“Yoga is a dance within…and then something inside you grows so big, it spills out like champagne, that’s when you dance on the outside.” ~ Tao Porchon-Lynch
Tao Porchon-Lynch is officially, per the Guinness Book of World Records, the oldest living teacher of yoga. And today, Aug. 13th, 2013 marks her 95 birthday! Say what? You hear about the marathon runners, on their 3rd knee surgery by 50, and the kayakers, too fragile to lift their boats by 70, but wowzers! Yoga till your 95? Sign me up!
Every year when I go in for my physical, and tell my doctors I’m a yoga teacher, who bikes, swims, hikes and surfs, I’m always congratulated for choosing healthy pursuits that will last me a lifetime. Unlike running, which just varies in terms of how fast your doing it, yoga can be adapted and adjusted for every season your body enters—whether it be pregnancy (Indira, our glowing yoga teacher trainer, likes to share that her mom was doing headstands right up till her birth!), aggressive training, or a slower, gentler pace. At different times in my life, I have been attracted to the intensity of a Bikram practice, while other times, while dealing with injuries, I focused a restorative practice, giving my body time to heal and recover. There is something magic about having the same poses to come back to, time and time again. And something magic in feeling the subtle (and not so subtle) differences in my practice, from day to day, and year to year, as my body and mind continue to flow through the river of life.
I’ve reposted some photos from Robert Sturman, who has photographed Ms. Porchon-Lynch on numerous occasions! Let us celebrate with her, and let her serve as in inspiration. Three cheers for her, and three cheers for yoga, a sport that we are never ” too old” for, unless we let ourselves be!
“Autumn is a reminder that while the leaves die and fall, there will always be Spring, a chance to replenish and be reborn again. We all have the opportunity to replenish ourselves, to be reborn.”
~ Tao at 94.
(Photo and Porchon-Lynch quote credits to Robert Sturman, whose awesome yoga photo documentation can be found at: http://www.rebellesociety.com/author/robert-sturman-studio/
Pavones Yoga Center for Mindfulness Journal 