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The world's oldest living yoga instructor, Master Tao Porchon-Lynch, turned 95 on Tuesday, August 13.
Tao founded the Westchester Institute of Yoga in 1982. She has over 70 years of experience practicing yoga and more than 45 years of teaching yoga to students in India, France and the U.S. In 1995, Tao attended the Yoga for Peace International Peace Conference in Israel with Indra Devi to try to help bring peace to the Middle East through yogic principles.
Tao has taken her yoga students to India on more than 25 occasions, because she believes that such visits offer enlightenment about the true spirit of yoga. She continues to practice yoga using classical and challenging pose and teaches at workshops and yoga centers including the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, Integral Yoga Institute in Manhattan and the Satchidananda Ashram-Yogaville, Buckingham, Va.
Tao has received extensive media attention lately, being featured on NBC's "Today" show, the documentary, "I Know A Woman Like That," various publications, the Martha Stewart Show, and a CNN interview with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Recently, Tao was a workshop presenter with Dr. Terri Kennedy at the Newark Peace Conference and sat on the Panel for Peace with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Tao's life before teaching yoga includes a career as an actress in England, France and the U.S. in the 1940s and '50s and a screenplay writer and documentary movie maker in the '60s and '70s. She is also passionate about ballroom dancing and is an award winning world-class dancer.
Tao has used the power of yoga to overcome aging. She is an example of how living healthy and naturally and taking care of both your body and spirit can extend one's longevity and lead to a happy life.
