You Talk Good

In a teacher meeting last week, one of my fellow teachers said something fabulous about choosing your words wisely. In a discussion about how much to talk while teaching, many teachers mentioned that they think they're talking too much. She said, "Say more with less. It’s not that you necessarily need to talk less; it’s just that EVERYTHING you say has to be more meaningful and clear and concise." I had never thought about choosing words carefully until I started teaching yoga. My job is basically talking, after all. And since we're taught to walk around the room and help others while teaching, instead of doing the poses, we have to be really clear and descriptive in what we're saying. For people to really feel it, you have to even be poetic. And for folks to not get distracted and have an opportunity to feel, you can't be babbling. So here's the gist: get your point across effectively with as little filler as possible. Say as much as you need to, but NO more than you need to. This is one of the best things I have taken off the mat. How to "talk good". There is so much crap and filler that we say everyday that is completely unnecessary. If you really think about it, how much do you actually NEED to say? A lot of the extra stuff is just verbal anxiety or discomfort anyway. It feels really good to clear away the word garbage; it leaves more space to enjoy all the beauty.