Intimacy in Emptiness

by Janet Adler

• ISBN13: 9781644113608
• ISBN10: 1644113600
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2022-10-04
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Summary

A profound inside experience of the transformative potential of the Discipline of Authentic Movement

• Offers insights from the author’s 50-year study of the inner witness developing toward compassionate presence, intuitive knowing, and direct experience of the divine

• Illuminates how commitment to this mystical practice supports participation in evolving consciousness within groups, grounded in personal healing

The Discipline of Authentic Movement, grounded in the relationship between a mover and a witness, connects us directly with the inner wisdom of the body. In the emptiness of the movement space, a mover’s inner experience--feelings, sensations, images, and thoughts--become outer, unchoreographed gestures. Seen by their inner witness in the presence of an outer witness, the mover steps into the intimate mystery of who they are becoming.

Sharing vivid examples from founder of the Discipline of Authentic Movement Janet Adler’s 50-year inquiry, Intimacy in Emptiness brings her essential writings, including new and previously unpublished work, to a wider audience, guiding readers through the multiple layers of this experiential and innovative approach to embodied consciousness. Her writings illuminate the path of the developing inner witness, transforming toward compassionate presence, conscious speech, and intuitive knowing. This contemporary mystical practice, a breakthrough in the field of consciousness studies, includes personal healing as an essential base from which direct experience of the numinous can safely emerge, be witnessed, and become integrated into the fullness of the whole person. The emergence of the unique gesture and voice of each individual develops toward participation in consciously embodied groups. A new form of intelligence moves through collective bodies in service of healing in our world.

Author Biography

Janet Adler is the founder of the Discipline of Authentic Movement. She has been teaching and exploring emergent movement in the presence of a witness since 1969. Her archives are housed at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. The author of Arching Backward and Offering from the Conscious Body, she lives on Galiano Island in British Columbia, Canada. Bonnie Morrissey is a licensed clinical psychologist, a poet, and a teacher of the Discipline of Authentic Movement. She lives in Colchester, Vermont. Paula Sager is a teacher of embodied and contemplative practices, a writer, and founder of Three Stone Studio where she teaches the Discipline of Authentic Movement. She lives in Tiverton, Rhode Island. Janet, Bonnie, and Paula are faculty members of Circles of Four.

Table of Contents

PREFACE
by Janet Adler

INTRODUCTION
by Bonnie Morrissey

INTRODUCTION
by Paula Sager

CHAPTER ONE
PRESENCE
Introduction by Bonnie Morrissey & Paula Sager
Presence: From Autism to the Discipline of Authentic Movement

CHAPTER TWO
INITIATION
Origin of a Contemporary Mystical Practice
Introduction by Bonnie Morrissey & Paula Sager
Excerpts from Arching Backward
Lying Down: Preparation
Becoming an Initiate Return

CHAPTER THREE
THE GROUND FORM
Moving and Witnessing, Speaking and Listening
Introduction by Bonnie Morrissey & Paula Sager
The Ground Form: An Excerpt from
Offering from the Conscious Body
Who Is the Witness?: A Description of Authentic Movement
Remarks at the Closing of the Mary Starks Whitehouse Institute*

CHAPTER FOUR
THE COLLECTIVE BODY EMERGING
Longing toward Belonging Introduction by Bonnie Morrissey & Paula Sager Body and Soul The Collective Body Toward the Unknown: A Conversation between Janet Adler and Annie Geissinger

CHAPTER FIVE
INTUITIVE KNOWING
Introduction by Bonnie Morrissey & Paula Sager
Waiting for Direction: Excerpt from
Offering from the Conscious Body
From Seeing to Knowing
The Mandorla and the Discipline of Authentic Movement
Intimacy in Emptiness: Ceremony*

CHAPTER
SIX LINEAGE
Who Teaches, Who Learns?
Introduction by Bonnie Morrissey & Paula Sager
Speaking the Same Language: An Evolving Dialogue with Mary Whitehouse
Letter to Students*
Ritual Practice*
Excerpts from “Questions: Teaching the Discipline”
Emergence of Circles of Four
Letter to Learners before Retreat*
Letters from Janet to a Learner*
One Basket: The Closing of a Teaching Practice*

CHAPTER SEVEN
WITNESS CONSCIOUSNESS INTO THE WORLD
Introduction by Bonnie Morrissey & Paula Sager
Witness to a Conscious Death
Suffering: A Personal Inquiry*

ADDENDUM
EARLY ESSAYS AND RESOURCES
The Study of an Autistic Child
Integrity of Body and Psyche: Some Notes on Work in Process

JANET ADLER AND THE DISCIPLINE OF AUTHENTIC MOVEMENT: ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

ACKNOLEDGMENTS

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

*indicates previously unpublished writing