Marlene Wagman-Geller

    The word yogi conjures different images: an Indian practitioner of an ancient art; a famous Yankee catcher, a resident of Jellystone Park. Yogi is also associated with a woman whose life proves that despite advanced age one can still dance with the stars.

    The latest breed of star to emerge from social media is the ‘yogalebrity-’young, lithe, lycra-clad- who appear in body contorting poses. But there is one who is an exception to this trend: a 100-year-old who, unlike the majority of these water-bottle toting, sheathed in athletic wear is a centenarian who rocks big earrings, brightly colored nails, and sky-high heels, (except when doing yoga,) and whose beverage of choice comes in red and white.

      Tao Andree Porchon was born two months prematurely on a ship in the middle of the English Channel. Her mother, who was from India, died giving birth. Her French father entrusted Tao to his brother and moved to Canada to start a horse ranch. Tao grew up in Pondicherry, India, bilingual in French and Hindi, where her uncle, a follower of Hindu monk Swami Vivekanda, raised her on a vegetarian diet and the principles of his guru. She recalled that he “instilled in me a sense of freedom and curiosity to explore the energy in all things and in myself.” His engineering job entailed building railroad systems throughout Asia and Africa, and his niece accompanied him where she met Masai tribesmen and Singapore merchants. These adventures led to her lifelong wanderlust, but her life’s pivotal moment occurred in Pondicherry.

        While her uncle encouraged her in whatever piqued her interest, others tried to extinguish her flame. At age eight Tao was at the beach and spotted a group of boys contorting their bodies. She thought they were playing a game and wanted to join in the fun. Her aunt replied they were practicing yoga, and such movements were “unladylike.” Tao’s rejoinder was if the boys could do it, she could do it. 

      Another memorable occurrence took place at age 12 when she came home and saw a little man sitting on the floor and, to her surprise, everyone was bowing to him. The stranger was Mohandas Gandhi, and a few months later, she and her uncle joined the Mahatma on his Salt March to the Sea, undertaken to wrest India from the yoke of the British Empire. 

     In the World War II years, Tao left for France after her uncle had come under the Nazi radar for hiding British and French expatriates. There she met another aunt who initiated her into the world of wine and the Resistance. Tao helped her relative hide Jews in the cement wine vats at the Porchon vineyard in the Rhone Valley. On one of these missions, the Germans captured her partner, Joel Le Tac, who ended up in a concentration camp. Fearing she was next, Tao fled to England where she continued the fight by working with General Charles de Gaul. Despite the bombing of London, she worked in a nightclub performing Indian dances for American troops and befriended Marlene Dietrich and Noel Coward. With her 17-inch waist and impressive gams- the press described her as having the longest legs in Europe-” an attribute that helped her obtain work as a model for Chanel.

      In 1948, Porchon toured the United States and signed a contract with MGM and hobnobbed with Hollywood honchoes such as Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, Marilyn Monroe, and Fred Astaire. When Debbie Reynolds and Shirley MacLaine asked her to teach them yoga, she realized she had found her calling and returned to India where she resided for 17 years- to master the ancient art. The man known as the godfather of modern fitness, Jack LaLane, gave Porchon her first paying job as an instructor

        In 1963, while travelling in New York, Tao’s friend introduced her to insurance agent, Bill Lynch. Although they had led very different lives, a commonality was the love of vino, and in 1967, they founded the American Wine Society.  (Tao drinks only two beverages-tea and wine.) The couple settled in Hartsdale, New York, and childless, they focused on civic commitment. Bill died in 1982 from a motorcycle accident and his grieving widow-left without relatives- threw herself into her career and founded the Westchester Institute of Yoga. At age 100 she gives classes up to 20 hours a week and has trained over 300 instructors.  Unfortunately, with three hip replacements, she can no longer demonstrate all the poses. Due to her injuries, her doctor explained her yoga days were a thing of the past. Undaunted she completed physical therapy, and afterwards mailed her physician a photo of herself in a raised lotus pose. She explained, “What you put in your mind materializes. I don’t believe in fear and don’t allow my mind to dwell on the negative.”

       News of the elderly yogi renown for her suppleness and stamina spread and workout guru Jane Fonda became an admirer. In class she cuts a glamorous figure and in between adjusting a student’s back or fine-tuning a hand position, she weaves tales from her colorful life such as the time she was in attendance at Dr. King’s historic address. One afternoon, at her studio, she recalled that when she had first arrived in London her English was poor, and Noel Coward, in Henry Higgins vein, taught her to repeat, “I presume that your presumptions are precisely incorrectly, your sarcastic insinuations too obnoxious to be appreciated.”  The encounter between the playwright and Ms. P.-L. had taken place 40 years earlier. When class ends, Tao hurries from the studio-her appointment book is always full-a colorful vision in bright stretch pants, slinky top, and peep-toe high heels and takes off in her gray Smart Car. When she is not teaching, she pursues her other passion-competitive ballroom dancing.  In one event her Tango partner was a 22-year-old and her Cha Cha partner was 29. Teresa Kay-Aba Kennedy, one of the co-authors on a biography of Porchon- Lynch, Dancing Light: The Spiritual Side of Being Through the Eyes of a Modern Yoga Master remarked that although she is 50 years younger than her friend, Tao’s schedule exhausts her. The two women had travelled to California where the Grande dame of yoga had headlined an event for Athleta, athletic-wear owned by the Gap, at its store at the Grove in Los Angeles where she also did a photo-shoot. As a very rare elderly star on the yogalebrity circuit, she carries exceptional marketing potential. Athlete also featured Porchon-Lynch in its catalogue for its “Power of She campaign.” Nancy Green, the company’s president, stated, “Tao aligns perfectly with our mission. We are working hard to break stereotypes of what youth and wellness means.” 

       Tao’s students have become her surrogate family, and her career took off because of them. Joyce Pines, a retired schoolteacher, applied to the Guinness World Records and in 2012 Mrs. Porchon-Lynch became “The Oldest Living Yoga Teacher.” Another pupil hired Robert Sturman, whose work focuses on yogis, including unexpected practitioners such as prison inmates and wounded veterans, to do a photo shoot of Tao in Central Park. True to form she showed up in a red flamenco dress and high heels. When Sturman questioned her choice of wearing stilettoes in a park, she told him that is all she wears because they “help elevate her consciousness” and because she has a very pronounced arch. As a perk of his profession, Mr. Sturman-in Sir Walter Raleigh fashion-got to carry her through the muddy grass. He posted images of the occasion on his Facebook account that went viral. Kelly Kamm, a yoga instructor, shared her opinion as to the reason behind Ms. Porchon-Lynch’s celebrity status, “It’s like being a rock star; it’s one in a hundred-thousand chance. I think that people were so hungry for someone to look up to who wasn’t a young, skinny, blond yogi in a bra top. Then came Tao.” With her social media cred firmly established, Mrs. Porchon-Lynch is fielding invitations to yoga festivals from Bosnia to Dubai. She gave a class to 15,000 people in Times Square and released a DVD. Joann Burnham, a founder of the annual Nantucket Yoga Festival, stated, “At this point, you can’t have a yoga festival and not invite Tao. Being in her presence and seeing the expectations of what someone would think about someone her age, and seeing all those expectations squashed is so incredible.” Tao also works with the United Nations to bring more yoga into the world and in 2011 attended a world peace summit.

       Tao is no stranger to the small screen. In 2015 Porchon-Lynch performed the samba and salsa to a standing ovation on America’s Got Talent. Her partner, Vard Margaryn, was 70 years her junior, and its YouTube video garnered nearly one million views.  Howard Stern, a judge on the show, called the performance “too mind-blowing for words.” Tao recalled of the event, “My partner was 70 years younger than me, and he was throwing me around his neck!” A subsequent dance partner is even younger: Anton Bilozorov said, “I teach her about dance and she teaches me about life.” Two years later Carl Reiner showcased her on his HBO documentary If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast that illustrated depression does not have to walk hand-in-hand with those born before the Great Depression. Some guests were crooner Tony Bennett, actress Betty White, and yoga enthusiast Tao Porchon-Lynch. A non-fictional Peter Pan, Tao stated that in her heart she is forever in her 20s and has no intention of ever growing up.

      In contrast to the show that celebrates the positive Tao has encountered those who are ready to throw in the proverbial towel. She recalled an experience where a room full of seniors viewed the prospect of attempting yoga with a defeatist attitude. They were all sitting around, hunched over with despair, when she pranced in with high heels and asked if they were going to join her. Their response? “What? At our age!?” They were her juniors by many years. Porchon-Lynch’s philosophy, “You haven’t seen enough of this earth and there is a lot more to see that is beautiful.”

     Embraced by big names in the spiritual world, Tao met Deepak Chopra in 2011 when he took part in a panel discussion with the Dalai Lama. Tao, who had been sitting in the audience, not of the shrinking violet ilk, introduced herself. Dr. Chopra said, “All these gurus from India who have come and gone-Pattabhi Jois, Iyengar—she has met them all. It’s incredible. Even His Holiness was totally impressed by her.” Chopra hosted her for a Facebook chat and within a day the video had received 115,000 views and 1,500 shares.

     Tao sums up her secret to her longevity by adhering to a diet where she never eats anything that once lived and by grabbing life with octopus hands. “When you believe in something go and do it. Don’t spend your time on useless thoughts and say, ‘I’ll do it tomorrow.’ Tomorrow never comes.”  Ms. Porchon-Lynch, a poster child of a kick-ass senior, proves that age does not mean taking a back-seat to life. In recognition of her unstoppable spirit let’s make a toast-compliment of The American Wine Society-to the yogi who interacted with more icons than Forest Gump and gets men to carry her over rough patches: Namaste.