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At a time when yoga was an activity of the counterculture—the purview of rock stars and hippies —Lilias Folan brought yoga to the living rooms of average Americans through public television. Her long-running PBS series Lilias! Yoga and You first aired in 1970 as an area Cincinnati-area program, however it soon went national. For an additional 29 years, her signature leotard and long braids became familiar to viewers who tuned in to bend and breathe and stretch together with her.

Between the show, 11 videos, and five books, Folan introduced yoga to hundreds of individuals nationwide. Her gentle, open-hearted manner conveyed the true spirit of the practice to viewers across the country, demonstrating that yoga is for everybody. Inspired to show yoga on TV after watching Richard Hittleman’s yoga programs, she added a spiritual component, meditative silence, and her own cheerful persona.

While her presentation made yoga approachable to a mainstream audience, Folan’s own practice was founded in what she learned from yoga icons. She learned Vedanta philosophy and meditation with Swami Chidananda of the Divine Life Society in Rishikesh, India. She also studied with T.K.V. Desikachar and B.K.S. Iyengar, two of essentially the most influential yoga teachers from India. In 1998 Goswami Kriyananda, the founding father of the Temple of Kriya Yoga, bestowed upon her the title Swami Kavitananda, “one who knows bliss through energy, movement, and poetry.”

“You and I are within the means of finding and giving life to our own spiritual hearts,” she said in a Yoga Journal interview. “Sustained yoga practice thins the boundaries that separate us from who we actually are—that which water cannot drown and fire cannot burn.”

Here, her thoughts about connecting along with your inner “friend,” facing the challenges of the body, and finding joy within the journey.

Would you call yourself a spiritual seeker?

Absolutely. I’ve been a passionate spiritual seeker since I used to be slightly girl. My upbringing was very difficult. When it got really tough, I’d go into the middle of my chest, and I’d meet with my inner friend who would soothe and connect me to something that I had no words for. And that’s where I’d heal. But as a young person, I forgot about my friend. Then I had a significant crisis and thought, “I can solve this. I’ll return inside.” After I did, I couldn’t find my friend. Yoga brought me back to this inner friend that’s at all times been there. Yoga brought me home again.

How and when did you discover yoga?

I went to my doctor with a litany of problems. He just said, “Madam, there’s nothing flawed with you. You’re affected by the blahs. Exercise.” I had a beautiful husband, two beautiful sons, a golden retriever, a ship on the sound, and the query was, “Why aren’t I completely satisfied? What’s missing?” I made a decision to go to a Sivananda Yoga class on the YWCA in Stamford, Connecticut. I ended smoking, slept higher, and had more energy.

How did your television show come about?

I’d watch Richard Hittleman’s shows in black and white with two beautiful, perfect women demonstrating yoga postures. I assumed, “I could do this higher.” Then, the wife of an area PBS producer took my yoga class. She told her husband I could be perfect for a TV show.

How did it feel to be an element of something so groundbreaking?

I got excellent education from Sri Swami Chidananda, a teacher within the Sivananda lineage, and a few smart teachers like Angela Farmer, Goswami Kriyananda, and Dr. Jean Houston. Their advice was that this was service. Don’t hold on to the fruits of your actions—people writing in and being recognized within the streets, that sort of thing. It became and still is a practice. It’s my sadhana, spiritual practice.

Do you ever worry about how much yoga has grown because you began your show?

Losing its connection to the mystics of the past of India? No. It’ll be what it’s going to be. I actually do think that every one is well. Joy belongs to everyone.

What motivated you to write down your book, Yoga Gets Higher with Age?

I desired to share my journey. In 2005, I used to be in a 70-years-young body, and I did my yoga practice in another way. Certain postures didn’t mean as much to me anymore, but other ones did. The essence of the book is to indicate how you can work intelligently with a midlife body and beyond in a way that’s pain free. Then in 2011, I published Lilias! Yoga: Your Guide to Enhancing Body, Mind, and Spirit in Midlife and Beyond.

After which got here the cancer diagnosis in 2012.

A few yr before my diagnosis, my doctor said, “Lilias, decelerate. You’ve got to decelerate; it’s starting to indicate in your health.” Then much to my surprise, I had a mammogram they usually found cancer was knocking at my door.

As someone who spent their life pursuing health and teaching others about it, how did you respond?

I went into it prefer it was a teacher. And I used to be very serious about that. Cancer is a guru. And so they call them an upa guru—they’re the people in your life who’re teaching you the teachings you never thought you needed to learn. Nothing is by accident. I made the vow greater than 40 years ago that if there are things for me to learn here, bring them on.

How do you retain your uplifted outlook?

How amazing to make this an element of the journey—the sadhana, the practice. Strangely enough, I didn’t feel discouraged about it in any respect. If I leave this body tomorrow, glory hallelujah. I do know there’s a next step. Should you can breathe, we will do something. That has at all times been form of a motto of mine. We’ll go onward and upward. Really, the enjoyment is within the journey.

Originally published January 24, 2010. Updated and adapted from articles by Andrea Ferretti (Jan 24, 2010) and Holly Hammond (Aug 28, 2007). The interview has been edited for clarity and length.