Tao Porchon-Lynch: Aging Advice From 96-Year-Old Yoga Instructor

Photo: Tao Porchon-Lynch

The Internet’s in a frenzy over 96-year-old Tao Porchon-Lynch, an active yoga instructor and ballroom dancer. In her debut TEDx Talk, she says, “Don’t let age dictate what you can and cannot do.” She clearly lives by the rule, setting a Guinness World Record as the world’s oldest yoga instructor; she still teaches students who are decades younger than she at the Westchester Institute of Yoga, which she opened 1982. In fact, she credits her physical activity with her mental acuity: “Tune into your body and you will experience it. Stagnant muscles cause stagnant minds.”

Photo: Tao Porchon-Lynch & Andrea Kurtz

Unlike other seniors who are slowing down as soon as they hit retirement, Porchon-Lynch has never been busier. She recently released a yoga DVD with model Tara Stiles, is teaching classes all over the tri-state area, and has even trademarked the phrase “There is Nothing You Cannot Do”—clearly her life motto. When Lynch is not teaching yoga, you can find the spritely senior ballroom dancing—a hobby she took up at 87. Her 26-year old dance partner Vard Margaryan recently told the New York Post, “To be honest—sometimes I can’t keep up with her.”