In Search of Glimmers: How Micromoments of Awe Can Boost Your Mood

You’ve likely heard of triggers — words, events, or experiences that spark fear or anxiety — but have you heard of their opposite? “Glimmers” are micromoments of joy that make you feel safe and connected to your body and the world around you.

The concept was introduced by social worker Deb Dana, LCSW, in her 2018 book The Polyvagal ­Theory in Therapy. “Glimmers,” she writes, “can help calm a nervous system in survival mode and bring a return of auto­­nomic regulation.”

In other words, they can move you out of a stressed, triggered state and into a calmer one.

You might experience a glimmer when you hear a song you love. Or while you’re out exploring nature. Perhaps it’s seeing your dog wagging his tail when you come home, receiving a long hug from a loved one, or even eating a perfect piece of sushi. Anything that gives you a cozy, peaceful feeling can be a glimmer.

Liz Brinkman, RDN, a certified intuitive-eating counselor in Phoenix, teaches the concept of glimmers to her patients who have developed patterns of disordered eating. She finds glimmers useful in her own life as well and describes the feeling they elicit as a calming warmth in her heart area. “My whole system feels a sense of ease,” she says.

Though glimmers are abundant, they’re more evasive than triggers. That’s because our brains are wired to continuously scan our surroundings for threats. “It’s a survival mechanism that’s built into our brains — the negativity bias,” explains Justine Grosso, PsyD, a holistic psychologist in Durham, N.C.

Sensing danger can be dangerous in its own way: When you feel threatened, your body releases adrenaline into the bloodstream, increasing your blood pressure. If the sense of threat lingers, cortisol levels rise to keep the body on high alert. Over time, these effects can contribute to other health complications, including gastrointestinal issues and sleep problems.

“And if you’ve experienced trauma,” Grosso adds, “you may have developed a hyper­vigilance to threat and may even perceive a threat when there isn’t one. That’s really stressful on bodies.”

But glimmers can counteract that stress response — and the more glimmers we experience, the easier it is for us to downshift when we’re triggered. That’s due to something called “the window of tolerance,” Grosso says.

The window of tolerance is the space in which we’re able to successfully regulate our emotions. People with a history of trauma tend to have a narrow window of tolerance and may live in the state of hyperarousal that Grosso describes.

Actively seeking glimmers widens the window of tolerance, training our brains to keep an eye out for joy instead of (or in addition to) danger. This helps us build a more resilient nervous system, so we feel triggered for a shorter amount of time and the experience becomes less intense.

Those resilience-building effects last. “We’re banking positive emotional experiences and pleasant sensations that represent safety instead of threat,” Grosso explains.

These are some of the easiest ways to seek and spot glimmers so you can take in their calming effects.

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GET SUPPORT

When you first begin seeking glimmers, it can be helpful to have a glimmer-focused talk with a like-minded friend or family member. In some cases, working with a therapist could be the most effective approach.

A therapist can be especially helpful for people with a history of trauma or PTSD, Brinkman notes. When she worked at a Veterans Affairs hospital, one of the therapists there would ask people to imagine holding a pet. A feeling of calm would come over them as they visualized petting the animal and feeling its purring or rhythmic breathing.

“She invited them into an experience they already had,” Brinkman says, “to see if they could access that same sense of calm inside themselves again.”

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WRITE THEM DOWN

The Book of Delights, a series of short essays by award-winning poet Ross Gay, is an exercise in glimmer-seeking. Gay finds joy in little things — pecans, an infinity scarf, poetry readings — and allows the reader to relish them as well. (Learn more about his year of chronicling joy at “The Book of Delights.”)

Gay’s collection also functions as a guidebook: Writing in a journal is a useful way to sort out your thoughts, helping you winnow them down to the heart of any matter. On lucky days, this could result in a glimmer. Keep a list of the moments that make you feel calm and joyful, using as much detail as possible when describing them so you can easily access the feeling later.

You might also try keeping a sensory notebook. The key here is to incorporate as many of your senses as possible. What was the most glimmery thing you saw, touched, tasted, smelled, or heard that day? Linger in the memory to be sure you’re embodying the feeling as you recall it. (Get more tips for sharpening your senses at “Come to Your Senses: Sensory Retreats.”)

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TAKE AN AWE WALK

A study published in the journal Emotion in 2022 investigated the emotional benefits of an “awe walk” on healthy older adults. Sixty participants took weekly 15-minute outdoor walks for eight weeks. An experimental group was directed to notice and experience moments of awe (which are also glimmers) during their walks; a control group was not.

Those who took awe walks reported feeling greater joy and other positive emotions during their strolls. They also reported more daily positive emotions and less daily distress afterward. (Discover more ways to experience awe at “How to Experience More Awe.”)

You might take an awe walk while forest bathing — a Japanese practice that involves fully immersing your senses in a quiet outdoor setting — for an extra dose of mood support. (Learn how reconnecting with nature can offer a range of health benefits at “The Benefits of Forest Bathing.”)

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CREATE A RITUAL

Each evening, Brinkman and her family discuss the glimmers they experienced that day. “I was talking to one of my sons the other night,” she recalls, “and I asked him what the best part of his day was. He said, ‘I got this really cool drink of water, and I could feel it go all the way down my throat, into my stomach, and it felt so good.’ That’s a glimmer.”

You can also attach glimmer-­seeking to an activity you’re already doing. Try looking around your kitchen while your coffee brews in the morning: Is there art on the wall that delights you? Maybe you notice the sunshine streaming through the window, or an eye-catching array of green plants.

Or at the end of the day, while you’re brushing your teeth, review the day’s events and linger over any glimmers you may have encountered.

Reflecting on glimmers can impart the same feelings of well-being as ­experiencing them in the moment. This is especially true when you’re able to recall the physical and sensory details. Give yourself the time and space to move beyond the visual or aural memory and try to actually feel it in your body. “It’s the opposite of dissociating,” Brinkman explains. “Instead, I’m staying in relationship with my body — feeling present and connected in the moment.”

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KEEP IT REAL

Nothing is perfect, and pretending an experience is perfect defeats the purpose of glimmer-seeking. Finding moments of joy doesn’t mean bypassing reality. Instead, Grosso says, “it’s about becoming present to the full spectrum of what’s happening in the present moment.”

Glimmers can be paradoxical, in that they sometimes come with a side of grief. “Because glimmers send the message to our brain that we’re safe now, we might grieve a time when we weren’t,” she explains. It can be painful to recognize that past trauma, but it can also be healing to acknowledge it from a place of calm and safety.