment or distraction has narrowed that trust. The discipline suits The Sheila Show’s conversations about purpose, healing and spiritual growth, while remaining simple enough to practise during a commute, a kitchen shift or the quiet before sleep.
Why a daily review changes what you notice
Associated with Ignatian spirituality, the Examen usually unfolds through five movements. Begin with gratitude for one specific gift rather than sweeping thanks; review the day in order; rescan it for what you missed; recognise consolation as connection, vitality or being held, and desolation as emptiness, heaviness or isolation; finish with prayer, petition, commitment or an act of care. The movements need not be recited mechanically. Attentiveness is the centre, not the number of questions answered.
Noticing God or Spirit does not require inventing a dramatic sign in every pleasant moment. Light across a kitchen bench, a stranger’s kindness, the impulse to help or a clear boundary can become occasions for gratitude. A difficult meeting may expose a lack of peace without proving that God or Spirit has withdrawn. The practice holds gratitude and pain in the same frame, refusing to force either into a tidy verdict.
Looking back is not the same as constructing a success story. A faithful account includes distraction, missed chances and unresolved tension. Its value lies in accuracy: once the day’s texture is visible, a response can grow from it rather than from anxiety about whether the day was productive enough.
Learning to notice without judging
Choose a clear stopping point and give the practice ten minutes rather than half an hour. Sit somewhere you can hear yourself think, put the phone out of reach, and begin with the body: where are you tense, heavy or alert? Then recall events in sequence, separating observation from interpretation. “My manager replied late” is an observation; “my manager does not respect me” is an interpretation. Writing both makes room to test the second against what happened.
Judgement is different from honesty. Noticing anger does not require approving of the behaviour that produced it; it may reveal a boundary, a need or an injury. The practice becomes useful when feelings are allowed to inform the reflection without becoming its judge. Keep the tone plain enough to hear your own voice rather than perform a version of yourself you think you should have been.
A review can also become another work shift, especially for carers and people finishing long shifts. Rest is part of a faithful life, and the invitation to give yourself permission to rest can keep the practice from becoming another obligation. When energy is scarce, focus on one moment and one response. Noticing need not always lead to another project.
When God or Spirit does not fit your language
Some people hear God in prayer and scripture, others speak naturally of Spirit, and many use presence, life or the sacred. Use whichever language feels honest. The Examen can still provide a structured way of noticing what supports life and what diminishes it, even when no supernatural claim is involved. This makes it available to many listeners of The Sheila Show, including those drawn to healing and personal growth without belonging to a church.
A reflection may also expose envy, defensiveness, anger or neglected needs. Exploring your shadow self can help you name those patterns with compassion rather than self-condemnation. The shadow includes strengths we have repressed, not just faults we dislike. Its appearance in a nightly practice should invite curiosity and responsibility. If the review repeatedly opens overwhelming material, return to simple facts, seek trusted support and consider professional care. A daily discipline should support steadiness rather than reopen the same wound each night.
Faithful reviewing also allows unanswered prayer. “I asked and nothing changed” belongs in the record, alongside moments of consolation that were hard to recognise at the time. An Examen is not a spiritual scorecard. It keeps attention on relationship, direction and honesty, values that sit comfortably within Australia’s pluralistic public conversation.
Making the practice fit Australian life
A review follows the end of the day, not a fixed clock time. A nurse finishing a night shift in Brisbane, a teacher travelling home on a Sydney bus, or someone leaving a laneway café in Melbourne may begin at different hours. A radio interview or archived episode can form part of the transition from work into reflection without requiring a perfect home routine. The cue should be tied to a real transition, including a shift change or the last task of the evening.
Australia’s media habits also shape how a practice travels. The mix of commercial radio, community stations, television and on-demand podcast feeds carries spoken-word material to quite different audiences, so a short reflection can accompany a listener rather than demand a dedicated class. Within this mixed market, The Sheila Show’s interviews with teachers, authors and wellness figures sit naturally beside a practical discipline: listening for what is present, then responding to it.
Local weather can set the rhythm. In Melbourne, winter darkness arrives early enough to mark the end of the working day. Use the actual end of your day rather than an ideal schedule. Australian speech also welcomes plainness. A note as simple as “Something shifted this arvo” is enough to begin, and plain language can carry real reverence. The words need not be ceremonial to be honest.
A longer retreat can extend the same discipline over several days, but it benefits from preparation rather than abrupt silence. You can read about preparing for retreat to consider travel, rest, finances and support at home. Extended silence also needs ordinary care: enough sleep, food, movement and human contact. The daily review can bridge that transition, recording inner insights alongside the body’s needs.
Choosing a rhythm you can keep
Different seasons of life need different rhythms. During a demanding week, a brief check-in may be wiser than an elaborate examination. When there is steadier space, a fuller five-movement review can uncover patterns that a quick note would miss. Compare the options before choosing the practice that fits your actual days.
| Approach | Who it suits | Shape of the practice | Possible difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brief evening check-in | Busy or disrupted weeks | Three lines covering gratitude, difficulty and a response | Emotional details may remain hidden |
| Full five-part Examen | A settled nightly routine | Fifteen to twenty minutes with all five movements | Rumination can resemble reflection |
| Morning carry-over | Night shifts or early starts | A short reflection at breakfast about the previous day | Yesterday may remain unresolved |
| Weekly review | Irregular schedules | One longer reflection with shorter daily notes | The present can be overshadowed by the week |
Choose the smallest version that you can repeat. If a twenty-minute practice happens once, the shorter three-line version may serve you better. If brief notes become a habit, the fuller form offers more room to recognise consolation and desolation. A useful measure is whether the practice leaves you more present with the people and tasks of the following day.
A personal practice checklist
- Set a specific end-of-day cue, such as brushing your teeth, completing a shift or closing the laptop, so the review belongs to a real transition.
- Write three lines first: one thing for which you are grateful, one thing that affected you, and one response you want to carry forward.
- Include physical details—a sound, a place in the body, a conversation—to anchor the practice in experience rather than abstraction.
- Name consolation and desolation in your own language, treating them as patterns to notice rather than grades to earn.
- Keep one unfinished or difficult question for tomorrow, and pair it with one small act of care.
- Examine your own practice every fortnight: keep what helps, shorten what does not, and seek support when recurring distress needs more attention.
Expect missed evenings. A missed review is not a failure, and a long gap does not require catching up on every detail. Begin again with the present moment. The purpose is to cultivate attention that can travel through ordinary life, including traffic, household chores and conversations that leave little space for reflection.
One evening to begin
Tonight, place a notebook beside your bed, set a ten-minute timer, and write three lines: one moment that held you, one moment that brought difficulty, and one small act of care for tomorrow. Then put the pen down and turn off the light.