Since I was 57 years old when I started this project, I really struggled with the nagging thoughts that I'm too old and it's too late. To help dispel these beliefs, I searched for role models to show me what's possible no matter my age. I found these two amazing women!
TAO PORCHON-LYNCH
"There is nothing we cannot do if we harness the power within us." - Tao Porchon-Lynch
Tao Porchon-Lynch was 84 years old when she had her hip replaced. Her surgeon said her flexibility would never be the same. Her response to him was to send this photo.
Photo credit Joyce Pines
Tao had an advantage in her healing. She's been practicing yoga for 70 years and teaching it for 45 years. At 101 years "young", Tao is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest living active yoga teacher. By practicing yoga's principles Tao has been able to control her body and mind to overcome the effects of aging.
Her studios are in Scarsdale and Hartsdale, New York
Three years after her hip replacement Tao began Ballroom dancing competitively. Since then she's won over 600 1st-place awards!
Tao has had a fascinating life. Born in India, she marched with Mahatma Gandhi and later with Charles de Gaulle and Martin Luther King. In her early career she was a model and gained the title "Best Legs in Europe". During World War II, she moved to London and became a cabaret performer under the mentorship of Noël Coward.
After the war, she moved to the United States and became an actress under Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in movies like The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954) in which she co-starred with Elizabeth Taylor. (You can learn more about her in the links below.)
I sent an email to Tao asking if she had any advice about my dream. She said, "Focus on breathing, have fun, and if you go to Bombay there’s a professional ballroom dancer I'd like you to meet!" - Visit Tao's website.
UMPHA SIKARINTHRA
Umpha is particularly inspiring to me because our stories are similar. Both of us have had a passion for dance since early adulthood, grief was the trigger that brought both of us back to dance where we found healing, and even though neither of us seriously pursued dance for 40-50 years, our dream of dancing beautifully never died.
Tragically, Umpha's granddaughter died suddenly of an aneurysm and Umpha was inconsolable. Even grief counseling didn't help. A niece encouraged her to attend an open house at a dance studio where she discovered that "when I'm on the dance floor my unhappiness disappears."
After six months of dance lessons, Umpha won a national Latin dance championship! To me, that's living proof that it’s possible to achieve your dream no matter how late you start. It’s my hope that since Umpha did it - I can too! —Read more about Umpha.