From Triggers to GLIMMERS: Rewiring Our Focus Toward Gratitude
If you're on a healing journey, you've likely become more familiar with your own triggers—those intense emotional signals pointing to something feeling wrong. Triggers can spark anxiety, fear, sadness or anger and in most cases these emotional or physiological responses are out of proportion to the actual circumstance. That’s because triggers are reactions to memories, situations or people connected to unresolved pain or trauma.Instead of avoiding triggers, healing invites us to lean in, get curious, and explore what they are trying to reveal. Triggers may be uncomfortable but they can also be powerful teachers, especially when explored in Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy.
The goal isn’t just to react less—it’s to understand more.
Journaling helps get complicated feelings out of your head and onto the paper which inspires greater self-awareness. This leads to the ability to pause, stay grounded, and make more intentional choices. That’s the essence of healing: shifting from old reactive negative patterns into healthier coping strategies that build emotional resilience.
Make Space for JOY
Healing isn’t only about processing and transforming pain—it’s also about making space for joy.You already know how to live with anxiety or depression. Now it’s time to exhale and allow happiness back in your life.
This is how glimmers can be an amazing tool. Glimmers are those subtle, uplifting moments that soothe your nervous system and restore a sense of safety and well-being.
Glimmers are the opposite of triggers. While triggers activate stress and send us into fight-or-flight mode, glimmers gently guide us back into a relaxed connected presence.
Glimmers remind us we can proactively ground ourselves and shift into feelings of comfort and happiness. And the best part, glimmers are always accessible if we just choose to notice them in our everyday surroundings:
- Feeling the warmth of the sun
- Noticing pretty flowers
- Reading a book under a cozy blanket
- Singing to your favorite song
- Coloring or engaging in a creative project
- Enjoying a sweet treat
- Taking a walk in nature
- Seeing the bright blue sky
- Strolling an inspiring city street
- Playing with a beloved pet
- Laughing with a supportive friend
Ketamine and the Power of Positive Moments
Glimmers help regulate emotions by shifting us out of survival mode and into a calming sense of safety. During ketamine treatments, the brain becomes more receptive to change and the formation of new patterns, making it an ideal time to focus on positive moments that can amplify healing.Ketamine rapidly reduces symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD but it also has a unique capacity to break negative thought loops, helping people get unstuck by promoting new neural pathways. This is known as neuroplasticity, and it’s one of ketamine’s key benefits. This means that intentionally noticing glimmers during this fertile period of treatment can strengthen new, healthier thoughts and emotions.
Focusing on the positive is especially important during emotionally charged times like the holidays. Whether it’s navigating difficult family dynamics or feeling the absence of meaningful connection, this season can bring up grief, longing, or loneliness—making it a particularly vulnerable time.
That’s why cultivating an awareness of glimmers can be so transformative. Whether it’s a song, a sunset, or a shared laugh, these types of light nourishing moments help bring balance and restore a grounded sense of calm.
Gratitude Is a Practice
Gratitude is more than a feeling; it’s a practice. Like any practice, it takes conscious effort. It begins with choosing where to place your attention and being intentional about your thoughts and the habits you're cultivating. With consistency, what starts as deliberate becomes natural.By tuning into glimmers (those small, uplifting moments) you begin to rewire your brain toward safety, and calm. So be mindful about what you see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. These everyday sensations are opportunities to anchor into the present and connect with gratitude.
Practicing gratitude isn’t about denying pain or pretending everything is perfect. It’s about making space for the good alongside the challenges in order to cultivate a more hopeful and resilient mindset.
Try This:
For one day, don’t journal about what went wrong. Instead, look for what went right.Name 3 glimmers you noticed today.
- They don’t need to be profound—the smaller, the better.
- Let your body feel them for a few extra seconds.
- And literally smile and say “Thank you.”
✨ Start collecting GLIMMERS ✨
And let those glimmers remind you that peace and joy are always within reach—you just have to train your mind to see them.
Ready to create more moments of calm and gratitude in your life?
Schedule a free consultation with Keta Medical Center and discover how ketamine therapy can support your healing journey.
