Glimmers of Gratitude

Hello Dear Friends,

There’s a relatively new term in psychology (coined in 2018) - it’s glimmer. We might understand glimmer as an unsteady light, but in psychology a glimmer is defined as a cue, either external or internal, that brings one back to a sense of joy or safety. It’s the opposite of a trigger, which is a cue that gives one a sense of fear or unease.

While you can’t control triggers, you are in charge of your glimmers. Your glimmers can be ANYTHING. It might be a favorite scent, it could be watching a sunset, listening to your favorite song, being with your best friend, or playing with your pet. The list is infinite.

A glimmer might be just a moment (think about that unsteady light), but the longer that we can keep our focus on the glimmer, the more effective we are at changing our state from fear to safety; from unease to joy.

I love this idea of a glimmer. It’s not a thing that you have to store or dust or even pay for, it’s just a thought or an idea. We all have glimmers; we can identify our glimmers and we can recall them when we are feeling removed from our sense of joy or safety. As we bring our attention to that glimmer, we can shift the nervous system and change how we feel. The breath will slow and the nervous system can shift from fight or flight to rest and digest.

As with all things related to our physical and mental health, there are no quick fixes. But finding and identifying our glimmers is one good way to start. How can we do that?

The mindfulness of yoga.

We have been practicing the yoga of gratitude this month, creating mental pictures of those things for which we are grateful. Let's take that a step further this week and notice if anything in that picture will serve as a glimmer.

Then, if things start to swirl out of our control, we know where to go to bring ourselves back to a sense of calm, a sense of joy, a sense of safety.

It's a glimmer. It's your glimmer.

With best wishes for a peaceful and loving holiday weekend.

Love & gratitude,

Nina G