Betwixt and Between

In 1909, Arnold van Gennep mapped the "rites of passage" that humans navigate during major life transitions, breaking them into three profound stages: separation, transition, and reincorporation.

When you join a gong bath at Red Doors, you embark on that exact ancient blueprint. As you lay down and settle in you experience a biological and psychological separation where you untether from daily schedules, status, and worries. Once the gongs reach their full resonance, you are carried directly into the second stage: absolute liminality. Anthropologist Victor Turner describes this space as "… neither here nor there; they are betwixt and between the positions assigned and arrayed by law, custom, convention, and ceremonial." Here brainwaves slow into deep Theta and Delta states, and the ego temporarily dissolves. Turner noted that when individuals share a liminal experience together, they enter a state called communitas—a profound, unsaid feeling of social togetherness and pure human equality.

He explained that "communitas breaks through the interstices of structure... giving recognition to an essential and generic human bond." Lying down on your mat, individual labels and daily roles fade away. Nervous systems naturally synchronize with the shared acoustic environment, transforming a room of individuals into a unified community grounded in safety, empathy, and deep inner peace. When the gongs silence, you re-enter the waking world, leaving with personal clarity, and a renewed connection to the collective human bond.