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 SagerPresence: From Autism to the Discipline of Authentic MovementCHAPTER TWO INITIATION Origin of a Contemporary Mystical Practice Introduction by Bonnie Morrissey & Paula Sager Excerpts from Arching Backward Lying Down: Preparation Becoming an Initiate ReturnCHAPTER THREE THE GROUND FORM Moving and Witnessing, Speaking and Listening Introduction by Bonnie Morrissey & Paula SagerThe Ground Form: An Excerpt fromOffering from the Conscious Body Who Is the Witness?: A Description of Authentic MovementRemarks at the Closing of the Mary Starks Whitehouse Institute* CHAPTER FOUR THE COLLECTIVE BODY EMERGINGLonging 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 FIVEINTUITIVE KNOWING Introduction by Bonnie Morrissey & Paula SagerWaiting for Direction: Excerpt fromOffering from the Conscious Body From Seeing to Knowing The Mandorla and the Discipline of Authentic MovementIntimacy in Emptiness: Ceremony* CHAPTERSIX LINEAGE Who Teaches, Who Learns?Introduction by Bonnie Morrissey & Paula SagerSpeaking the Same Language: An Evolving Dialogue with Mary WhitehouseLetter to Students* Ritual Practice* Excerpts from “Questions: Teaching the Discipline” Emergence of Circles of FourLetter to Learners before Retreat* Letters from Janet to a Learner*One Basket: The Closing of a Teaching Practice* CHAPTER SEVENWITNESS 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 BIBLIOGRAPHYINDEX *indicates previously unpublished writing

“An important new vision for the transformation of suffering at the intersection of the individual and the world. Eye to eye, heart to heart.”