Ineffective verbal ticks

Teacher's, I've been watching a lot of yoga and fitness videos recently and I've noticed a verbal "tick"  that is unnecessary...it is:

"Now you're gonna"  or "Now we're gonna (add action or pose here)"

When you add this extra verbiage you're doing 2 things

1.  Prepping your students for what's about to happen:
This isn't necessary.  People come to class to be told what to do.  You don't have to prep them.  Instead, use your time wisely with a demonstration to teach alignment or a new pose if you must.

2. Wasting precious time and taking them out of the moment:
Filling the time in with extra words such as "now we're gonna" takes away from the precious time the student has to connect with themselves.  Give the students time and space to breathe, feel and digest what you have offered for them to experience.  Prepping your students takes them out of the present and into the future, even if its just a few seconds away.  The present is where all the juicy stuff is.  

Instead of prepping, get succinct and clear with this tried and true formula for instructions:

Breath, verb your body part direction pose

For example,
“Inhale, stretch your arms over your head”
“Inhale, step your right foot forward, warrior 1”

or when someone is already in a pose and you’re instructing alignment in a pose

verb your body part direction

for example,
“push the top of your right thigh back”

             "It is noble to teach oneself, but still nobler to teach others."

-Mark Twain

Using action words/verbs at the beginning of your instructions will keep the student's mind alert, engaged and present in their practice.  

And we all know, the present is where the magic happens.  Facilitate magic and spread the love.