Dimitrios Danilidis

Yoga Teacher (UFY), Founder of Yogis Without Borders, President of European Union of Yoga, Author of «History of Yogic Meditation» and #YogaDiscourse. Ph.D

[Dimitrios Danilidis @Danilidis_D]

This year I am starting a new yoga group.

The classes will be held online in English on Thursdays at 19:00 СЕТ and will last three hours.

Each session will have two parts:
• a lecture and discussion,
• followed by energetic practices — asanas, pranayamas, and meditations.

We will begin with the foundations and slowly move toward more subtle and mystical practices.

During the first three years, our main focus will be the inner structures of consciousness as understood in yoga. This work will help you learn how to balance control and letting go — in your body, emotions, and thoughts.

And yoga does not end there. Over time, the practice will lead us deeper, into the hidden layers of language, myth, and the discursive patterns of our minds.

If you would like to know more about the course, my teaching experience, or how the classes are organized, please write to me directly.

#DimitriosDanilidisYoga #Yoga #OnlineYoga #YogaClass #Meditation #YogaJourney #YogiLife #SpiritualGrowth

[Dimitrios Danilidis @Danilidis_D]

Summer Yoga Seminars 🌿

No studio. No mirrors. No Zoom. Just grass, trees, and morning light.

Grateful for these mornings - and for everyone who took part 🙏

[Dimitrios Danilidis @Danilidis_D]

I met with Borhene Chakroun, Director of the Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems at UNESCO

I am very thankful to Mr. Chakroun for his openness, support, and efforts in helping yoga organisations move toward clearer and more widely recognised teacher certification

[Dimitrios Danilidis @Danilidis_D]

Ahiṃsā Beyond Moral Idealism - lecture delivered at the Yoga Conference of YFM in Catania, Sicily.

My sincere thanks to president, Wanda Vanni, for the invitation - and for creating a space where yoga can still be discussed as something deeper than comforting clichés.

#yoga

[Dimitrios Danilidis @Danilidis_D]

I will be participating in the 22nd Mediterranean Yoga Federation Congress

📅 April 30 – May 3 | 📍 Catania, Italy

Lecture:
“Do No Harm: Ahiṃsā Beyond Moral Idealism”

[Dimitrios Danilidis @Danilidis_D]

EUY General Assembly in Bern: strong and very productive.
Many discussions. Many decisions.
Thank you to all our delegates and invited guests.

The European Union of Yoga is moving forward fast.
Important developments ahead.

Updates coming soon.
Stay tuned.

#yoga

[Dimitrios Danilidis @Danilidis_D]

On my journey to this year’s Spring General Assembly of the European Union of Yoga. Many important votes and discussions await to be resolved by our delegates.

#yoga

[Dimitrios Danilidis @Danilidis_D]

What connects heaven and earth, spirit and matter, ritual practices and acrobatics?

This question is at the heart of Patrick McCartney’s lecture:

"Pole-Dancing Acrobats And Yoga: Historical Links, Ancient Rituals, Supernatural Abilities, And Ordering The Cosmos"

Patrick is a speaker for the Academia Project of the European Union of Yoga. He is an Indologist at Hiroshima University in Japan. His perspective is fresh, sharply observant, and a little provocative — in the best academic sense.

The lecture will take place this Sunday, 7 December, at 11:00 Kyiv time (10:00 CET).
Language: English.

You can register here:
https://t.co/PR5AvcS4Jq

Price: €15. For students of the Ukrainian Federation of Yoga: €10 (please enter the special code in the “Federation” field during registration; you can get this code from your instructors).

The lecture promises to be energising. Bring your curiosity — and your bravest questions.

#Yoga #YogaHistory #Indology #AncientRituals #SupernaturalAbilities

[Dimitrios Danilidis @Danilidis_D]

Yoga Is Not a Finished System — It’s a Field of Experiment

Yoga has never been a finished system. It’s not a canon to repeat but a living field of experimentation.

Across 4,000 years, yogins kept changing the practice to answer their time’s questions — ritual in the Vedas, introspection in the Upanishads, cognition in Sāṃkhya, freedom in Tantra, and embodiment in Haṭha.

Tradition in yoga means continuity of transformation.

#yoga #yogadaily #yogateacher

[Dimitrios Danilidis @Danilidis_D]

New group. Invitation to join.

When I invite people to a new yoga group, I never know how others see yoga and what they expect to encounter in a class.

