100 year old Tao Porchon-Lynch is an American yoga master and award-winning author of French and Indian descent. She discovered yoga in 1926 when she was eight years old in India and studied with, among others, Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Prabhavananda and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. She was born August 13, 1918 on a ship in the middle of the English Channel, and was a French Resistance fighter during World War II. Today, Tao teaches six to eight classes a week in New York, and leads programs across the globe. She is the author of two books, including her autobiography, Dancing Light: The Spiritual Side of Being Through the Eyes of a Modern Yoga Master, which won a 2016 IPPY Award and three 2016 International Book Awards. On January 26, 2019, The Government of India announced that 100-year-old historical icon and yoga master Tao Porchon-Lynch has received the prestigious Padma Shri Award for her distinguished service. The Padma Awards are one of the highest civilian honors of India.