In a world full of triggers – find your GLIMMERS!

Has a beautiful sunset ever taken your breath away? Are there moments when you stop what you’re doing to delight in a child’s smile, the taste of your favourite fruit, or the blissful feeling you get as you step onto your yoga mat? If you paused to notice the pleasure you were experiencing and to savour the moment, then you’ve experienced glimmers.

WELCOME TO AUGUST, YOGA FAMILY

After a strong and powerful month of stepping into our power, taking flight and transforming ourselves through all the challenges we have faced, we are ready to lighten things up, open our hearts and look for unexpected joy – #GLIMMERS

LET’S DIVE RIGHT IN AND LEARN ABOUT THIS TERM – GLIMMERS?

Glimmers are those tiny, seemingly insignificant moments when you feel a sense of joy, pleasure, peace, and gratitude. They’re often catalysed by simple, daily things like petting an animal, taking a hot shower, or listening to the rain outside your window. The term “glimmers” was coined by Deb Dana, a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in complex trauma. In her 2018 book, The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy, Dana notes that glimmers aren’t grand experiences. On the contrary, she says, “They’re micro moments that begin to shape our system in very gentle ways.”

OUR FOCUS OF THE MONTH HEADLINES “IN A WORLD FULL OF TRIGGERS… FIND YOUR GLIMMERS” LET’S UNDERSTAND WHAT THE DIFFERENCE IS BETWEEN GLIMMERS & TRIGGERS?

The main difference between glimmers and triggers is that the former evokes positive feelings while the latter typically evokes negative ones. Glimmers stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, which produces sensations of calm, happiness and relaxation. Triggers, on the other hand, activate the sympathetic nervous system, the “fight or flight” response that occurs in the face of a potential threat, trauma or stressful situation. In this sense, glimmers and triggers are opposites.

Triggers can rapidly spark agitation, anxiety, fear, sadness, or anger. In most cases, the physiological or emotional response to a trigger is out of proportion to the event. That’s because triggers are reactions to memories, situations, or people associated with unresolved trauma and while you can’t control triggers, YOU are in charge of your glimmers!

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. If we pay attention, we’ll see that glimmers are everywhere. Everyone experiences them differently, however, what might spark feelings of calm or happiness in one person may be negative triggers for someone else.

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?

This is where our yoga teachings of MINDFULNESS step in to help us out….

Mindfulness is paying attention on purpose to the present moment non-judgmentally. We intentionally choose to focus our attention on whatever we are experiencing in the moment with a sense of curiosity. When we bring our awareness to what we are directly experiencing via our senses, or our state of mind via our thoughts and emotions – we are being MINDFUL!

There is extra delight in turning on your mindful radar to the GLIMMERS, and as you appreciate them you can begin to find new wonderful ways to bring light into your life. If you have been practicing yoga for a long time, it can become rote and overly familiar –  with our mindful radar on (GLIMMERS) we can find new wonderful elements of our yoga practice that bring us joy in unexpected ways. Perhaps you are new to yoga and everything is already unexpected, can your mindful radar help you find joy in the newness?!

Let’s tune our radars in on mindfulness and together look for those unexpected joys – GLIMMERS on and off our Yoga mats this month.

And because sharing bliss, happiness & joy is what Ananda Wellness and our yoga family is all about, I have created a 30 day “FINDING GLIMMERS PHOTO SHARING CHALLENGE”. From the 1^st of August 2024 you can follow the daily photo sharing challenge (download it below) to find and connect to unexpected joy through the prompts given. Take a snap and share it on your social media (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp Story or as a Post) and tag me @anandawellnessyoga using the hashtag #blissglimmers. If Social Media is not your vibe – then please send them to me in a WhatsApp or on your yoga WhatsApp group. Everyone is welcome to join in the fun!

This way we spread glimmers for all to enjoy and see unexpected joy through the eyes of one another. The prizes are the daily glimmers we get to experience together, spreading joy like a ripple into all our lives.

Side Note: Glimmers come in all shapes, but not in all sizes. Glimmers aren’t monumental experiences like graduating from college, falling in love for the first time, getting married, buying your first house, or having a baby, getting a new job etc. Those are major milestones that produce intense feelings, but they’re in a different category than glimmers. Glimmers are tiny micro moments of joy—fleeting, everyday moments that elicit a rush of happiness, gratitude, calm, peace, safety, or goodwill.