What does French cooking have to do with Yoga?
When the movie “Julie & Julia” was in the theaters, I dragged my husband to see it. Every so often he would nudge me or squeeze my hand in those moments when he recognized some idiosyncratic similarity between Julie and me.
The movie touched on some of my favorite things: Writing, cooking, storytelling, eating & biography were the main entrees. Besides being backdropped by my favorite city, I was skewered by the wonderful aromas and flavors the juxtaposing stories evoked. Each story was seasoned by the telling of the other.
While I love to cook, I am admittedly more of a “mad scientist” kind of cook than a recipe-following chef. Among the many jobs I’ve held, working at the Fancy Food Show was responsible for some of my favorite “rocking chair story” memories. I worked at one in Washington, DC, where I saw Julia Child in a group of three, standing at the top of the escalators, deep in conversation. My connection to her, then, was the Dan Aykroyd sketch on Saturday Night Live and disjointed blurbs from her television show. But, looking at her in her small group, she not only loomed over the other two, she was larger than life.
“Who’s your vote for Yoga’s Julia Child?” I asked on my Facebook page. Excited to get a conversation rolling, I was hoping for a snowball effect of votes. One beautiful vote came in, but the polls are not closed…yet.
I had an epiphany when I posted this question. Julia Child brought the otherwise inaccessible art of French cooking to masses of American households. And now here comes the connection: Lilias Folan did the same thing with Yoga. Her 1972 PBS TV show, “Lilias! Yoga & You” was Yoga’s answer to “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.”
I know about as much about Lilias Folan as I did about Julia Child, so went to her website, to learn more about this person whose vague, but potent, identity had appeared so boldly in my blogosphere.
In the tab “About Lilias,” here is part of the first paragraph: “Recognized as the “First Lady of Yoga” since her ground breaking 1972 PBS television series, Lilias! Yoga and You, Lilias Folan is regarded as one of America’s most knowledgeable and beloved Master Yoga teachers. Time magazine called Lilias the “Julia Child of Yoga.”
The connection had already been made.
Each of these formidable women broke boundaries of gender, culture and expectation without losing themselves in the process. I chose the above photo of Julia Child, not to poke fun but to share in the fun she brought to her audience. And of Lilias, I want to know the person in this photograph.
Thank you, Lilias & Julia!
Namaste & Bon Appetit!