How Instagram’s ‘glimmers’ trend is helping people manage stress and anxiety with comforting life moments that feel ‘like a hug’
- The smell of rain, a hot shower, seeing ducks on a lake – these are examples of ‘glimmers’, happy moments in daily life that can help keep us calm and centred
- As posts about them flood social media, advocates, including a psychologist, describe how recognising life’s ‘little pleasures’ can promote mental health
When her maternity leave ended, amateur photographer Lizzie Holson tapped into an Instagram trend to deal with her anxiousness about returning to work.
She had stumbled upon “glimmers”, a term used to describe micro-moments of joy and comfort that punctuate our day.
“It dawned on me that for the last 15 to 20 years I had been photographing my ‘glimmers’,” says the education mental health practitioner in Sheffield, in the UK.
She made a daily practice of capturing “glimmers” – a bumblebee hovering over a flower, ducks flapping on a lake, steam swirling from a tea cup, or a cherry blossom-laden branch – in images or video clips on her phone, and shared some of them on Instagram.
“This helps me to remain in the present moment more frequently and to appreciate the little pleasures that could easily go unnoticed in the hustle and bustle of life,” Holson says.
When she feels stressed, glimmers are useful as an anchor and grounding tool.
