Offering from the Conscious Body

The Discipline of Authentic Movement

Description

The exploration of the direct experience of healing and of the divine through the witnessing of movement becoming conscious.

• Uses sample sessions and descriptive theory to explain the discipline.

• Based on the author's 35 years of movement work.

Offering from the Conscious Body reveals both the theory and practice of a unique body-based process that is cathartic, creative, healing, and mystical--as presented by Janet Adler, the presiding voice in the field. This Western awareness practice encourages the individual to experience the evolving relationship with oneself, another, the collective, and the divine through the natural impulses of conscious movement, compassionate witnessing, and clear articulation of experience. Through the vivid examples taken from her own practice, Adler demonstrates that physical movement can invite direct experience of spiritual truths. The reader is led through the multiple layers within the discipline--moving and witnessing in dyads and then groups, in the presence of a witnessing teacher--to develop a comprehensive and experiential understanding of this innovative way of work. Designed for professionals and laypersons interested in psychology, bodywork, mystic traditions, or personal transformation, the discipline of Authentic Movement is at the cutting edge of emerging Western healing practices.

About the author(s)

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.

Reviews

"Janet's astonishing ability to track and articulate the development of this work makes her writing a necessity for those of us who know about Authentic Movement and for others on similar journeys who seek to know about the relationship of the body to psychological healing, artistic impulse, and experience of the numinous."

"Janet's astonishing ability to track and articulate the development of this work makes her writing a necessity for those of us who know about Authentic Movement and for others on similar journeys who seek to know about the relationship of the body to psychological healing, artistic impulse, and experience of the numinous."

"Janet Adler's shaping of Authentic Movement is a significant response to a widely felt needs for a spiritual practice that is both embodied and non-authoritarian. Offering from the Conscious Body gives a lucid description of each element of the discipline of Authentic Movement and its impact on the soul. It is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in this area of human development."

"Janet Adler's Offering from the Conscious Body is an outstanding contribution?beautifully written, rich with information, scholarly, and deeply moving. Her definitive work on the origins, theory, and practice of Authentic Movement is a great gift to us all."

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