Most of us are familiar with “triggers,” the things in our lives that are challenging to face or experience throughout our days and lives. This can be particularly true if you are in therapy or doing any independent self-healing work. And there can be good reason for identifying our triggers. Bringing conscious awareness and recognition to the things that create big feelings or reactions within us can help us to know when to utilize new coping mechanisms that can lead to behavioral and emotional change over time.
And while this practice is helpful, it can often lead to us over-focusing on the negative in our lives. If we only focus on identifying our triggers, we miss the other moments in our lives, big and many times small, that can bring joy, gratitude, connection, and even the simplicity of okayness. One way to increase our awareness of these alternative moments and experiences is to consciously cultivate a glimmer practice.
What are glimmers?
Glimmers, defined by therapist Deb Dana, “refer to small moments when our biology is in a place of connection or regulation, which cues our nervous system to feel safe or calm.” Furthermore, she articulates that “these are micro-moments that begin to shape our system in a very gentle way.”
Working within the framework of of Polyvagal Theory, a system that teaches one about their autonomic nervous system and the different states that we experience when we are feeling either threatened and unsafe or regulated and connected, glimmers are the other side of triggers – they fill in the details to create a full-spectrum picture of our lives.
Triggers are often the moments when we feel threatened or unsafe, many times operating in states of fight, flight, freeze or fawn (our survival and stress responses). They reflect our moments of dysregulation. Every single human being has these, but we also have moments of regulation. These are our glimmers. They reflect the moments when our nervous system enters its social safety zone and we get to experience safety and connection. To acknowledge our glimmers is not to invalidate our triggers, but rather to recognize how they all exist alongside each other.
How to Cultivate a Glimmer Practice
Cultivating a glimmer practice, similar to how one might implement a gratitude practice, can be a significant tool in working with your nervous system as you move along your healing journey. Setting an intention by inviting yourself to recognize moments of okayness throughout your day can be a wonderful starting point to cultivate a glimmer practice. Another way to do this would be through reflection, which is often a more effective way to build this practice into your daily habits. Here are some tips:
- Reflect on your day. Writing these down in a journal could be a great way to bring some conscious attention to your glimmers, or if you prefer to, this exercise could be done mentally.
- Begin by asking yourself, “Can I identify a moment or moments of okayness from today?” Begin reflecting. You are getting familiar with your glimmers. You can write these down, or mentally list them.
- Further questions for reflection and integration can be:
- “How do I know that I have encountered a glimmer?”
- “What in my body communicates this moment of okayness to myself?”
- “How can I invite more attention to these moments throughout my day?”
Have you heard of glimmers or implemented a glimmer practice before? If not, we hope that this practice will become another tool for you in your mental health and wellness journey.
Written by Macauley Cliffe, LCSW, CYT, CCPT
