Secret to Life? Dance, and Don't Procrastinate!

Tao Porchon-Lynch teaches yoga to hundreds in Times Square, NYC in 2013. At the time this photo was taken she was 94 years young. (Brian Ach/AP Images)

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97 Year-Old Yoga Teacher's Outlook on Life


Hello! Here is a VOA Learning English Feel Good for you.

There is a woman named Tao Porchon-Lynch. She was born in India in 1918. So, if you do the math … she’s 97.

And at 97 years young, she has been recognized as the world's oldest yoga teacher. She has been teaching yoga, full-time, since 1967.

But that’s not all she’s done.

She’s also been a model, actress and dancer. And she is a firm believer in positive thinking. Dream the impossible dream, kind of thinker.

"I'm not interested in what I can't do. Nothing is impossible."

Tao not only talks the talk, she walks the walk. Or rather dances the dance. At age 85 she not only learned how to dance, she won dance competitions.

Tao Porchon-Lynch encourages people to make healthy life choice. We should take her advice. In this photo she is 94. (Brian Ach/AP Images forPfizer)

​And she offers this advice to the young. “Don’t put off tomorrow what you can do today.”

"Don't procrastinate. Tomorrow never comes."

So, what about retirement? At 97, she is well past the age when many people make retirement plans. Retiring, it turns out, is not Tao’s style.

"A little girl 6 years old said to me, 'Tao, what are you going to do when you retire?'”

Tao told the little girl that she has no plans to retire but instead will dance her way to the next planet.

And that’s your Feel Good for the week!

I’m Anna Matteo.

Martin Secrest wrote this story for VOA News. Anna Matteo adapted and produced it for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.

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Words in This Story

procrastinate v. to be slow or late about doing something that should be done : to delay doing something until a later time because you do not want to do it, because you are lazy, etc.