What do yoga and Motivational Interviewing have in common?

Namaste!

I was in my yoga class recently, feeling amazing after a nice shavasana rest on my mat before class closed out.

The class always ends with everyone sitting up, hands in prayer pose in front of the heart. Then, as the teacher bows, she says, “Namaste: The light in me sees and honors the light in you.” Then everyone in the class does the same, bowing forward as we say, “Namaste.” 

I lit up. This is what we are doing in Motivational Interviewing! 

We are honoring and acknowledging the light in others. 

We bring the belief, attitude, mindset and heart-set that our client has a light within them. They have a spark within them. They have capacity and motivation within them. 

We see that, we believe in it, and we honor it through our reflective listening and affirmations. We honor them by deep empathetic listening. We support their individuality and autonomy and choice.

Motivational Interviewing is namaste in practice!

I also want to acknowledge that yoga is a practice that originated in India over 5,000 years ago. and the West has co-opted yoga (like so many other things) and ‘made it our own.’ When I dug into the history of the word, I found that the original intention of the word “namaste,” which is a Sanskrit word, is a customary Hindu manner of respectfully greeting and honoring a person or group. 

Namaste y’all

MI Tip of the Week: The spirit of Motivational Interviewing invites us to see and honor the light in the other. Simple, and beautiful. MI is us saying, “I see you and I honor you by listening deeply and believing in your inner spark and capacity.”

Watch my full video here!