To be able to move in synchrony is vital for physical and emotional well-being. In many cultures human beings have created shortcuts, like shaking hands or kissing on cheeks and more, to allow for the possibility to trust. If we did not have these shortcuts, human beings would be struggling to find each other and reach the synchrony that allows for a freedom of the body to relax and to be with other human beings. Not being able to be with others leads to destabilization. Rhythm affects our social capacity, to be with another, and hence our well-being, argues Gill Therefore the notion of witnessing needs to be stretched out.
At the beginning of this conversation witnessing was understood as being aware of something that has altered the flow, which makes you attend to what it is that another person is doing. Gill adds to this notion that witnessing also points to an awareness of intention. It could be that the beat, the pause has been too long. It could be that suddenly a person is absorbed in her own beat and has not said or heard a word, that they are really out of sync with the environment. This is another reason why a person is being witnessed, Gill assumes.
