Meet the world's oldest yoga teacher aged 98

Dubai - Even with three hip replacements, she still manages to give a class of difficult movements to students of different ages.

She might be almost a century old, but her beaming smile that shines through her wrinkled face gives a spirit reminiscent of a woman full of energy and youth.
Tao Porchon-Lynch, the 98-year-old yoga instructor, teaches classes five times a week in New York. Even with three hip replacements, she still manages to give a class of difficult movements to students of different ages.
"We don't allow count in my class, we know that within us there's nothing we cannot do," said the French-Indian yoga master during her recent visit to Dubai.
Despite growing up in difficult circumstances, Tao told Khaleej Times that the secret of her happiness is waking up and saying that today is going to be the best day of her life.
"And it is. Because you materialize what you put in your mind so I never let my mind go stray with ugly thoughts. I only put good thoughts in there," she said.
Earning her title from Guinness World Records in 2012, Tao started yoga at the age of eight when she saw young people at the beach "doing beautiful things with their bodies." She said believing that nothing is impossible was her drive through life.
"You can make things happen, but you have to see it."
Born in 1918 at the end of World War I, Tao's mother died when she was just seven months old. She grew up in Pondicherry, then part of French colonial India.
The onset of World War II saw her leave for Europe looking for her father, who was called up in France. During her life span, she encountered many historic events taking place for almost a century.
She met Mahatma Gandhi at the age of 12, and participated in demonstrations with General Charles de Gaulle and Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I worked with the underground and helped people during the war, everything people said were not possible, I have done it. It isn't because I have special powers, I am just in touch with my inner self."
She added, "When people say I am getting old and can't do certain things, it's nonsense. I'm like an old tree and the trees are hundreds of years old. They are not getting older, but stronger."
One thing she tells her students is to "open the door to your inner self and you will automatically draw towards you everything you need."
"It works," she added, "If you believe in something, go do it, don't procrastinate until tomorrow and don't waste your time asking your mind how you will do it."
The key, she said, is to listen to the power inside. And with all war conflicts and protests the world has been witnessing, Tao believes everyone can have an individual role of spreading positivity.
"I have a smiley boy in class who tells everyone to love each other. Now his whole class hugs before sitting down and taking the class. This is the power of love."
She recalls a question asked by a 6-year-old girl on what she will do after retiring.
"I told her I will not retire, but will dance my way to the next planet. The girl replied that after putting a man on the moon, by the time she is my age, she will find me again since people by then will be all over the stars."
"When you have a little girl who thinks this way, we are on the right path," Tao said.
sherouk@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai