The World’s Oldest Yoga Teacher: Her Secrets to a Long, Active, Happy Life

“I don’t want to know what I can’t do. I’m only interested in what I can do.”

If there’s living proof that yoga is the fountain of youth, it’s Tao Porchon-Lynch. The 96-year-old Guinness World Records-certified oldest yoga teacher in the world still teaches regular classes in Westchester County, New York. That is, when she’s not traveling around the world, coming in first place in ballroom dance contests, writing books, and making videos with Tara Stiles.

Porchon-Lynch’s life story feels like a movie (and it could end up being one, after she finishes writing her autobiography at the end of this year). The former MGM actress and model for brands like Lanvin and Chanel, who was born in French India, crossed paths with Marlene Dietrich, Gene Kelly, and Gandhi. She studied with B. K. S. Iyengar and K. Pattabhi Jois. And yes, you will work up a sweat in her yoga class, and you probably won’t be able to resist hugging her.

“Last weekend I came in first place in a dance contest. My partner was 70 years younger, and all ages were participating. I danced all day for two days then I taught two yoga classes Sunday morning. I wasn’t really tired.”

We sat down with the lovely-as-ever Porchon-Lynch last week after taking her Monday night class at the JCC of Mid-Westchester, where despite a recent slip on the dance floor and three hip replacements, she’s still demonstrating most of the asanas in her class. “I don’t believe in calamities,” she explains. “I don’t want to know what I can’t do. I’m only interested in what I can do.”

Most Important Yoga Lessons

Yoga Journal: You’ve been teaching yoga for 56 years and practicing it for 72 years. Are there any particular poses that you credit with helping to keep you young and fit?

Tao Porchon-Lynch: Breathing is more important than anything else—poses that are not done correctly are not going to help. It’s how much you can feel the breath moving throughout your body. If you’re in touch with the breath inside you, there’s nothing you can’t do.

YJ: Is there anything about yoga that you wish you knew as a younger person?

TPL: Not really. As a teacher, the most important thing is to have is compassion. We’re not all made the same—you can’t tell everyone to do it the same way. Sometimes it’s better for students to stop physically and continue mentally, rather than strain. It’s important to watch your students to make sure you can help them.

YJ: You studied with yoga greats like the late B.K.S. Iyengar and K. Pattabhi Jois. What are the biggest lessons you learned from them?

TPL: They were both the greatest yoga masters. I loved Iyengar for one thing—his alignment, which was always perfect, and his principles of alignment. Pattabhi Jois was wonderful, all breathing, which was what I was looking for. I learned so much from Pattabhi that had to do with my inner self.

See also A Tribute to B.K.S. Iyengar

The World’s Oldest Yoga Teacher on Aging Gracefully

YJ: Do you meditate?

TPL: I believe in nature. To me meditation is, if I see a flock of geese across the sky, I’ll stop my car. I don’t need to make it regular.

See also Why Meditating in Nature Is Easier

YJ: You’re still ballroom dancing?

TPL: Last weekend I came in first place in a dance contest. My partner was 70 years younger, and all ages were participating. I danced all day for two days then I taught two yoga classes Sunday morning. I wasn’t really tired.

YJ: Do you think being a lifelong vegetarian has helped you live a long, healthy life?

TPL: Maybe. I don’t believe in getting old. In America, look how many beautiful trees are hundreds of years old. They are losing leaves but they are not dying—they are recycling. In a few months, spring will start up again. You can learn so much from nature.

See also Aging Gracefully

Tao Porchon-Lynch’s 5 Rules for a Long, Happy Life

1. Don’t procrastinate—tomorrow never comes.

2. You can’t believe in something if you only do it halfway.

3. Each day, whatever is in your mind materializes.

4. Never think about what can go wrong. I know my best day is every day.

5. If you wait for something good to happen, it will. Don’t look for tragedy.

See also 4 Anti-Aging Tips to Grow Older the Right Way

Source:  By Jennifer D'Angelo Friedman

http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/worlds-oldest-yoga-teacher-shares-secrets-long-active-life/

3 Ways To Use Yoga To Attract True Love

If you're like most people, you were fed fairy tales during your childhood and romantic comedies as you grew into adulthood.

