What is a Glimmer?
If you’ve been on social media in the past few months you may have seen the recently trending term ‘glimmer’. In short, a glimmer is a moment in time, opposite of a trigger, where you feel aligned, at peace in mind, body and spirit. A glimmer brings joy and allows you feel to safe and relaxed. I like to think of glimmers as an authentic mindful moment, they allow you to focus on things that make you feel safe and at ease.
Examples can include;
Your dog or pet smiling at you
Listening to a baby’s giggle
Your morning cup of coffee or equivalent
Experiencing nature
Feeling the sun’s warmth on your skin
The scent of freshly cut flowers or grass
Hearing a familiar song
Triggers vs. Glimmers
When we experience triggers, our body is responding to a perceived threat which activates the fight or flight response for protection. This can lead to an increased heart rate, short, shallow breathing and high blood pressure. Our brains tend to have a negative bias where we often look for the bad in order to to keep ourselves physically safe. In our modern society, we no longer have the physical threats of wild animals or enemies to look out for, therefore it’s no longer necessary to remain in this fight or flight response so frequently. A glimmer activates our parasympathetic nervous system, the rest and digest state, which leads us to a place of homeostasis and ease within. The good news is, once you begin to notice a glimmer, you’ll naturally start to see more as you tune in to the things that bring you joy. There is evidence to say that the more glimmers you experience, the more easily you’ll be able to adopt a positive change in perspective.
How to find glimmers?
The best place to find a glimmer is to spend time doing the things you already love. Start to notice moments in time that make you feel truly safe and be intentional about making space to do those things you enjoy.
You could set a goal of identifying one glimmer per day, to begin with. This will allow you to intentionally look for glimmers rather than letting them go unnoticed.
It also may be useful to keep a journal, to begin with, to record your daily glimmers so that you can keep tuning in. I like this 5-minute journal by Intelligent Change as it just asks for 5 minutes per day to reflect and practice gratitude.
I would love to know what glimmer you’ve experienced this week, pop your moment in the comments below!
