Navigate Borderlands of Consciousness
While our conscious mind excels at logic and critical analysis, our subconscious harbors a vast ocean of information—memories, inspirations, and connections our waking mind rarely accesses. This deeper realm processes information holistically, resonating with our right-brain functions that communicate not through language, but through imagery, intuition, and sensation.
The act of liminal dreaming involves switching into a new perceptual mode that straddles domains. You learn to linger at the edges. Surfers already know this skill. So do people who live on the fringes of society. These in-between zones aren’t simply places to blow through as we move from one settled state to the next. Transitions should be savored. The state of change can itself be a goal. You can learn to look at the world with liminal mind.
-Jennifer Dumpert
Exploring the Hypnagogic State
The hypnagogic state—that fleeting threshold between wakefulness and sleep—offers a uniquely fertile landscape for creative insights and subconscious connection. During these precious moments, the rigid boundaries of conscious thought soften, allowing deeper patterns and possibilities to emerge. Traditionally, we merely pass through this state briefly, missing its profound potential.
How Brink Works
Brink transforms your smartphone into a consciousness compass, allowing you to linger in this valuable borderland state:
- Simple Positioning: Hold your device in a slightly angled position that requires minimal effort to maintain
- Gentle Drifting: As you relax and daydream, your consciousness begins to shift
- Timely Intervention: When you drift too far toward sleep, your device vibrates, gently pulling you back to the borderland
- Insight Capture: Each “course correction” creates an opportunity to recall and note the emergent thoughts, images, or connections that would otherwise be lost
Technical Considerations
- Notification Settings: Ensure your device allows Brink’s vibration notifications (disable “Do Not Disturb” or enable notifications specifically for Brink)
- Sensitivity Calibration: The main interface features a threshold slider for adjusting how easily the vibration triggers
- Advanced Options: For the technically curious, the app displays real-time orientation readings across three axes, with visual indicators showing which axis triggered an alert
Discover what lies in the space between—where your conscious and subconscious minds meet.
Recommended Resources
Liminal Dreaming : Exploring Consciousness at the Edges of Sleep
by Jennifer Dumpert. A consciousness and dream hacker explains how to use liminal dreaming—the dreams that come between sleep and waking—for self-actualization and consciousness expansion.