The Liminal
Navigating the Emerging Space Between Selves
This feature is a follow-up to ‘Walking the Path.’
There comes a time in the spiritual journey that defies explanation.
You are no longer asleep, but not fully awake in the way you imagined, either. The illusions have cracked, sometimes shattered. You have crossed the bridge of realization, stood in the fire of emotional unraveling, and begun the work of integration. And now… it is quiet.
Not peaceful, necessarily, but eerily still.
This is The Liminal…
A space between old and new, between letting go and arriving. It is neither destruction nor creation, but the pregnant pause between breaths. If you are in a place where you feel uncertain, disoriented, maybe even numb, know this … you are not lost. You are becoming.
What Is the Liminal? A Neuropsychological and Energetic Perspective
In systems theory, liminality is a threshold state, the boundary between two modes of being.
Anthropologist Victor Turner described it as a sacred disorientation, a moment outside time and structure where transformation becomes not only possible, but inevitable.
Neurologically, this state reflects a disintegration of former identity structures.
According to Dr. Andrew Newberg, who studies the neurological basis of spiritual experience, these states can deactivate parts of the brain responsible for ego and spatial orientation. In the liminal, you are literally losing your sense of self, time, and place - not as a loss, but as a gateway into a more expansive state of being.
Energy medicine expert Dr. Shamini Jain explains that such moments of inner stillness allow for recalibration. The body, no longer held together by outdated frequencies, begins to attune itself to a new coherence. This process may feel disorienting, but it is vital. You are not breaking down. You are being re-coded.
This recalibration does not only happen on an energetic or cognitive level, it affects your day-to-day behavior in deeply personal ways. Your thought patterns may shift from urgency and survival to curiosity and spaciousness. You might notice an increased sensitivity to environments that once felt neutral, or even a need for more solitude as your system learns to attune to your inner frequency.
Emotionally, you may find yourself responding to things differently - a reduction in reactivity, or a confusing numbness that is not depression, but rather a holding pattern before reactivation. What once triggered anxiety might now meet you with quiet observation, while the mundane might suddenly feel sacred. You begin to reorient from doing to being, from reacting to sensing.
These subtle shifts are signs that your system is adapting to a new internal compass, one no longer ruled by conditioned responses, but by deeper intuitive awareness.
A Real Moment in the Liminal
Crystal had spent 17 years climbing the corporate ladder. VP of Sales. Six-figure salary. Recognition, deadlines, purpose. And then one morning, she simply could not do it anymore.
She walked away…
Now, she sits in the stillness of her small cabin at the edge of a wooded town, unsure of what is next. The scent of pine drifts through an open window. The ticking of an old clock echoes too loudly in the quiet. There is no inbox demanding her attention. No spreadsheets. No calendar crammed with meetings.
At first, it felt like freedom. Coffee on the porch at sunrise. Walks in the woods without a destination. But then the silence came. A silence so thick it wrapped around her chest like fog. The kind that makes you question your worth without anyone saying a word.
“I thought I’d feel liberated,” she says, looking out the window, hands wrapped around a chipped mug, “But I just feel... invisible. Like I died, but I am still here.”
What Crystal does not realize is that this is not death. It is gestation.
Her thoughts feel scattered now. She wonders if she made a mistake. She scrolls past job postings but feels no pull. The life she left no longer fits, but the life ahead has not formed. Some days, the quiet feels comforting. Other days, it is like standing in a room with no doors.
Yet beneath that stillness, something else is moving. Not forward in the old sense of progress, but inward. A gentle unraveling of old metrics of success. A soft remembrance of who she was before the noise.
Like so many others in this liminal space, Crystal is not stuck. She is fermenting. Resting. Re-aligning. Becoming something far truer than what she had before.
The work of becoming is not loud. It is not linear. But it is holy.
Living Without a Map - And Why That is the Point
During this stage, everything that once defined you - titles, identities, routines - has fallen away. The goals you used to chase feel empty. Your passions, quiet. Even your spiritual practices may seem to have lost their spark.
That is not failure.
Dr. Lisa Miller, author of The Awakened Brain, describes this stage as a “spiritual lull,” a neural shift where brain regions responsible for higher meaning remain active, even as our emotional centers undergo transformation. She likens it to a cocoon phase where perception deepens, intuition quietly builds, and purpose reorganizes itself beneath the surface.
As Dr. Dan Siegel puts it: "Before integration, we must differentiate." This is the differentiation stage, where the old narrative is fully disassembled so the new can be constructed from truth, not trauma.
During this stage, many people experience dreams that are vivid, symbolic, or even prophetic - glimpses into the subconscious mind working overtime to resolve, reframe, or prepare. Emotionally, you may swing between moments of joy and hope, and waves of inexplicable grief or apathy. These are not mood disorders; they are echoes of identity shedding.
Social withdrawal is also common. You might feel an aversion to small talk, or a need to cancel plans without fully understanding why. Old habits may suddenly feel abrasive. You might spend more time in nature, or alone in your car, or sitting in the stillness of your room - not to escape life, but to remember your original frequency.
The liminal challenges our addiction to movement. To goals. To proof that something is happening. In this sacred pause, your mind might scream, "Do something!" But your soul whispers, "Just be."
This is the deep inner territory where the scaffolding of your next life takes root.
The Collective Grid – Why Your Frequency Matters Now More Than Ever
Liminal spaces often feel lonely. But energetically, they are anything but.
According to Lynne McTaggart, author of The Field, intention and emotion do not remain confined within the brain. They radiate into the quantum field, influencing others through what she calls morphic resonance. You are not just waiting in silence. You are broadcasting coherence.
