Yoga instructor still bending over backwards at 83

Bette Calman, who has 40 years of teaching under her belt, is living proof that a lifetime's dedication to yoga will keep you flexible.

Mrs Calman, from Williamstown, southeast Australia, can perform moves including the agonising 'peacock' where the body is held in a horizontal position by the strength of the arms alone.

She can also put her head between her knees and hold her ankles and manipulate herself into positions called the 'lotus' and 'bridge'.

"I'm proof that if you keep at it, you'll get there. I can do more now than I could 50 years ago," Mrs Calman, the author of three yoga books including one called Yoga for Arthritis, said.

"You're never too old. The body is a remarkable instrument. It can stretch and stretch, and get better all the time. Forget age. Even a basic posture, or just going to a window and breathing deeply, can have big benefits."

Mrs Calman was a pioneer of the regime in Australia in the 1950s, ran yoga centres for 33 years and made regular TV appearances in the 1970s.

She moved to Melbourne to retire but was drawn back to teaching as yoga interest grew and takes up to 11 classes a week.

"I came here to retire, but my daughter, Susie, who's also a teacher, kept being pestered for fill-in teachers at her health centre. That was eight years ago," she said.

"Yoga keeps you young. Never have I gone to a yoga class and wished I was somewhere else, because I know I'm going to come out feeling on the top of the world. There'll always be yoga."