Intimacy in Emptiness

Janet Adler (1941–2023) was the founder of the Discipline of Authentic Movement. She had 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. She is the author of Arching Backward and Offering from the Conscious Body. 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. Bonnie and Paula are faculty members of Circles of Four.

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