The Awareness Exercise is one of the most important spiritual helps bequeathed to us by St. Ignatius. Also called the Consciousness Examen, this is a prayer where we try to find the movement of the Spirit in our daily lives.
This prayer can be made anywhere: on the beach, in a car, at home, in the library… wherever we find ourselves. Through this method of praying we become more sensitive to the working of the Spirit of God within us. It is in this reflection that prayer and life come together.
There are 5 steps to this prayer. Besides the sample given below there are many other examples of how this prayer can be prayed.
For example:
To start I place myself in the presence of God. I then proceed to the following steps:
1) THANKSGIVING
Experience takes on new meaning when we reflect on it in God’s presence.