A glimmer is the opposite of a trigger — a micro-moment of safety, coined by polyvagal clinician Deb Dana. Learning to catch them isn’t toxic positivity. It is the clinical recalibration of a nervous system that has been trained to hunt danger and miss the light.
By Abi Beri | Integrative Therapist & Nervous System Specialist · Dublin, Naas, Newbridge, Kildare & Online
TL;DR. A glimmer is a term coined by American polyvagal clinician Deb Dana, in her clinical work following Stephen Porges’s polyvagal theory, to name the exact opposite of a trigger. Where a trigger is a small cue that flips the nervous system into a threat state (a tone of voice, a text, a footstep), a glimmer is an equally small cue that tips the system in the opposite direction — toward safety, toward settle. A half-second flicker of oh, this is okay. Glimmers are everywhere — light on a wall, warm hands, a pet at rest, the hum of the world going about its business without needing anything from you. But most nervous systems, particularly ones shaped by chronic stress or trauma, have been trained to hunt for danger and filter out safety. This isn’t a character flaw. It is the way a threat-tuned scanner works: it has to prioritise the thing that might kill you over the thing that won’t. Learning to catch glimmers is not toxic positivity. It is the clinical, evidence-based practice of recalibrating neuroception (Porges’s term for the below-conscious safety-scanning system) by repeatedly directing attention toward the cues of safety that are already there. Rick Hanson’s neuroplasticity research (Hardwiring Happiness) explains why it works. This article walks through the concept, the science underneath, the practice of glimmer-hunting (outside AND inside the body), and the crucial distinction from good-vibes-only wellness culture. For people in Ireland, integrative somatic therapy with polyvagal-informed nervous system work is available in Dublin, Naas, Newbridge and across Kildare in person, and online globally.
Key facts at a glance
- A glimmer is a micro-moment of safety — the polyvagal opposite of a trigger. Coined by clinician Deb Dana in her work developing polyvagal theory into clinical practice.
- Glimmers work through Stephen Porges’s concept of neuroception — the below-conscious autonomic scanning of environment and body for safety or threat cues.
- Threat-tuned nervous systems (built by chronic stress, trauma, difficult early environments) filter out safety cues because attention is finite and danger is prioritised.
- Neuroplasticity research (Rick Hanson’s HEAL model, Norman Doidge’s The Brain That Changes Itself) shows that repeated attention to safety cues can, over time, recalibrate the scanner.
- Glimmers can be exteroceptive (external — light, warmth, a pet at rest, silence when it’s safe) or interoceptive (internal — warm hands, relaxed jaw, the felt sense of being supported).
- Catching glimmers is emphatically NOT toxic positivity. It is not overriding reality. It is insisting the safety is real too, alongside the pain, and giving the scanner the full picture it has been missing.
- Available as a free 40-minute talk and as part of integrative somatic therapy with polyvagal-informed nervous-system work in Dublin, Naas, Newbridge and Kildare (and online globally).
What is a glimmer?
Quick answer: A glimmer is a tiny, half-second cue — internal or external — that signals safety to the autonomic nervous system. It is the exact opposite of a trigger. Coined by American clinician Deb Dana in her book The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy (2018) as the polyvagal counterpart to the well-known trigger concept.
You almost certainly know the word ‘trigger’. Everyone does now, and for good reason. A trigger is a cue, often small, sometimes tiny, that flips your nervous system into a state of threat. A tone of voice. A particular silence. A smell, a text that just says ‘we need to talk’, the sound of a certain person’s footsteps on the stairs. Something in the present moment that your body reads as danger, and — faster than thought — braces, defends, floods with alarm.
We have spent about a decade collectively learning to spot our triggers. Naming them, tracking them, working with them. And that has been good work. Real work.
But here is what almost nobody tells you. If your nervous system can be tripped into threat by a tiny cue — then it can also be tipped, by an equally tiny cue, in the opposite direction. Toward safety. Toward settle. Toward a small, quiet flicker of oh, this is alright.
Those cues have a name too. Deb Dana called them glimmers. A glimmer is a micro-moment of safety. A tiny cue that, for just a second, tells your nervous system: you are okay right now. The exact opposite of a trigger, doing the exact opposite job. And here is the thing that got me when I first sat with it — glimmers are everywhere. They are, if anything, more common than triggers. They are happening around you and in you all day long. You have just been trained not to see them.
The science underneath: neuroception and the tuned scanner
Quick answer: Your nervous system runs a below-conscious scanner (Stephen Porges named it neuroception) that continuously assesses environment and body for safety and threat. In systems shaped by chronic stress or trauma, this scanner is calibrated toward danger — it becomes faster, more sensitive, more thorough at catching threat. The cost is that it filters out safety cues, because attention is finite and danger is prioritised.
Your nervous system has a job it does every second, beneath all awareness. Stephen Porges named it neuroception. Constant, automatic scanning of your world and your body, asking one question: are we safe, or are we in danger. It is not something you do on purpose. It runs on its own, faster than thought, like antivirus software that never closes.
That scanner can be calibrated. And in most of us, it has been calibrated by our history. If you have lived through a lot of threat — and ‘threat’ here does not have to mean dramatic; it can mean a childhood spent bracing, a long stretch of stress, a nervous system that had to stay on guard for years — then your scanner gets tuned toward danger. It gets very, very good at spotting threat. Faster. More sensitive. More thorough. Because a system that has been in danger learns that catching the threat early is survival.
There is a cost to that brilliant sensitivity, and the cost is precisely this: a scanner tuned to hunt for danger filters out safety. It has to. Attention is finite. If your whole system is optimised to catch the one thing that might hurt you, it will let a hundred small cues of okayness slip past unnoticed, because — from the scanner’s point of view — safety is not urgent. Safety will not kill you. Only danger will. So danger gets all the bandwidth.
This is why you can walk through a genuinely lovely morning and register none of it — and then catch one slightly-off facial expression and think about it for six hours. Your system is not broken. It is doing exactly what a threat-trained system is built to do. Catching the danger. Missing the light.
Why glimmers work: attention shapes the brain
Quick answer: Neuroplasticity research (Rick Hanson’s HEAL model in Hardwiring Happiness, Norman Doidge’s The Brain That Changes Itself, Michael Merzenich’s foundational work) has documented that what you repeatedly attend to strengthens in the brain. Repeatedly directing attention toward safety cues gradually retunes neuroception itself — the scanner shifts, over time, toward safety.
This is the piece of neuroscience that makes the whole practice worth doing. Attention shapes the brain. What you repeatedly attend to, you strengthen. A nervous system that is regularly, gently shown ‘look — safety, there it is, and there, and there’ slowly retunes. The scanner recalibrates. Neuroception itself can shift, over time, toward safety.
Rick Hanson’s work on ‘taking in the good’ (Hardwiring Happiness, 2013) provides the accessible clinical popularisation. Hanson’s HEAL model — Have a positive experience, Enrich it, Absorb it, Link it — is a structured version of what glimmer-catching does more informally. Norman Doidge’s The Brain That Changes Itself (2007) is the mainstream introduction to the underlying neuroplasticity research, drawn from decades of work by Michael Merzenich and others.
The relevant principle for our purposes is compact: neurons that fire together, wire together (Hebb’s postulate); and attention determines what fires. A nervous system that repeatedly attends to safety builds the neural infrastructure that makes safety easier to detect next time. This is not wishful thinking. It is well-documented neuroplasticity.
Glimmers vs Triggers — a comparison
| Triggers | Glimmers |
| Cue that flips the system into threat. | Cue that tips the system toward safety. |
| Faster than thought. | Faster than thought. |
| Named by trauma-informed clinical literature; well-known. | Coined by Deb Dana; still emerging in public awareness. |
| A tone of voice, a text, a footstep. | Warm light, a pet at rest, warm hands, a genuine smile. |
| Widely tracked and worked with in therapy. | Historically overlooked; increasingly integrated in trauma-informed practice. |
| Feed the sympathetic (mobilised) or dorsal (shutdown) state. | Feed the ventral vagal (regulated) state. |
| Attention is drawn to them automatically. | Must be actively noticed; the threat scanner filters them out. |
The practice: going glimmer-hunting
The practice is deliberately light. A grim, effortful, I-must-find-safety-now approach is just the threat system running the search, and that defeats the whole thing. Hold it like a game.
External (exteroceptive) glimmers
- 1. The simplest glimmer. Take the gentlest breath in and let it out slowly. Notice you can breathe. Your body is quietly competent. That tiny nothing is a glimmer.
