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

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.


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)

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.

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.

______________________________________________________________

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.