Intimacy in Emptiness: An Evolution of Embodied Consciousness

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Janet Adler’s 50-year inquiry, Intimacy in Emptiness brings her essential writings, including new and previously unpublished work, to a wider audience, guiding readers through the multiple layers of this experiential and innovative approach to embodied consciousness.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.

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.