- 2. Something you can see. Not something beautiful. Just something your eye can rest on that isn’t unpleasant. The quality of light on a wall. A colour. The shape of a cloud, a plant, the curve of a cup.
- 3. Something you can hear that isn’t a threat. A hum, a bird, distant traffic that means the world is going about its business without needing anything from you. Or the absence of alarm — silence, when it’s safe, is itself a glimmer.
- 4. Something at ease nearby. A pet asleep. A tree doing nothing but being a tree. Plants, animals at rest broadcast safety, and a mammal nervous system picks it up. This is co-regulation.
Internal (interoceptive) glimmers
Some of the best glimmers are inside the body. Interoception — the sense of your own internal state — is one of the deepest skills in somatic work. Most people are strangers to their own insides.
- 5. Warm hands. Warmth in the body is one of the oldest safety signals there is. A warm cup held. Sun on skin.
- 6. A part that’s already relaxed. The back of your knees, your feet, your forehead — some quiet corner the tension never reached. Rest your attention there. Let the settled part be as real to you as the braced parts usually are.
- 7. The felt sense of being held. The weight of your body, supported by the ground, the seat, the bed. Gravity doing its steady, reliable job.
- 8. A part that is neutral. Not necessarily faintly good. Just not braced. That is a glimmer.
Is glimmer-catching toxic positivity?
Quick answer: No — and the distinction is clinically important. Toxic positivity asks you to override reality: paste a nice thought over a nervous system that is screaming, and feel like a failure when it doesn’t work. Glimmer-catching asks nothing of the kind. Nothing is overridden. The trigger stays real. The pain stays real. The hard thing stays real. We are simply insisting that the safety is real too, alongside the pain, and giving the scanner the full picture it has been missing.
This is important. On the surface, ‘notice small good things’ can sound like the same tired wellness nonsense — notice your blessings! choose better thoughts! good vibes! — and it absolutely is not. The difference is everything.
‘Think positive’ asks you to override reality — to paste a nice thought over a nervous system that is screaming, and then feel like a failure when it does not work. Glimmers ask nothing of the kind. We are not overriding anything. We are not denying the danger, or the pain, or the hard thing you are living through. All of that stays completely real and completely allowed.
We are just insisting that the safety is real too. Both things. The trigger and the glimmer. The threat and the okayness. They coexist, in every moment, and your scanner has just been showing you a heavily edited version that leaves the safety out. We are not lying to the system. We are giving it the full picture — which it has been missing — and the full picture happens to include a great deal more okayness than the threat-edit lets through.
When glimmers won’t come — and that’s also fine
There will be days — plenty of them — when you go looking for a glimmer and the scanner is turned up so high you cannot find one. That is not failure either. On those days, the glimmer might just be this: I noticed I could not find one, and I was gentle with myself about it. That counts. That is the muscle working.
Some days the only safety cue available is your own refusal to be cruel to yourself about a hard day. That will do. That is plenty. If everything feels dark for a long stretch, that is worth taking seriously — reach out to someone, or use the resources at the end of this article.
Frequently asked questions
What are glimmers? Glimmers are micro-moments of safety — tiny cues, internal or external, that signal to the autonomic nervous system: you are okay right now. Coined by clinician Deb Dana as the polyvagal counterpart to the trigger.
Who coined the term ‘glimmers’? Deb Dana, an American licensed clinical social worker and polyvagal theory clinician, introduced the term in her clinical work developing Stephen Porges’s polyvagal theory into therapeutic practice — notably in her book The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy (2018).
What is the difference between a glimmer and a trigger? Both are small cues that shift the autonomic state. Triggers shift toward threat (sympathetic mobilisation or dorsal shutdown). Glimmers shift toward safety (ventral vagal regulation). Both work below conscious awareness through neuroception.
Give me examples of glimmers. Warm hands. Light on a wall. A pet asleep. A dog’s ridiculous joy at a ball. A stranger holding a door. The first cool air after rain. The steam off a cup. The particular gold of late afternoon. A song that finds you at the right moment. The felt sense of being supported by the ground.
Is looking for glimmers just toxic positivity? No. Toxic positivity asks you to override reality (‘just think positive’). Glimmer-catching adds safety cues to the picture alongside the real difficulty, rather than replacing it. Nothing is denied. The full picture is offered to a scanner that has been showing only the danger.
