Your body is magical

This story is proof positive you can pivot toward a healthy lifestyle at mid-life, no matter how many overflowing ashtrays you've left in your wake.

Kantilal Talati, a native of western India currently living in Texas, celebrates his 90th birthday next month. He's never sick, doesn't take any medication and attributes it all to yoga. He's successfully doubled his life since a heart attack at the prime age of 44, when he smoked four packs a day. After that scare, Talati tossed the smokes and dove into relaxation, meditation and yoga, even studying with a famous guru in India.

Here's a typical day from Talati's 30-year regimen:

• Before dawn he drinks a cup of hot water with lemon juice and honey to cleanse the body.
• He then devotes every inch of his 5-foot, 125-pound frame for pranayam (breathing exercises), then an hour of yoga. After breakfast he teaches yoga to family.
• A solo afternoon yoga session wraps in more challenging poses for whole-body health.
• He then walks two miles before retiring for the night, where he dreams of opening a yoga studio in 2009.
  

Your body is magical, if you treat it right.