On today's episode, we're discussing the transformative power of "Glimmers", and the practice of finding those tiny moments of joy, awe, peace, or serenity.
Drawing from the insights of licensed clinical social worker Deb Dana, this episode dives into the significance of noticing and appreciating these small but powerful moments. From savoring the perfect sip of morning coffee to witnessing acts of kindness from strangers, "Glimmers" send signals of safety to our nervous system, and help train our brain for the BETTER.
I am sharing my own rituals around Glimmers and practical tips for incorporating this mindset shift into regular daily our routines. And I PROMISE.... it's so worth it.
Whether you're looking for a little inspiration, guidance, or simply a reminder to pause and appreciate the beauty around you, this episode will leave you feeling uplifted and inspired.
Honorable Mention: The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation - Deb Dana (2018)
On today's episode, we're discussing the transformative power of "Glimmers", and the practice of finding those tiny moments of joy, awe, peace, or serenity.
Drawing from the insights of licensed clinical social worker Deb Dana, this episode dives into the significance of noticing and appreciating these small but powerful moments. From savoring the perfect sip of morning coffee to witnessing acts of kindness from strangers, "Glimmers" send signals of safety to our nervous system, and help train our brain for the BETTER.
I am sharing my own rituals around Glimmers and practical tips for incorporating this mindset shift into regular daily our routines. And I PROMISE.... it's so worth it.
Whether you're looking for a little inspiration, guidance, or simply a reminder to pause and appreciate the beauty around you, this episode will leave you feeling uplifted and inspired.
Honorable Mention: The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation - Deb Dana (2018)
We already know how the brain works. What you focus on, you find and what you put your energy into comes back to you. Being able to spot and collect our glimmers is where we build luck. Hello, my loves, and welcome to the Purposeful Lifestyle Development Podcast, where we discuss all things thought, work and manifestation but we use neuroscience and the study of the brain to do so. I'm your host, tessa Spisak. I'm a board-certified practitioner, master life and health coach and seasoned executive speaker. If you're ready to create your highest value lifestyle and turn your dream life into a reality, you're in the right place. Let's get right into today's episode. Hello, hello, my loves, and welcome back into the Tessa Talks Purposeful Lifestyle Development Podcast. If you're new here, welcome and don't forget to hit subscribe so that you never miss part of the conversation and if you learn something along the way, I'd be so grateful if you left a positive review, as it helps others find and join the conversation as well.
Speaker 1:
But that being said, for those of us who are finally coming out of these cold winter months, how good has these extra few hours of sunlight felt? We're starting to see the trees, see the flowers come back to life. We've got more color, sunshine, warmth. I don't know about you guys, but I needed it. It was time. I feel like my soul basically just rejuvenates in the springtime. I mean, I personally totally align with the idea that the real new year happens right around the spring equinox, because that is such a time of new life and growth, with everything coming back to life, including what feels like myself, but that's a story for another day. I just love the feeling that comes along with the start of springtime and I think the good thing about it is, when we're moving from these colder to warmer seasons, that shift that we're in, we find ourselves doing certain things. We're getting outside more, we're noticing how pretty the new blooms around us are. Maybe, instead of chugging our morning coffee trying to get some warmth in our bodies, maybe we're taking an extra second to just savor and enjoy it. Go find a patio, go stand in your backyard. Maybe, instead of running across freezing parking lots trying to get out of the cold and the wind, maybe we're actually slowing down, stopping to literally smell the roses. I feel like I personally slow down a bit at this time of the year and really just take an extra second to notice all the beauty that's coming back, to feel the warmth on my skin, everything in between, and I think we all do that to some extent.
Speaker 1:
But I do have a point here. I'm not just savoring spring, but it made me think of this concept because I think one reason we all tend to feel a little bit better as we're coming into this time of year moving away from the winter sadness it's not only all the things this time of year moving away from the winter. Sadness it's not only all the things I was talking about getting out in the sun, getting our vitamin D but we also spend a little bit more time focusing on one specific thing, and that would be our glimmers. Now, you very well might already have heard of this word and this concept. It's been around for about half a decade now and started getting more popular into the discussion of how we feel, mental health, mental wellness, all of these things. It started getting bigger about the last year or two, and just so you know the history, the term glimmers was actually coined by a licensed clinical social worker who specialized in complex trauma. Her name was Deb Dana and in her book in 2018, she wrote the polyvagal theory in therapy, and here's a quote that she says about glimmers. She says that glimmers are micro moments that begin to shape our system in very gentle ways and that glimmers are, in essence, the opposite of triggers. It's a tiny moment of awe, joy or peace that we notice throughout the day, that make us feel good. And again, note that she said these are tiny moments. So think of being on a walk and petting a happy animal. That is one of my favorite things In the trail behind my house. All the dogs that are out there literally think people come just to pet them. And seeing a happy puppy run up to me for some pets totally a glimmer for me.
Speaker 1:
Maybe this is just when your morning hot beverage whatever it is, your tea, your coffee it tastes just right. Maybe you're interacting with people, just strangers on the street, and they just seem extra nice. Maybe they smile at you. Maybe they compliment your favorite shoes that you're wearing. Maybe you look in the mirror and your outfit is outfitting just the way you wanted it to Back on the spring vibes. Maybe you smell this really nice bloom and you notice how pretty the flowers are. Maybe you hear that guy over there singing and just having a really good morning and you feel happy for him. Maybe you got to see a rainbow, maybe the part of traffic that's usually awful just flowed really smoothly today and as soon as you sat in your car, your favorite jam came on. Maybe that old friend that you were just thinking about reaches out and says something nice to you. T-tiny things won't even notice them if you're not looking for them, but these are called glimmers. They are tiny moments, but when we actively notice them, we feel this moment of joy or calm or happiness, and the cool part about it is here's our brain talk. Here is this literally sends cues of safety to your nervous system. How cool is this?
Speaker 1:
In doing my research for this episode, I was doing some reading and in the Newport Institute they described this in such a good way. They said, and I'm going to quote here triggers activate the fight or flight response, which triggers the feeling of agitation, anxiety, fear, sadness or anger within the body. Glimmers, on the other hand, produce sensations that make you feel calm, joyful or grateful, and this is where I want you to think about it in the terms of the nervous system. When we talk about we've got two sides right the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system. I want you to remember how to differentiate these. Remember that the sympathetic nervous system is just that. It's a sympathetic response to the things going on around you and it's in a way that triggers a fight or flight sensation and those reactions within the body. Your body is responding just as it would to a threat. Now let's take the other side.
Speaker 1:
Glimmers also stimulate the nervous system like a trigger does, but essentially in the opposite way. Glimmers will stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, which typically just refers to that state of homeostasis Everything is working as it should, we're not in fight or flight and it produces that sense of calm and relaxation not in fight or flight and it produces that sense of calm and relaxation. Now remember our girl, deb, said glimmers are micro moments that begin to shape our system in very gentle ways. And I want to throw in a few more powerful quotes from her book that really anger in this point for me. I think they'll do the same for you. Back to a point of the nervous system. She said in her book the same for you. Back to a point of the nervous system.
Speaker 1:
She said in her book the job of the automatic nervous system is to ensure we survive in the moments of danger yet thrive in the times of safety, survival requires threat detection and the activation of a survival response. Thriving demands the opposite the inhibition of a survival response so that social engagement can happen. Without the capacity for activation, inhibition and flexibility of those responses, we suffer. Holy crap. That's so good. And just to add to that, hopefulness lies in knowing that while our early experiences shape our nervous system, our ongoing experiences reshape it. So think about it this way If the way you were raised, you were brought up in society the way you've always been, that is going to shape how your nervous system responses or, excuse me, responds, and what its response is. But that doesn't mean it's fixed. We can change it and we can reshape it, and noticing glimmers is a way to do it, but the key to that is that it's ongoing.
Speaker 1:
Being someone who intentionally picks up on glimmers is a practice. It's the practice of noticing and appreciating glimmers that can cue your nervous system to relax, which is a legitimate way to help promote better mental health for yourself as well as us, getting into a better vibrational flow. And just noticing them more and more. Noticing the good, the calm, the peaceful, the relaxing them more and more. Noticing the good, the calm, the peaceful, the relaxing, noticing it more. Where can we see something that makes us feel good? And I think that's the key is noticing this as a practice. This isn't one and done. It's not where we notice all the good things one time and it's life changing, which it can be day changing but it's getting in the habit of asking yourself what are all the good things that I can notice about my right now, about where I am, what I see, what about my right now?
Speaker 1:
Deb Dana says setting an intention is a way to support my new practice. My glimmer intention is to look for the glimmers that are on my path, just waiting for me to find them. I love that. The glimmers that are waiting for you to find them. So I like to ask myself what are all the things that make me feel lucky that I get to be experiencing right now? What are my blessings over all the big ones and the little ones that I can see right in front of my face? Blessings over all the big ones and the little ones that I can see right in front of my face.
Speaker 1:
One of the best things that I've done for myself is getting in the habit of, as soon as I wake up before my mind starts going to my to-do list and all the other needs to do's throughout the day, I interrupt it and think of as many good things as I can, and now this only takes seconds and I really do it before I get out of bed half the time before I even open my eyes, but I list out as many good things as I can think of. Maybe it's my bed is so comfy right now. I am so blessed and lucky to have this bed and, ah, my man, my husband. He's in this bed with me. I'm so lucky to have someone who's so madly in love with me and protects me and cares for me, and the man that I love is so peaceful right now. I can see the light coming in through the window. Look how beautiful the sky is, and I'm so lucky to have this view.
