Hi, I’m Nykhia! Nice to meet you!
I started The Liminal Sanctuary with one primary thought in mind – I believed that healing and growth were not something black and white, but that there was a space in between. This is what I refer to as a liminal space. What exactly does that word mean? For anyone familiar with the word, it might conjure images of Backrooms-esque spaces — a transitory space that exists somewhere between reality and non-reality. But a liminal space can also mean something much simpler, like a hallway or a doorway. Something that serves as a threshold between spaces. In the context of this website, I prefer this definition as noted from Merriam-Webster:
“of, relating to, or situated at a sensory threshold : barely perceptible or capable of illiciting a response”
In this description, a liminal space can be something transient like the shift from childhood into adulthood. It is a subtle thing that we don’t perceive is happening, but when we look back, we can see that it did indeed happen. In terms of growth and healing, I like to think of this liminal happening as what is known as a “willingness to shift.”
Author of The 21-Day Consciousness Cleanse Debbie Ford describes a willingness to shift or a moment in which one is lifted from the pain of the emotional and mental bodies and transported to a place of quiet, peaceful knowing. This is a place of pure potential where we have great power and means to transform ourselves. Debbie Ford, author of The 21-Day Consciousness Cleanse, writes, “This shift, available to us at any time, requires nothing more than for us to slip out of our own separate human drama and reconnect with the divine resource that resides within.”
Another way to consider this concept is understanding that this shift asks for a willingness to give up the need to always be in control, to admit you don’t know everything, to simply surrender to the experience. Perhaps the biggest piece of this is being willing to admit when we don’t know something. We live in a world full of people telling us they have the answers — if we just read this one book, buy this one product, do this one healing ritual, we can be totally fixed. Logically, this isn’t something that is ever true. There is so much more to healing our wounds than a simple fix. When we can learn to surrender to the moment, we can see things from that purely objective and quiet place where we can ultimately shift to the life we truly desire.
“This force,” writes Debbie, “has the power to light you up from the inside, but to reconnect with it, you need the humility to step outside of the grandiosity of your limited, separate self and express and honest and humble desire to know this spiritual power.”
This is easier said than done. But Debbie’s words reinforce my belief that this willingness to shift — this liminal space — can be a genuine sanctuary for us. My experiences have shown me that if we allow it, we can find all of the parts that we lost to the world and bring them back home.
So this website started as a way to open up conversations about that liminal space and to foster honest conversations about the reality of the healing journey, to build a community so that those without the answers can find solace in knowing that they aren’t alone. Together, may we find that quiet place where we can transform.
xx
Nykhia Azostos
