Tao Porchon-Lynch

Tao Porchon-Lynch (born Täo Andrée Porchon; August 13, 1918 – February 21, 2020) was an American yoga master and award-winning author of French and Indian descent. She discovered yoga in 1926 when she was eight years old in India and studied with, among others, Sri Aurobindo, B.K.S. Iyengar, K. Pattabhi Jois, Swami Prabhavananda, and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. At age 101, she taught a weekly class in New York, and led programs across the globe. She was the author of two books, including her autobiography, Dancing Light: The Spiritual Side of Being Through the Eyes of a Modern Yoga Master, which won a 2016 IPPY Award and three 2016 International Book Awards. In the front matter endorsement, Deepak Chopra said: "One of the most acclaimed yoga teachers of our century, Tao Porchon-Lynch... is a mentor to me who embodies the spirit of yoga and is an example of Ageless Body, Timeless Mind. Like yoga, she teaches us to let go and to have exquisite awareness in every moment."

She was the recipient of India's highly prestigious award Padma Shri in 2019 for her excellent work in the field of Yoga.

Early life

Tao Porchon was born on August 13, 1918, on a ship in the middle of the English Channel, two months premature. travelling as far as Singapore. The family owned vineyards in the wine region of the Rhône River Valley, located in Southern France.

At age eight, Tao witnessed a group of youthful yoga practitioners exercising on a beach in then French India, Pondicherry. This encounter got Porchon interested in yoga, who stated in an interview with Guinness World Records, "I wanted to do the amazing things that they were doing with their bodies."

After the war died down, she relocated to the United States, where she got a job as an actress under Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Show Boat (1951), also featuring Kathryn Grayson, and The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954). During her career as an actress, she frequently gave free yoga sessions to her fellow actors and actresses.

Professional yoga Later on, Porchon-Lynch, now a married woman, found herself becoming more serious in yoga. Having studied with yoga greats Sri Aurobindo and Indra Devi, In 1976, she became one of the founders of the Yoga Teachers Alliance, now known as the Yoga Teachers Association.

Porchon-Lynch has embraced her age and carried her yoga with her. She has mentioned, "I'm going to teach yoga until I can't breathe anymore." She received the Guinness World Records title of world's oldest yoga teacher from Berniece Bates in May 2012. Porchon-Lynch was 93 when she broke the world record. In addition, she published a book about meditation, titled Reflections: The Yogic Journey of Life.

Other endeavors Outside of yoga, Porchon-Lynch continued to involve herself in competitive dancing, particularly in ballroom tango. She had several hundred first-place titles in competitive dancing. Her youngest dance partners were Hayk Balasanyan, Vard Margaryan and Anton Bilozorov. In August 2014, she still drove her Smart car.