How long does it take to see a glimmer? Glimmers are half-second events. You do not have to hold them or collect them. Each one lands, registers, and passes. The landing is the whole thing.
Can I recalibrate my nervous system with glimmers? Yes — supported by neuroplasticity research (Rick Hanson’s HEAL model, Norman Doidge’s work, Michael Merzenich’s foundational neuroplasticity research). Repeated attention to safety cues, over time, retunes neuroception itself.
Do you offer polyvagal therapy in Dublin? Yes — integrative somatic therapy with polyvagal-informed nervous-system work in Dublin city, Naas, Newbridge and across Kildare in person, and online globally. Free 20-minute intro at somatictherapyireland.com.
Working with a Polyvagal-Informed Somatic Therapist in Dublin, Naas, Newbridge & Kildare
If something in this article has landed — or if you have been catching glimmers and finding it hard to make them stick — you are welcome to bring the work deeper. I am an Integrative Therapist trained in somatic methods, family constellations, polyvagal-informed practice and inner child work. I see clients one-to-one in Dublin city, Naas, Newbridge and across Kildare in person, and online globally. For nervous systems that have been trained to hunt danger for a long time, the recalibration usually needs both home practice (catching glimmers) and relational work (a therapist whose regulated nervous system can co-regulate with yours). Both are the medicine.
Sessions are 60 minutes, weekly or fortnightly. There is a free 20-minute intro call before any commitment, with no expectation. Book at somatictherapyireland.com.
About the author
Abi Beri is an Integrative Therapist, Family Constellation Facilitator and Nervous System Specialist based in Dublin, Ireland. He is trained in somatic methods, family constellations, polyvagal-informed practice and inner child work, and has recently completed his Higher Diploma in Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy at IICP College Dublin, continuing on the MSc. He is IPHM-accredited. He sees clients in person from a practice base across Dublin, Naas, Newbridge and the wider Kildare area, and online globally. More at somatictherapyireland.com and blissfulevolution.com.
Further reading & cited authorities
- Dana, D. (2018). The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation. Norton.
- Dana, D. (2021). Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory. Sounds True.
- Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation. Norton.
- Porges, S. W. (2017). The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory. Norton.
- Hanson, R. (2013). Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence. Harmony.
- Doidge, N. (2007). The Brain That Changes Itself. Viking.
- Levine, P. A. (2010). In an Unspoken Voice. North Atlantic Books.
- van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score. Viking.
- Merzenich, M. (2013). Soft-Wired: How the New Science of Brain Plasticity Can Change Your Life. Parnassus.
Authoritative resources (external links)
- Deb Dana — Rhythm of Regulation (coined ‘glimmers’) — rhythmofregulation.com · Deb Dana is the clinician who introduced the ‘glimmer’ concept as the polyvagal counterpart to the trigger.
- Polyvagal Institute (Stephen Porges) — polyvagalinstitute.org · Porges coined ‘neuroception’ — the below-conscious safety/danger scanner underpinning glimmers.
- Somatic Experiencing International (Peter Levine) — traumahealing.org · the global home of Somatic Experiencing.
- Trauma Research Foundation (Bessel van der Kolk) — traumaresearchfoundation.org · The Body Keeps the Score lineage.
- Dr Rick Hanson — Hardwiring Happiness (‘taking in the good’, the HEAL model) — rickhanson.net · the neuroplasticity research on how attention shapes the brain.
- Dr Norman Doidge — The Brain That Changes Itself — normandoidge.com · foundational public writing on neuroplasticity.
- Wikipedia — Neuroception — en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvagal_theory#Neuroception · plain-English explainer.
- Wikipedia — Polyvagal theory — en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvagal_theory · the theoretical frame underneath the glimmer concept.
- IPHM (International Practitioners of Holistic Medicine) — iphm.co.uk · my accrediting body.
If everything feels dark right now — Irish mental health resources
- Samaritans Ireland — samaritans.org/ireland · free, 24/7 emotional support · call 116 123 (referenced in the talk).
- Pieta House (Ireland) — pieta.ie · free crisis support · call 1800 247 247 or text HELP to 51444.
- Aware Ireland — aware.ie · depression and anxiety support · call 1800 80 48 48.
- HSE Mental Health (Ireland) — hse.ie/mental-health · the Irish national health service mental health gateway.
