Small moments of pleasure, connection and nourishment
Life is full of small moments that can make us feel good, yet when we’re busy, worried, tired or caught up in everything that needs doing, they’re surprisingly easy to miss.
The warmth of the sun on your face. A flower that smells beautiful. The first sip of a really good cup of tea. A favourite piece of music. Your cat settling beside you. A beautiful sunset. Someone smiling at you. A moment when you suddenly realise, this feels nice.
These little moments are often called glimmers.
Glimmers are small, often fleeting experiences that bring a sense of pleasure, connection, comfort or wellbeing. They are there in the ordinary moments of our day, and they can be so brief that they’re gone before we’ve really taken them in.
The practice is to notice them, pause for a few seconds and receive them.
Taking in the good stuff
Our attention is naturally drawn towards what needs fixing, what hasn’t been done, what we’re worried about or what needs our attention next. When life feels stressful, the pleasant things happening around us can easily disappear into the background.
Glimmers invite us to widen the picture.
When something lovely catches your attention, stay with it for a few seconds. Look at the sunlight coming through the trees. Listen to the bird singing outside your window. Breathe in the scent of a flower. Feel the warmth of your dog’s body beside you. Taste the coffee rather than drinking it while thinking about the next job.
Give your senses time to register the experience.
You may notice a change in your body — a breath that becomes easier, a smile, your shoulders dropping, a feeling of warmth or connection. There may be no obvious change at all. The practice is in paying attention and allowing yourself to take in something that feels good.
This is slightly different from a gratitude practice. Gratitude often involves looking back and thinking about what we’re thankful for. Glimmers are about catching those small enjoyable moments while they’re happening and staying with them long enough to savour them.
Creating your own glimmers
Once you begin discovering what feeds you, you can bring more of those experiences into everyday life.
Five minutes reading a poem or a book you love. Sitting in the garden with a cup of tea. Putting on a favourite song. Picking a flower for your desk. Stroking your dog or cat. Looking at the stars. Spending ten minutes doing something creative. Calling someone whose company you enjoy.
These small pleasures can also become treats and rewards.
Food is often the first thing that comes to mind when we think of a treat. We work hard and have something nice to eat. We finish a difficult job and reward ourselves with chocolate or cake. We reach a goal and celebrate with a special meal. There’s plenty of pleasure to be found in good food. It’s also worth discovering how many other ways there are to reward ourselves.
Finish some paperwork you’ve been avoiding and spend ten minutes with your book. Make the phone call you’ve been putting off, then step outside and feel the sun on your face. Complete your walk and play a song you love. Mark an achievement with some flowers, a soak in the bath, time in the garden or five minutes doing absolutely nothing.
A treat can be a little piece of beauty, rest, play, connection, creativity or pleasure.
And praise counts too. When you’ve followed through on something that matters to you, acknowledge it: “I did that. Well done.”
Small rewards can help reinforce behaviours we’d like to continue, particularly when the reward follows fairly closely behind the effort.
What feeds you?
One person’s glimmer may do absolutely nothing for someone else.
You might love the smell of rain, walking barefoot on the grass, fresh sheets on the bed, a particular piece of music, swimming in the sea, watching clouds, making something with your hands or laughing with a friend.
Someone else may feel nourished by reading, learning, spiritual practice, meaningful conversation, massage, creativity or time alone in nature. Treats and rewards
The interesting part is discovering what feeds you.
What makes you stop for a moment?
What brings a little spark of pleasure?
What leaves you feeling replenished?
What makes an ordinary day feel richer?
As you start noticing those things, you may find glimmers in places you’ve been walking past for years.
Try it for seven days
For the next week, see if you can notice three glimmers each day. They don’t need to be special. Ordinary is perfect. When you find one:
Notice it.
Pause.
Use your senses.
Receive it.
Stay with the experience for a few seconds rather than rushing on. You could also choose one small glimmer for yourself each day — something pleasurable, nourishing or encouraging that fits easily into your life.
At the end of the week, look back and ask: What did I begin to notice when I paid more attention to the good things that were already there?
And then keep looking. There are glimmers everywhere.
Continue Exploring
Learning to recognise glimmers is a lovely way to begin noticing the small experiences that bring pleasure, comfort and connection into everyday life. If you’d like to explore further, I’ve put together other free articles, guides and recordings to help you understand your body and discover practical ways to support your wellbeing.
Spring: Finding the Balance Between Doing and Receiving
Explore how the renewed energy of Spring can inspire us to become more active, while also remembering to take time to enjoy and receive from the world around us. This article also includes my free relaxation recording, The Garden That Tends to You. Read the Spring article
Helping Your Body Find Calm
Explore my free guided recordings and practices, including Anchoring into Safety, to help you find more steadiness when life feels stressful. Explore Helping Your Body Find Calm
Explore the Wellbeing Library
Discover more free articles, guides and resources on massage, emotional wellbeing, personal growth and caring for your nervous system. Visit the Wellbeing Library
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At Elayne Lane Therapy in Nelson, I offer massage, hypnotherapy, Reiki and somatic bodywork. If you’d like some individual support, you can learn more about my approach and the different ways we might work together on my website. Explore My Services