The Eight Universal Principles for Stepping Up to the Edge is from Baron Baptiste's first book, Journey Into Power.  I've greatly condensed what is originally written in the book into shorter sections.  I highly recommend this book as well as his second book, 40 Days To Personal Revolution.  His Laws of Transformation outlined in this book are worth the price of the book alone. - Ted

The edge is where we come up against ourselves and what we can do and be.  The edge is the point when you are still within your capacities but are challenging yourself to go just a little bit farther.  Stepping up to the edge and daring to leap is how you break through and thus break with old ways of being.  Every one of us has limiting beliefs in our minds that hold us back, most of which we aren't even aware of.  These beliefs are so germane to who we are that we rarely even formulate them as conscious thoughts.  they fester in our deepest unconscious, invisible to the naked eye but powerful enough to run our lives.  They are the thoughts that whisper, "you can't . . .who do you think you are? . . . you don't have what it takes . . . "  How or why we developed these psychic patterns isn't really important.  It's recognizing and releasing them that matters.  At moments of difficulty, the principles will do for your mind what a map does when you are lost on a road.  They will guide you, empower you and encourage you to move boundaries that once seemed impenetrable.

Principle 1:  We are Either Now Here of Nowhere.
All life happens in the present moment.  All we really have is the moment that is right here, right now, in front of us.  Any moment that happened in the past is a memory and any moment that will happen in the future is a fantasy.  The past and the future are not places.  They are essentially nowhere.  So you see, you are either now here or nowhere.  The pshychology of growth is being in the process and taking it one moment at a time.  Change doesn't usually happen in one fell swoop.  It happens a little at a time, step by step, breath by breath, moment by moment.  Whenever you find yourself struggling, you have drifted off into your head, thinking about the past or worrying about the future - in these moments, re-anchor, remind and remember to keep your eye on the prize of the present moment. 

Principle 2:  Be in the Now and You'll Know How.
The answer to "how" is always "be in the now."  When you tune into the present moment, you rein your focus back in from the distractions happening around you.  When you are in the now, a world of options opens up to you.  You have more choices and you can modify, dilute, pull back or push forward as you need.  Each time you think you don't know "how" is a clue that you aren't willing to trust your intuitions - use this question as a tip-off that it's time to tune in and trust the light of your inner knowing.

Principle 3:  Growth is the Most Important Thing There Is.
We have two choices; we grow or we die.  It's that simple.  Growth is forward movement; anything else is stagnation or worse, regression.  I would even go so far as to say that growth is the answer to the age-old question of the meaning of life.  It's the whole point of the journey.  When you remove the blocks, (beliefs) you create flow in your life and go into new thresholds of personal potential.  That is the goal and growth is the only way to get there.  You can only grow beyond where you are if you ACCEPT where you are in the first place.  You can only begin to stretch your limits if you can see and embrace them.  It isn't willpower or anger at your limitations that stretches them.  It's acceptance.  Getting angry at yourself for being where you are serves no purpose other than to fuel your frustrations and reinforce your perceived limits.  Staying focused on what you can't do prevents you from discovering what you can.  Instead of giving into frustration or whatever other reaction surfaces, focus on your commitment to growth and ask yourself; where am I now and how can I accept, let go and grow?

Principle 4:  Exceeding Yourself to Find Your Exceeding Self.
If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.  It's that simple.  If you really want to grow beyond where you are, to change your habits, your body, your mind and/or your life, you need to exceed yourself.  To find the authentic you buried inside, you need to tread into new territory.  The new frontiers are within us; the real stretch is internal.  You know what you get from doing things the way you do right now.  Your best thinking has gotten you where you are.  But do you know what you get if you go just a little bit beyond the usual?  The irony of exceeding yourself is that it usually happens after you've percieved failure.  The moment when you believe you have no more energy or capacity, when you are certain you have to give up, is when you experience the most profound breakthroughs.

Principle 5:  In Order to Heal, You Need to Feel.
The road to enlightenment always passes through confusion, frustration and pain.  People sabotage their growth because they give up in those difficult moments.  But if you stay in it, stay open, relax and breathe, a breakthrough is right there on the other side.  Every problem has a solution and staying in our calm center allows us to receive it.

Principle 6:  Think Less, Be More.
Analysis paralysis is the ego's way of keeping you rooted in your intellect rather than your spirit.  When you drop your brain, you actually give your body and soul a chance to shine.  Come out of your thoughts - your doubts of "I can't do that," your worries of "Am I doing this right?"  your fears, your frustrations. of "Why can't I do this as well as she can?" and your ego resistance of "If I can't do this perfectly then I won't do it at all" - and just be.  When you let go mentally, there is a shift physically.  Doubt your doubts and they vanish.  Feal your fears and they fade.  Let go of your worries and they fail to materialize.  Just think less and be more.

Principle 7:  We Are the Sum Total of Our Reactions.
We don't really have experiences in life.  What we have are reactions to experiences  Things don't happen to us.  Things happen in and of themselves and what we do is react to them.  Built into our hardwiring as humans is the fight-or-flight response, which we needed way back in the caveman era to keep us safe.  But we've evolved and though the threat of predators is minimal, the response system remains strong.  When stress happens, the fight-or-flight mechanism is activated and we instinctively gear up to do battle or flee the scene.  The brain interprets all stressful events the same way and triggers the automatic response.  But there is a third option, which is neither fight nor flee and that is to just stay.  Halting your cycle of reactiveness allows you to have a perspective shift so that you have the chance to respond in better, more positive ways.  This is how we ultimately learn to manage and transform our emotional states and how stress can make us better rather than bitter.

Principle 8:  Don't Try Hard; Try Easy.
Trying hard invites strain and stuggle.  Trying easy gives you the levity and freedom to fly.  When you try hard, you are using willpower.  But willpower never works and will always fail you.  That is because willpower is based on brute force as opposed to soul force.  Your muscles can help you move heavy furniture, but your soul can help you move the earth.  When you find that you are straining, whether in a yoga pose or in your life, you're probably trying too hard.  Your ego is in it and you are driven by an ambition that ultimately creates imbalance and suffering.  Take your poses seriously, but take yourself lightly.  Smile to yourself; laugh inside.

"If you aren't living life on the edge, you're taking up too much space."

-Desiree Rumbaugh-