These romantic comedies followed the same basic premise: There’s a damsel in distress, she’s in distress because some evil, powerful female figure betrayed or neglected her in some way, and the only person who can save her is a prince on a white horse.

Culturally, we are taught that happiness lies outside of us. We will be happy when we lose 10 pounds, find the perfect job, live in a huge house, drive a fast car, and meet the person who's going to "complete" us.

So, how is all that working out for you? For me, I bought into that myth for most of my childhood and well into my young adulthood. I was a little confounded because my dad seemed to need the attention of many damsels, and my mom was not waiting in a tower for someone to save us. Nonetheless, I believed happiness was something I could attain, as if it were a place where I could sink my flag, if only I worked hard enough and made myself worthy enough to get there.

The reality is, true love and true happiness have to be discovered within us before we can find those people and interests around us that enhance and enrich our joy and before we can offer up the best of ourselves to those we love and to the world at large. When we head into relationships of any kind without a clear sense of who we are, what scares us, where we may have healing to do, and what it is we want to offer this world, we are almost sure to encounter disappointment and confusion.

Of course, we don't control timing and circumstance, and you may find you've met someone amazing before you find that amazingness within yourself. But when at all possible, the best way to avoid the most common trap in any romantic relationship is to work on the one you're having with yourself first.

Here's how you can do that — and how yoga can help.

1. Don't look to anyone else to complete you.

Want someone to complete you? Look in the mirror. In yoga, we have the Yama and Niyama, and they comprise the first and second of the eight limbs of yoga (Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi). Svadhyaya is part of the Niyama, and it means "self-study."

Knowing yourself is the key to your inner peace and your greatest joy. Culturally, we are encouraged to edit our uncomfortable feelings. For example, the princess should not be enraged, and the prince should not be scared.

That's not how it works, though. We are all going to feel everything, whether you're a princess who likes other princesses, a prince who likes other princes, or any combination thereof. We are all going to feel it all. A lot of the time, people develop coping mechanisms as they grow, and there are three main ones — repression, denial, and numbing out.

When we push down our pain, run from it, pretend it doesn't exist, or try to blur the edges with drugs, alcohol, binge-watching Netflix, and even relationships, it doesn't magically disintegrate. In fact, it comes up harder and will keep biting us in the ass until we deal with it.

Yoga and seated meditation give us the tools to breathe through intense sensation. Emotion creates sensation. If you're enraged, you will notice sensation flooding your body — you might feel your blood pressure going up as you become "hotheaded" or notice your jaw is clenching, your heart is racing, or your breath is shallow. All sensations, right?

So if you learn to breathe through the intense sensation that arises in your quadriceps when you hold a lunge for 12 breaths, you are training your nervous system and your mind to stay calm as you feel challenged, to stay curious about your experience so it doesn't send you spinning.

When you're on your meditation cushion, you learn to witness your thoughts without identifying with them so strongly. You don't have to believe everything you think, as the saying goes. Yoga practice gives us the tools to lean in when we might rather take off and to know ourselves well and deeply.

Not knowing yourself is the loneliest thing there is.

2. Don't assume.

Some of our biggest difficulties in any relationship come from our assumptions and projections. We all have our frames of reference, which are shaped by our experiences and the lessons we've gleaned along the way. There's this idea that we're "on the outside looking in," but I think that's backward — we are on the inside, looking out. We are constantly processing data and moving it through our "Information center" (frame of reference) to decipher our experience and categorize it.

We tend to think that what is obvious to us will be obvious to everyone else. We assume if we know something is hurtful, other people should also know that. The thing is, sometimes our frames are really bent, or the window through which we're looking is distorted or foggy.

You might have learned from your experience, for example, that "everyone leaves," or "everyone cheats," or "you can't count on anyone," and your frame of reference is hinged on those ideas.

Sometimes our work is to unlearn things we've learned along the way. Sometimes we're taught that our feelings don't matter and don't have an impact on the people or the world around us. Sometimes we're taught that love is conditional and will be withdrawn if we fail to be perfect.