Speaker 1:
I tried to reminisce a little bit on the day before. Maybe our dinner was really good. I put a lot of love into preparing it. Maybe just that I love to do that for my family and I'm glad we could have a good conversation and a moment to chill on the couch and cuddle, then maybe move into the day that I'm about to have. I remember, okay, I have the meeting with these clients. I love that they trust me with their stuff and they trust me to be on their journey with them, and I bet they have some big wins to tell me about and I cannot wait to hear it. Maybe I'm meeting a new person, hell yeah, this is such an honor and I'm thrilled to get to meet them. You get the picture. It's everything that I can think of in my sleepy little state that I can be grateful for that. I could possibly say, hey, I'm really lucky for this.
Speaker 1:
I usually call this romanticizing your life, where you're looking out for every possible thing there is to be happy about and, like I said, I love to do this first thing in the morning or as you're falling asleep, because we're utilizing the theta brainwave state, which is basically classified as slow brain activity. This is where creativity, intuition, daydreaming and fantasizing happens really, really effectively, and it's also where we tend to anchor our memories, our emotions and the sensations we get through the day. So remember this theta waves are known to be the strongest during, of course, right when we're waking up and right as we're falling asleep, but during intentional focus, during meditation, prayer and spiritual awareness. So sorry for the brainwave tangent, but I really wanted to add that in there. I just love this habit. It's one of the best things I've ever done for myself. As soon as I wake up, when my thoughts start to come in, I've done it enough that it feels good and my body likes it, and that's, I swear, the only way that I can remember to do it, that it's become a habit, that it's something I do before I even open my eyes. It's because it's good for me, my body likes it. We're tapping into that reward system that we already talked about.
Speaker 1:
But running through my gratitude list, man, perfect way to start the day, perfect way to end the day, and it sets the tone for your day. We're starting the day with intentional gratitude early, all the little glimmers that I can see from my bed, and it's just like when the morning starts off wrong, like starts off on the wrong foot, so to speak. If your morning starts bad, maybe you sleep through the alarm, then you're in a rush till you stub your toe, then you spill your coffee. So you have to change your outfit and you don't like this outfit. It's not comfy and you're also late and you're annoyed and you get it right.
Speaker 1:
I basically think of it like the opposite of that Starting the practice of noticing your glimmers wakes you up on the right side of the bed period. That's it. And, honestly, I would advise even if you're just like how the heck am I supposed to think about that? I'm way too groggy. Here's what I would do, then is just, honestly, do it anytime you think of it, anytime you're outside, anytime you want to move your thoughts away from something that you don't like, instead of getting in that bad thought spiral. Just go collect some glimmers. Think of it like a game, think of some you've seen before. I'd also say have a glimmer collecting place, have a place that you can go, that you know you can find them For me.
Speaker 1:
I know where my glimmer collecting place is. It's the trail behind my neighborhood. It's the one I just mentioned with all the cute dogs, but it is full of all the glimmers that work for me. It's literally in the woods, and you have to cross this little bridge over the water. It's I sometimes call it a river, but it's more like a stream, but in any case, every time I go to this park, it's over the river and through the woods, which I just find that delightful. That's so cute to me and it's a really beautiful spot. The stream has a lot of little rock waterfalls that are gorgeous and it really gives this zen waterscape soundtrack. I swear I could record it and sell it to spas. It's amazing. It sounds so good and I said, there's always dogs to pet. The neighbors are friendly and they're happy to meet you. Their dogs are really happy to get their head scratched and this park isn't a full-on conservatory area, but we do have quite a few around so it really looks like it is.
Speaker 1:
There's lots of plants that intentionally attract the wildlife. The butterflies, the honeybees and come on, butterflies on a flower are a treasure and they're everywhere and that feels so good to me. But, like I said before, these aren't grandiose things. They're just the little, small things that make our life better and the better you get at noticing them, the more you'll find them around you.
Speaker 1:
So I would give you some homework for this week.
Speaker 1:
Go through the next bit of your day or even your whole day, make it a few days, if you can the whole week and notice every single glimmer that you can. Like I said, try to hit a few days, try to hit a whole week, figure out what your glimmer collecting place is and make it a practice. We know how the brain works. What you focus on, you find. What you put your energy into comes back to you. So the more you look, the more there will be All of my love to each and every one of you and happy glimmer hunting. But all right, my loves. That's where I'll leave us today. I want to thank you so much for joining in on this conversation with me, and each week, every monday, we're going to be posting a new episode, going a little bit deeper into the conversation, of what you can do to train your brain on purpose to really allow for the lifestyle that you want to live. Until next time, my loves. In the meantime, here's to your health and your happiness.