The Science of GLIMMERS
Glimmers - those instant joy portals, the opposite of triggers - are mental health tools readily available in your day. I want to explore two ways glimmers are scientifically grounded, particularly if this helps create permission to seek out more glimmers in your life.
Firstly, when you intentionally notice a glimmer and let that good all the way in, you are actually activating a very smart part of you called your Reticular Activating System. This bundle of nerves at your brainstem filters information between your senses and your brain, your unconscious and your conscious. Its goal is to help you survive by filtering out the unimportant and focusing on the critical. But unless you are routinely pursued by saber-toothed tigers (or your nervous system believes it is), you can direct your Reticular Activating System, or RAS, to look for what you want.
You can activate your RAS to help you achieve a goal through visualization (yes, even dream boards have some science in them!), saying goals out loud, disrupting negative thought patters, and imagining yourself in the situation you desire.
How does that relate to glimmers? Well, when you actively notice a glimmer - something that sparks your senses and creates a feeling of well-being - then make a point of letting that good all the way into your body, mind, day, you are training your brain, your RAS, to seek that out again. Especially as you practice it. When you do that you are using this beautiful collection of neurons to support your thriving, not just your survival.
Ready for the second fun science of glimmer fact? Noticing a glimmer and letting that good all the way in is a great big parasympathetic nervous system reboot. The parasympathetic nervous system is activated when our vagus nerve signals to our heart to slow down, our body to digest properly, our lungs take in more oxygen, and our whole being feels safe again. In this “receptive, parasympathetic state, our resources are allocated for the future, self-motivation, problem solving, and emotional regulation. Now that we’re not consumed with survival, we are free to be our authentic selves. This is a state of play, joy, compassion, and love.” -Dr. Nicole LaPera in How To Do The Work (which I highly recommend). Noticing that sight, sound, smell, etc. that calls to you and creates a sense of well-being or joy is an invitation from your parasympathetic nervous system to feel safe, feel open, feel like yourself.
Notice that both systems - the RAS and the parasympathetic - have a relationship with being in survival. I don’t know about you, but I’ve spent waaaaaay more time in survival mode than I’d like. And sometimes that is completely necessary. But if you are craving something beyond survival mode, consider how simply noticing a glimmer today can enrich your life and help you reconnect with your whole self, not just your survival self.