Sometimes we're taught that our value is measured by what we can do for others. Those are just some possibilities, but if you learned any of those lessons, you'll have to unlearn them if you want to see clearly and love deeply and fully. In yoga, we have a practice of discernment, called Viveka. We use our mind to distinguish what is real from what is not real.

Am I in a 90-degree bend with my front leg, or do I just think I am? We also look to work through the obstacle of Avidya, which translates to "ignorance about ourselves and the world at large," so we can come to a place of vidya or "clear-seeing."

A lot of the yoga practice is about peeling away the layers of ideas we've taken on that aren't ours, or aren't real, so we can discover what is real for us. In the first three months of a relationship, it's hard not to get swept away in the lust and dust.

When the smoke clears, though, reality emerges. Maybe this person you're so enamored with is exactly like the list you made on your vision board, and you really did manifest him or her. But probably not. It is more likely that this person has his or her own history, tendencies, ideas, and beliefs that shape the way he or she moves through the world. It takes time to really get to know a person, and we get ourselves into a lot of trouble when we decide six weeks into a relationship "This is it!"

Try to stay curious about people and allow situations to unfold instead of gripping to an outcome you've written too soon.

3. Don't confuse love with control.

Sometimes when we say "I love you," what we're really saying is, "I love you when you do what I want you to do, feel how I want you to feel, or want what I want you to want."

You may have heard the term "radical acceptance" along your travels, and that's a lot closer to my definition of loving myself, and loving other people. When we reject essential parts of who we are, or who others are, we create a state of dis-ease within us and around us.

If you want people to relax and invite you into their interior worlds, you have to create a safe environment. If you want to be at ease in your own skin, you have to integrate it all. That doesn't mean we don't all have work to do, places where we could step up and be more accountable or pay more attention to our weaknesses so we can strengthen. It just means that if you start with a rigid idea of what is acceptable and what is not, you close the door for real understanding and intimacy, with yourself, and all the people closest to you.

Sometimes life will break your heart; there's no doubt about that. But a lot of the time, our suffering is coming from our own thinking, and our attachment to a picture of "how things should be."

The greater the distance between that picture and our reality, the more we suffer. If we feel powerless to change things, we get depressed or anxious, but a better alternative is to open to circumstances and people, as they are, and to choose the thoughts that are going to strengthen rather than weaken us. In yogic philosophy, there are five Kleshas or poisons that prevent us from being free, and one of them is Raga, or attachment.

Attachment leads to suffering. Of course we are going to be attached to our loved ones and their well-being; this is part of the human condition. When you love people, there's an implicit understanding that heartbreak is inevitable because we don't last forever in these bodies.

People leave because of all kinds of factors, or they leave because they're taken from us, or we leave because we grow in a different direction, or we stay and develop deep and lasting bonds.

Regardless, at some point, we will all leave this earth and everyone we know and love, and that is a painful reality. Sometimes in an effort to feel secure in an insecure world, we try to pin things down, or pin people down, but people are not possessions, and we don't write the story, we just co-create it based on how we respond to what we're given.

Yoga practice gives us the tools to stay present and face reality as it is, which is not always as we'd like it to be. It shows us how to come back to love, even if, and maybe especially if, our hearts are broken.


If you're stuck in a tower and looking for the way down so you can join the world and live life in a way that feels good to you, yoga practice gives you the tools to build the rope, climb down, slay the dragons, and open your heart. You're the hero you've been waiting for.

Source: by Ally Hamilton 

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-26243/3-ways-to-use-yoga-to-attract-true-love.html

You're Trying To Find Happiness All Wrong. Here's What It Really Takes

Have you ever stopped for a moment to ask yourself why you keep buying things you don't need? Where does this impulse come from? Could it just be the result of years of conditioned behavior? We go to work, pay our bills, and to reward ourselves for working so hard, we give ourselves that moment of euphoria when we finally drive a brand-new Lexus off the lot. We say to ourselves, I am successful and need to show it to the world. But that's the ego at 
work.

The ego is a bottomless pit, and that's why this feeling of joy never lasts more than a few days. So, we consume more. We never quite seem to find the formula to quench our thirst, giving us that inner satisfaction we all search for.

