Understanding Glimmers

What are glimmers and how can they benefit us? Deb Dana, a licensed clinical social worker and author of “Polyvagal Theory in Therapy”, describes them as “small moments when our biology is in a place of connection or regulation, which cues our nervous system to feel safe or calm” (Jelenjev, 2023). In other words, they are opposite of what our triggers are. However, it is important to understand that these are not big moments of motivation or happiness in our lives, these are more mini moments in our daily lives where we can find snippets of calm, feeling grounded and connected. Glimmers are going to look differently for everybody, just as triggers look differently for everybody. Examples of glimmers for some people could be gardening, taking in a sunrise or sunset, a pleasant smell, petting or snuggling with our animals, going on a walk, or having a good conversation with safe people.

The regular practice of identifying our glimmers has been proven to be beneficial for multiple reasons. When we are fully feeling our glimmers, we are moving out of a survival state to a more anchored state in our nervous system in which allows us to remain engaged with others, show empathy towards self, remain curious, and releases the buildup of cortisol in our body (Jelenjev, 2023). We are also shifting into our ventral vagal circuit in our parasympathetic nervous system when feeling our glimmers. The ventral vagal circuit is considered our ‘rest and digest’ state in our bodies in which we are able to have circulation to non-vital organs, our immune and digestive systems are functioning properly, our heart rate and blood pressure are regulated, and more (Polyvagal Institute). Therefore, we know that overtime identifying and connecting to our glimmers can be helpful to our mental health and physical health!

I invite you to start practicing identifying at least one glimmer daily and observe over time how this could be a simple and effective tool to introduce you into nervous system regulation.

Jamie Lingenfelter, BSW, MSW, SWLC

Resources

Jelenjev, L. (2023, March 26). Know your glimmers. NE Academy. https://www.neurodiversityeducationacademy.org/post/know-your-glimmers#:~:text=According%20to%20Deb%20Dana%2C%20a,to%20feel%20safe%20or%20calm.

What is polyvagal theory. Polyvagal Institute. (n.d.). https://www.polyvagalinstitute.org/whatispolyvagaltheory?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA8YyuBhBSEiwA5R3-Exk9lkUkOpejBCA_PdBJuQ4CB2PGZWFta_G0GowG19pLz8fAko4GjxoCjDQQAvD_BwE