The Examen is an ancient spiritual practice in which we meditate on something that has happened to us. Ignatius of Loyola believed this practice was central to being “rooted and grounded in love” (Eph. 3:17). The Examen can help us awaken to the many ways God is present and active in our lives–ways we missed at the moment they happened because we were too busy or too distracted or too blind because of our own perspectives.
Psychological research is finding more and more that a practice like Examen can be beneficial to well-being. Let me share three variations on examen that you might try this week that are based on this research. Much of this comes from Yale professor Laurie Santos and her “Science of Well Being” course.
1 – Concretely Re-experiencing. Happiness and joy can be difficult to maintain because of something called “hedonic adaptation.” Basically this is a fancy way of saying we get used to things. So, when we have a thing/ person/ circumstance that brings us joy, over time, we get used to that thing/person/circumstance. The initial euphoria it brought fades over time. Yale professor Laurie Santos thus encourages something she calls concretely re-experiencing. This involves taking some time, as little as eight minutes a day, and allowing yourself, in your imagination, to re-experience what life was like before that thing/ person/ circumstance came along. By re-experiencing life before those blessings, we’re better able to also re-experience the joy and happiness that comes by now having those blessings. One researcher found that students who revisited happy memories for eight minutes a day, three days during a week, experienced increased positive emotions that lasted four weeks! This is a form of what is also called Negative Visualization. Researchers found that spending time imagining what your life would be without some positive thing/ person/ circumstance can actually result in higher experiences of satisfaction than merely contemplating what your life is like with that positive thing/ person/ circumstance.
2 – Savoring. Savoring is stepping outside a present experience so that you can more fully appreciate it. It’s not just licking the ice cream cone. It’s stopping for a moment, in your mind, as you do, and recognizing, “Wow! This ice cream is SO good! And I’m really enjoying it.” Savoring is allowing yourself to be fully present to an experience and to review the experience as it’s happening. Researchers find that there are several things that aid savoring: 1) telling someone nearby how much you’re enjoying that experience; 2) looking for someone who can enjoy the experience with you; and 3) showing physical expressions of energy like jumping for joy or laughing out loud. Things that hinder savoring are things like 1) thinking about the future and not being fully present; 2) telling yourself that this experience really isn’t as good as it could have been; and 3) telling yourself you don’t deserve this experience.
3 – Gratitude. Researchers asked one group of students to write down 5 things each day they were thankful for. Another group was asked to write down 5 things each day that were “hassles”–things they didn’t like. A third group was just asked to write down any 5 things each day that impacted them, positively or negatively. The first group demonstrated significantly higher well-being than the other two. Spend time today and this week in one of these forms of examen.
