Deb Dana on the Wonder of Glimmers and Positive Living

Ocean waves crashing on a sunlit beach: How "Glimmers" can support our goals for positive living

Today, we explore an aspect that complements our focus on trauma and triggers, enhancing personal development and positive living. We're discussing Glimmers with Deb Dana.

In this audio interview, Deb Dana talks to us from a rainy Maine about the concept of Glimmers. Glimmers are described as brief moments in daily life that can enrich our experience and provide a sense of tranquility. Dana explains that our bodies are naturally equipped for this and have been anticipating our acceptance of it. So why not give it a try? According to Dana, and many individuals worldwide who have experienced it, embracing Glimmers is an excellent method for promoting positive living.

Listen to our interview with Deb Dana here

Click here for interview transcript

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Hi, Deb. Welcome to Perspective Living magazine. I was wondering first, can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what your background is?

Sure. It's nice to be here, nice to meet you. I am a licensed clinical social worker. I work with trauma specifically. And more recently or in the past several years, I have moved into the world of writing and presenting and offering workshops. And I think that's probably where my passion lies now.

I'm a specialist in polyvagal theory, which is a theory of the autonomic nervous system and I take steve porges's brilliant science of, I think, okayness or goodness is the easiest way to think about it, a tiny moment of joy of happiness.

And it comes from your biology. It begins in your biology. Your biology moves into feeling that tiny micro moment of feeling regulated, balanced, safe: many of those words we might use to describe a glimmer. In the way that we bring it to life. Now, when we turn our attention toward it, it is a moment that we can watch for. We can track it, we can feel we can notice it, we can share with others. But it emerges from your biology; from your nervous system, binding that moment where it feels drawn into a bit of regulation.

So Glimmers: sometimes we think of them as the opposite of triggers. Triggers are the things that activate our sense of unease or distress.

We think of glimmers as the opposite of triggers, and that's an okay way to think about them. Glimmers don't impact our triggers in any way. They're a totally separate category.

And so what they do is invite us to feel a bit of happiness of joy, of magic, of safety, of connection. And we can do that in the midst of all of the trauma and distress and suffering that may be going on in our everyday lives as well.

And that's the beauty of the nervous system: that it is created to be able to hold both, right? Both the suffering and the sweetness. And so, you know, now we pay much more attention to our trauma, to our suffering, to the ways that we feel not okay in the world. And that is true for all humans, because we have what's called a negativity bias built into our brains and our bodies. Where we pay attention to the things that are a bit dangerous or distressing in order to survive.

So, you know, this too is built in and our nervous system is exquisitely able to define the moments of goodness. Not as a way to ignore their suffering, but as a way to build the capacity to have enough sense of regulation in ournervous system, so we could turn toward the trauma and work with it.

And so that's been the joy of really understanding Glimmers. For me,bringing Glimmers first first to clients and then to the world. And every time we find a Glimmer it builds on the Glimmer we found just a bit ago. And then the next one, and the next one. This increases our capacity to navigate the world from a place of feeling safe, feeling connected, feeling some joy.

Thank you for explaining that. Can you give us some samples of Glimmers and how they might vary between people?

Yeah, sure. You know, today is a beautiful, gentle, rainy day here in Maine. And I woke up this morning to the sound of the gentle rain through an open window. So, I started my day with that Glimmer. It was a lovely moment and that's often what happens for me. I hear something or I see something. I put my hand on my heart and I go, oh, that for me is a way to work today.

There's no end to the moments that can bring a Glimmer. And in fact, those Glimmer moments exist all around us. But if we're not looking for them, we most often miss them right? So what can we do, or not do, to become more aware of them?

So there's a really simple practice, which you know I love for its simplicity, because it it encourages me to keep that feeling that I've bumped into a Glimmer. So what are the ways that you recognise that? For me, it's often my attention gets caught. I look towards something and I find myself putting my hand on my heart. And the first step is to say, how do I notice I've bumped into a Glimmer? So you can do that by looking back on a day and thinking, oh, was that a Glimmer? Bringing it back to life and then jot down your glimmer experiences, keep a running list. Because we want to remember and then share, because we humans are always longing to be in connection with other safe humans.

And so, I invite people to find a Glimmer buddy or create a Glimmer group. So we see, stop, appreciate, but then in a way we remember in some way and we share in some way.

So that's the basic way to bring glimmers into your world.

Would you say glimmers could potentially help change our perspective on life?

I do. I think what's lovely about Glimmers, and what I did learn from my clinical practice, was that they are gentle yet powerful ways to reshape your nervous system. So that you have more access to the pathways of connection, the pathways of safety.

And so every time we notice this micro moment that we've named a Glimmer, and bring it into our active awareness, it then comes into our brain -body experience and rests somewhere. And then the next glimmer we find comes in and rests along with the first one.

And those begin to accumulate. And so it's easier to move into connection. It's easier to move into safety. It's easier to be regulated into feeling balanced and bring that regulation into our daily living.

So what I often think is that these tiny moments are shaping our experience in a new way. In a way that is easy to reach for and yet powerful in the ways that it affects our lives.

And then we could think of every human finding Glimmers, every nervous system beginning to shape towards safety, and the ripple effect of that. That's where I like to go when I dream.

Top create a cascade and change the world together. That's my curiosity.

Okay. That's beautiful. I think that's amazing. And I just would like to thank you for sharing your perspective with us. And I wish you a great day.

Thank you. And I'm going to wish you a day that brings you Glimmers.

Thank you so much. Bye. Bye.

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About Deb Dana, Glimmers and Positive Living

Deb Dana, a licensed clinical social worker, is known for her expertise in complex trauma. She coined the term "glimmers," which refers to brief, positive experiences that promote a sense of safety and calmness. Unlike triggers, which provoke feelings of danger or threat, glimmers help to calm the nervous system, allowing us to transition to a state of connection and equilibrium.