Have you ever been sitting quietly on a summer’s evening and suddenly you see fireflies announcing the evening’s arrival? In that moment, you feel joy, wonder, and a touch of magic and you might even feel a bit grateful. This is the experience of a glimmer! Glimmers are those mini-moments reminding us of the beauty in the world which creates an uptick in our mood. A glimmer is the exact opposite of “triggers”. It is a cue, either external or internal that brings one back to a sense of joy and safety. Glimmers are those minor moments that help calm the nervous system as opposed to a trigger that evokes painful memories. Consider a glimmer as small spontaneous moments where you feel:
There are two branches to the nervous system, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic branch. The sympathetic branch is our fight or flight response; a call to action. This state is a hyperarousal state which means more stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol are released. These brain chemicals can cause increased heart rate, anxiety, loss of appetite, anger and/or not being able to sleep. The parasympathetic branch has two parts: dorsal vagal and ventral vagal. The dorsal vagal is our submit/freeze response. It is the “if I’m still no one will see me” response our nervous system goes to when we have determined fight or flight is not a safe response. Triggers can take us into this survival state quickly.
The ventral vagal is the part of the nervous system that registers we are safe and connected. Glimmers take us into this nervous system state/zone. So – the more we cultivate glimmers in our daily lives, the more we accumulate time in the ventral vagal or calm/connected nervous system state. This keeps our body in a much less stressed state. But even more important, glimmers are a natural way to cultivate joy in daily life and this naturally improves our moods and calms our thoughts. Having moments of calm and connectedness strengthens and prepares us to meet the challenges in our days. We can use glimmers to navigate survival responses like triggers.
Glimmers activate the feeling of being known, understood, and validated. They take us to feeling safe and secure with a space or a person. Unlike, positive affirmations which are contrived, glimmers are a natural organic response to the environment as well as a way to actively direct your energy into things that naturally make one happy. Glimmers instantly activate the ventral vagal system which is a different brain chemical response than a positive affirmation. (This is not to say positive affirmations are not useful, they are) They work with the nervous system differently, however.
Practicing glimmer moments is easy! Just look for the small things each day that make you smile and pause to enjoy them. Pause to become present in the moment and notice interesting and lovely things in nature. Pause and smell delicious food, pause and feel the sun on your face, pause and feel the wind in your hair, pause and notice someone who has been helpful to you in your life, pause and celebrate the sunset. You get the idea.
As you pause and notice the effect on your moods and life, the glimmer practice becomes cumulative so the more you practice the more it becomes part of your lifestyle. The benefits show up as your overall mood improves and you feel more connected to life in general. But the biggest impact is your body is staying in ventral vagal mode more and thus your stress levels will decrease and your body will be operating in thrive mode instead of survival mode.
Glimmers are currently an accepted term in psychology. They are being used strategically for treating trauma and emotional regulation. Glimmers can put us in an anchored state which strengthens our abilities to emotionally regulate.
Directing our mental energy into noticing and actively looking for the small happy moments heals us on so many levels and makes our overall lives calmer. In addition, it’s a natural organic process you can work into your day with ease. So – “glimmer up” everybody! You have nothing to lose, everything to gain, with hardly any work at all!