Lilias Folan, born July 23, 1935, passed away on March 9, 2026. For many people around the country, she was the very first yoga teacher they ever encountered.
Often called “the First Lady of Yoga,” Lilias helped introduce the practice to millions through her groundbreaking PBS television series Lilias! Yoga and You, which began airing in the 1970s. At a time when yoga was still unfamiliar to much of the United States, Lilias welcomed viewers into the practice with warmth, humor, and an unmistakable sense of humanity.
Long before yoga studios or retreat centers became commonplace, people across the country were rolling out mats in their living rooms and discovering yoga through Lilias’s gentle guidance. For countless practitioners and teachers today, their path began there.
Heidi Goldman, founder of Yoga Vacations and the person who first brought Lilias to Feathered Pipe, once described her simply and affectionately as “the grand dame of yoga.” Those who practiced with her knew exactly what she meant.
At Feathered Pipe, we remember Lilias with particular gratitude, not only for her global impact, but for the many years she shared her teaching and presence here at the Ranch.
The friendships and collaborations that wove Lilias into the life of Feathered Pipe
Lilias’s connection to Feathered Pipe began quietly. In 1981 she first came to the Ranch as a participant, attending a workshop as a student. Like so many who arrive here for the first time, she found something meaningful in the experience and returned the following year in a new role. That moment reflected something essential about Lilias: even as her own teaching reached hundreds of thousands of people, she remained a devoted student of yoga herself, always curious, always learning, and always eager to experience the teachings of others.
In the early 1980s, Lilias came back to Feathered Pipe to teach a Joy Is in the Journey yoga retreat alongside Richard Miller. While she was already a widely known and much-loved teacher through her PBS television series, this weeklong retreat—organized by Heidi Goldman’s Yoga Vacations program at the Ranch—offered a new and more immersive way for students to study with her.
For Heidi, inviting Lilias to teach at the Ranch felt almost surreal. As she recalls, “When Lilias accepted my invitation to teach at the Ranch in 1982, I felt like I had died and gone to heaven—having Lilias, an actual yoga star, come to the ranch was a dream come true.”
The format proved to be a natural fit. Through the Yoga Vacations retreats and travel programs that followed, participants had the rare opportunity to spend longer, more personal periods of time practicing with Lilias, sometimes with her teaching solo, and often in collaboration with Richard Miller. These programs became beloved offerings and helped introduce many Feathered Pipe guests to Lilias’s warm and welcoming approach to yoga.
Lilias’s connection to Feathered Pipe deepened further through her friendship with our beloved founder, India Supera, whose vision helped shape the Ranch into a gathering place for transformation and community. Through that friendship, Lilias found her way back to the Montana mountains year after year, beginning what would become a long and meaningful relationship with the Ranch.
Those who practiced with her here remember not only her depth of knowledge, but also her kindness, humor, and her remarkable ability to make everyone feel welcome in the practice. Heidi remembers that same quality, describing Lilias as “an exceptional teacher—charming, sincere, and humble—who was always approachable and available to her students.”
Over time Lilias returned in a variety of teaching collaborations at the Ranch and travel retreats. In addition to her programs with Richard Miller, she also developed a cherished teaching partnership, spanning decades, with her friend and collaborator Marti Glenn. Together they created retreats that blended yoga, music, movement, and emotional expression. Beginning around 1990, their women’s retreats in particular offered participants a rare opportunity to explore body, mind, voice, and spirit in an atmosphere of warmth, creativity, and encouragement.
Lilias’s connection to Feathered Pipe extended beyond teaching. For a time she also served on the Feathered Pipe Foundation’s Board of Directors, offering her wisdom and support to the broader mission of the Ranch and its community.
In a Feathered Pipe interview with Andy Vantrease, Lilias spoke about how movement awakens not only the body but also the deeper awareness within us, the quiet observer that witnesses our lives. That understanding infused the retreats she offered here and left a lasting impression on those who attended.
A pioneer whose influence continues
Lilias was part of a small group of early pioneers who helped introduce yoga to the Western world with authenticity and heart. Her television program reached an enormous audience and helped demystify yoga at a time when many Americans had never heard of it. She made the practice approachable without losing its depth, inviting people to explore yoga not as a performance but as a personal journey.
Today, the ripple effects of that work are everywhere. Teachers, practitioners, and entire communities trace their beginnings to those early encounters with Lilias.
With gratitude
At Feathered Pipe, we feel abiding and profound gratitude for the years Lilias spent teaching here and for the many guests who had the joy and privilege of studying with her in this place. Her warmth, humor, and generosity of spirit touched countless participants and helped shape the living tradition of yoga that continues at the Ranch today.
Through her friendship with India, something exquisite took root here. Their meeting of hearts and shared devotion to yoga created space for teachings that would ripple outward through the lives of so many who came to Feathered Pipe seeking connection, renewal, and deeper understanding. Even those who never had the chance to practice with Lilias directly have felt the influence of her presence here, woven quietly into the spirit of the Ranch itself.
In words that beautifully capture her approach to the practice, Lilias once said: “Yoga isn’t about touching your toes. It’s about what you learn on the way down.”
In much the same way, Feathered Pipe has never been about reaching some imagined destination. It is about what we discover along the way—in movement, in stillness, and in the shared experience of learning in community. Lilias helped illuminate that path for so many who came here.
Here in the Montana mountains she loved, we remember Lilias with immeasurable appreciation and deep affection for the wisdom she shared, the joy she brought to the practice, and the countless lives she helped guide toward yoga.
Lilias, the imprint of your life and teaching lives on in the hearts of all who encountered you. With deep gratitude and love, we thank you from all the corners of all of our hearts. And as Lilias often reminded us: the joy is in the journey.
We are also deeply thankful to Heidi, whose early invitation brought Lilias to Feathered Pipe and helped begin the long and beautiful relationship between Lilias and the Ranch that so many of us were fortunate to experience.
As winter begins to loosen its hold on the Montana mountains and the ground begins to thaw, Feathered Pipe will soon begin preparing the Ranch for another season of gathering and practice. When that time comes, we will hang prayer flags at the stupa in honor of Lilias and the many gifts she shared here.
We warmly invite those who practiced with Lilias at Feathered Pipe to share their memories with us. Her presence touched so many lives here, and we would be grateful to hear the stories and reflections of those who experienced her teaching firsthand.
With love and gratitude,
The Feathered Pipe Family