Recent research suggests our level of happiness depends on these three things:

Ten percent depends on our circumstances (i.e., money, relationships, or social status), 50 percent depends on genetics, and 40 percent comes down to our state of mind.

So, a large chunk of our happiness (or lack thereof) stems from our internal state. Many of us mistakenly think satisfaction is a result of favorable circumstances, so we work ourselves to death to get a promotion and buy the house of our dreams. But overconsumption actually derails us from the path to true happiness. So, what can we do?

I believe we all come from Source, or God. He made us in his image—pure energy and love—connected to him and to one another. We all reflect God's personality—compassion, love for ourselves and others, kindness, justice, peace, forgiveness, generosity, etc. We just got a little lost along the way.

By raising and realigning our vibration with Source, we can restore our well-being and get back to our true spiritual selves. In so doing, we attain that inner peace and lasting contentment, regardless of circumstances. Through a shift in perception, the willingness to make different choices in our lives, and a bit of practice, we can reignite that tiny flicker inside us. Eventually, it will become a bright flame that consumes our whole being.

The key is to look at our world from another perspective.

When we care for something other than ourselves, we develop a sense of love and concern for all of creation because we recognize ourselves in it. In realizing that we are all connected, we comprehend that our actions have ripple effects that ultimately come back to us. Our vibrations rise, our minds expand, and our empathy deepens. That impulse to pursue our own little pleasures diminishes because we yearn instead to make a difference.

A true connection with our spiritual selves means being in harmony with nature. It leads to an authentic appreciation of life, resulting in concrete actions that preserve the divine link between ourselves, all living things, and nature. Satisfied is the soul who truly loves, in tune with the Universe. When we continue to act out of selfish interests, we break the connection with our higher selves, one another, and Mother Nature.

Inner peace is at the foundation of spirituality. It won't be found through rituals or other external events. It's a mindset—a perpetual desire to find meaning in our lives.

Once we have stepped into this new plane of existence, it becomes natural to practice all the habits that lead to happiness: mindfulness, gratitude, compassion, authenticity. These are the fruits of the spirit.

Happiness comes from living simply while caring for our world. Knowing that we are making a positive difference to our planet, other human beings, and future generations engenders a lasting inner peace. Humans cannot possibly feel truly happy within the confines of themselves, perpetrating destructive patterns.

When we are surrounded by the people we love, when we make a difference in other people's lives, when we protect and preserve our natural environment, we are restored and complete. When we heal the world, we heal ourselves.

If you still itch to go on that shopping spree or buy that big house, there's nothing wrong with you. But if overconsuming becomes a habitual pattern, start asking yourself, Will this really satisfy my soul? Meditate for a minute. Let your mind take a break and find some clarity.

The ego always wants more; it will never end. Once you accept that, your ego will have no choice but to quiet, letting your higher self take control. The kind of happiness you really want comes from following your own bliss.

Let your heart and gut help you find that bliss. Creativity and prayer help me to balance my emotions, center my mind, and reconnect with my higher self and God.

Other ways you can do that might include painting, reading, gardening, doing yoga or meditating, extending a hand to a neighbor, walking in the woods alone, doing the things you enjoy doing for yourself, expressing your love to your family, protecting the environment, or taking the first step to achieve a dream you've always wanted to pursue.

Whenever your ego tries to regain control, just acknowledge it. Tell yourself, "I am here now. I am all I need." Become a refuge to yourself through creative activities, surrendering to the present moment through meditation, connecting with nature, and goodwill toward others.

As you practice this art, you become more and more awakened, mindful, and conscious of your inner being. As you connect with your authentic self, you'll understand yourself better, understand others better, and develop more compassion toward them. When you develop a higher purpose, you add meaning to your life. You effortlessly let go of the burden to be somebody as you cultivate your true self.

By making a positive difference in the world, you engender beautiful thoughts and exist in a state of contentment, which ultimately leads to happiness. As you create inner peace in your life, you'll start to see the world through new eyes. Your ego won't be as demanding; that shiny, new luxury car won't hold as much significance. You will stop comparing yourself with others as you discover that you are all that you need.

Source:  By Carine Genicot
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-26041/youre-trying-to-find-happiness-all-wrong-heres-what-it-really-takes.html