Yoga, No Sex Are Secrets Of Healthy Longer Life, Says 120-Year-Old Monk Swami Shivananda

Varanasi: To live a healthy and active life without any medical complications, according to the oldest man alive in the world, you have to refrain from sex and do yoga on a daily basis.

Swami Shivananda, an Indian and Hindu monk from the holy city of Varanasi, is claiming that his age is now 120 years and also showing his passport as a proof on which his date of birth was registered as 08/08/1896. According to this record, the Swami is representing 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

The centenarian is also trying to get his name entered in the Guinness World Records as the oldest man to have lived as of now. But despite his apparent age, he does not look frail and remains strong enough to perform yoga for hours in a day.

According to the Guinness Records, ‘Jiroemon Kimura’ was the oldest man from Japan to have lived for 116 years and 54 days. He died in June 2013.

When asked about the secret of his health, Swami Shivanand transpired that exercising serenity, doing yoga daily and refraining from sex are the secrets of his healthy, active and longer life.

Sivananda, who became a monk by the practice of austere life style and grew up in extreme poverty, said he lost his parents when he was 6 years-old and was given away to a spiritual preceptor by his relatives. He says the diet he takes every day was simple comprises boiled rice, dal (pulses) and two or three green chillies.

“I lead a simple and disciplined life. I eat very simply – only boiled food without oil or spices, rice and boiled daal (lentil stew) with a couple of green chillies”, says the monk who used to be parched with empty stomach in his childhood days.

Standing 1.58 metres tall, Shivanad, who credits his outliving to “Yoga, discipline, and celibacy”, said he still use a wooden seat (board) as a pillow and sleep on floor bed with mat only.

The still active Shivananda even at the age of unbelievable 120 years can also perform the some tough Yoga postures easily.

“Earlier people were happy with fewer things. Nowadays people are unhappy, unhealthy and have become dishonest, which pains me a lot,” he says who settled in Waranasi and living on his own. “I just want people to be happy, healthy and peaceful”, he added.