Dr. Konstantin Korotkov's research in biofield imaging shows that when individuals enter coherent, heart-centered states, their energy fields extend further and more symmetrically. In the liminal, when you learn to rest in your own stillness without seeking external validation, you are anchoring a stable signal into a chaotic world.
You are not doing nothing. You are seeding the future.
This liminal pause is not passive. It is energetic preparation for quantum contribution.
Archetypes and Ancient Echoes - You are Not the First
This path may feel new to you, but it is ancient.
In mythology, this space is the Belly of the Whale from Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. It is Inanna descending into the underworld. It is the Buddha under the Bodhi tree, Mara whispering temptations.
In the Egyptian mythos, it is Isis piecing together the body of Osiris, a metaphor for gathering scattered fragments of self. In the Norse tradition, it is Odin hanging upside down on the World Tree, sacrificing certainty for wisdom.
These stories remind us: transformation demands disorientation. The pause before clarity is not failure. It is passage.
The liminal is where the old self is stripped bare.
Not because it is wrong. But because it is no longer true.
As you sit in the quiet ache of unknowing, you walk the same path mystics, healers, and seekers have walked for centuries. You are not broken. You are being initiated.
In modern terms, you are becoming resonant enough to hold your own light without seeking external reflection.
When You Cannot Feel the Light, Be the Soil
Healing is not linear. Some days you will feel clarity. Others, like fog has swallowed your intuition whole. That is okay.
You do not have to shine right now. You do not have to be inspirational. You do not even have to know.
Just breathe…
As poet David Whyte writes, "Let your solitude become a healing balm, not a wound that stings."
You are the soil now, dark and rich. Something is rooting in you. Let it.
Let yourself be in winter. Creation will bloom from stillness.
Relationships in the Liminal - Why You Feel Misunderstood
Your vibration is shifting. You are no longer broadcasting from fear, need, or ego. This can make familiar relationships feel strange, even painful. Old friends may not know how to meet you. Conversations may fall flat. You may feel invisible.
You are not. You are just broadcasting on a different frequency.
As you rise into new awareness, people who once felt like home may now feel like static. It can be disheartening to sit across from someone and feel the growing gap, not because of judgment, but because of resonance. You are tuning to a new station, and they are still playing an old song.
Some connections naturally fade, while others break abruptly. This is not failure. It is alignment. And it hurts because the heart remembers who they were to you, before the shift. But you are not required to stay in environments that drain your energy just because of shared history.
This space calls for deep discernment. You notice who energizes you and who subtly depletes you. You may find yourself turning down invitations, leaving group chats, setting new boundaries, or even feeling immense guilt for needing space. That guilt, too, is part of the clearing.
As systems theorist Nora Bateson says, "When a system transforms, some connections dissolve to allow new patterns to emerge."
Let them… allow them…
Some people fall away because they cannot or do not want to meet you where you are, and that is okay. You are not abandoning them; you are choosing to honor your becoming.
You are not meant to carry everyone across the threshold. But your light can show others the way.
This is where discernment becomes sacred. Trust what your body tells you. Trust who makes you feel soft, safe, seen. Sometimes, the most loving act is distance. Sometimes, healing means walking alone for a while - not out of isolation, but out of truth.
And when the new resonance comes, it will feel like oxygen. You will find your people not by searching, but by becoming. The soul family you seek is tuned to the frequency of your authenticity.
Let the clearing make room for connection that truly nourishes.
A Gentle Glimpse of What’s Ahead
You will not "arrive" with trumpets. But slowly, a new voice will rise within you.
You will find yourself saying things that surprise you. Feeling resonance where once you felt noise. Laughing without reason. Crying without sadness. You will return to the world not as someone seeking to belong, but as someone who is the belonging, whole within yourself.
A renewed sense of vitality emerges, not because everything is figured out, but because you have stopped forcing clarity and started flowing with truth. You will notice synchronicities again. Subtle nudges. Moments where life feels like it is meeting you halfway.
Colors might feel more vibrant. Time may feel less rigid. You will notice that your energy attracts exactly what you need, not always what you expect, but what nourishes your next evolution.
You will wake one morning and feel peace without a reason. You will speak your truth without rehearsing it. You will walk into a room and feel your presence shape the space, not because of ego, but because of coherence.
This is not the end of your path. It is the soil of your emergence. You are stepping into a new landscape, one built not from external roles, but from inner radiance.
Let it hold you.
The new is already shaping itself inside you. When the time comes, you will not have to force your next chapter. You will simply recognize it. And step in - not with fear, but with a smile that says, "I remember now. I am home."
Final Thought
Close your eyes.
Feel your breath.
You are in between identities, timelines, lives. But you are not lost.
You are being rewritten by Light.
You are the pause in God’s inhale. The whisper between universes. The tuning fork for a better world.
This is not where you stop.
It is where you start again.
(Author’s Note: This is for those who have ever sensed an undercurrent beneath reality - an intuitive knowing that something is shifting, even if the words to describe it feel just out of reach. Whether you are just beginning to question the world around you or have been unraveling its deeper truths for years, this is here to offer clarity, validation, and a path forward. Awakening is not meant to be a solitary journey. If you know someone who is starting to see beyond the surface, share this with them. The bridge to higher awareness is not built alone, it is walked together.)
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This is exactly where I am at. I could not put it into words .... you did .... and I thank you. I retired from 50 years of work in the city to a small home in the boondocks in isolated Tennessee. I've gone from the pressure of work, always talking or calling or answering, constant noise, stress, OCD of everything in order and in its place ....to....this new quiet change. The OCD of organizing my life and home has gone the complete opposite. I feel guilty and unsettled as far as energy to complete and organize my home.
A beautifully expressed description of my current presence; I am loving it and am at peace. Thank you for the nod to stay on the evolving path of this delicious journey. Simply gorgeous writing.