Yoga today has many faces and Instagram avatars. For some it means dynamic bodily postures; for others — silent sitting with closed eyes. It can be linked to great Vedic seers and profound philosophical texts, yet also to “goat yoga” or even “beer yoga.”

The yoga, however, is difficult to describe before it is practised. Many things a new student will meet cannot be fully explained without experience. How can we know what a journey will bring before we take the first step? How can someone explain mathematics to a person who has never studied it? And those who have already “done yoga” often come with expectations that can obscure what a class will truly be about.

Still, I want each new student to have at least a glimpse of understanding of the program. I would describe it like this:

• We will practise yogic postures (āsanas), but the outer form is not what matters — it is about the science of moving and directing energy through the body;
• We will work with practices that «control the mind», exploring the many different shapes that control can take — this is one of the most interesting part of self-study;
• We will discuss emotions, beginning where the mechanics of Western psychology stop;
• We will enter the esoterics of yoga — not as incense sticks or New Age psychedelic imagery, but as a clear and precise inner discipline of communication with others;
• We will study the methods behind insight and mystical experience — beyond the modern picture of an ecstatic or intoxicated figure.

I hope this contrast helps to return yogic categories to their real meaning, apart from how mass culture has appropriated them. We will study yoga; you will discover more about yourself than you knew before. Self-actualisation and transformation will be the long-term goals.

#yoga #yogaclass #yogaonline

[Dimitrios Danilidis @Danilidis_D]

It’s been a while since I’ve shared some news of European Union of Yoga.

▪️ Mongolian Yoga Federation: We just finished a meeting. It was very inspiring.

📅 Congress in Zinal: In 2026, please save the date! It will be on 16th of August.
Topic: “Emotions in Yoga: Bhāva and Rasa”
14 different teachers plus two keynote speakers.
It will be fun and educating.

▪️ Yoga Teacher Directory: We are in the process of creating a directory.
Teachers certified 500 hours (four years) will be able to apply for a certification card.
It will be a chance to find very quickly a teacher near you.

That’s our news. There will be more coming soon!

#EuropeanUnionOfYoga #YogaTeacher #Zinal2026 #YogaFederation #EUY

[Dimitrios Danilidis @Danilidis_D]

Allow me to share a little about my path.

My primary identity is that of a practitioner of yoga. I entered my first class 22 years ago in Ukraine and have loved everything about yoga ever since. Studying yoga feels like travelling back in time to explore the history of the human mind and its often hidden potential. Being fully immersed in yogic activities, at some point my professional interests began to shift toward becoming a yoga teacher — for me, simply another and more advanced stage of the same path. Teaching carries greater responsibility, yet it also gives a deeper and more vivid experience of meeting the structures of our consciousness, its limits and its possibilities. It fosters profound relationships with students — something one comes to understand and truly value only over time.

Having initially studied economics, my yoga practice and teaching led me first to a master’s degree in physical education and later to a PhD in philosophy, which I dedicated to studying the transformation of meditation (dhyāna) in yogic texts. Today this path has brought me to an elected position as President of the European Union of Yoga. This personal — and at the same time social — responsibility has quickly become an inspiring, intellectually engaging, and at times political activity, offering a unique experience of meeting remarkable people both in the yoga world and in wider cultural contexts.

I was born in Ukraine in a Greek family and early in life found myself moving between worlds — travelling widely and studying in Europe and the United States. This Ukrainian-Greek heritage has always been a strong part of my family’s history and identity, and naturally it shaped my own. I mention it here so that my students can better understand the cultural and personal background that influenced my approach to yoga.

In my teaching, I aim to unite rigorous self-inquiry with practical transformation. Yoga, as I understand it, is a discipline of attention: it refines perception, clarifies thought, and helps one meet life and emotions that come with it with intelligence and courage. My classes combine philosophical reflection with embodied practice, inviting students not only to move and breathe, but also to think, question, and consciously evolve.

For me, yoga is not only a practice but a way of seeing — a dialogue between body, mind, and the mystery of being.

#DimitriosDanilidisYoga #Yoga #YogaJourney #YogaTeacher #YogaPhilosophy #Yogalife #Meditation #YogaInspiration #SpiritualGrowth

[Dimitrios Danilidis @Danilidis_D]

A wonderful day at the “Yoga in the Age of Overload” conference in London, organised by the British Wheel of Yoga and SOAS.

Inspiring talks, meaningful dialogue, and shared concerns about the challenges yoga faces today.
Grateful to see that EUY is not alone — many organisations are thinking deeply about the future of yoga.

Cooperation matters. 🌿🤝

[Dimitrios Danilidis @Danilidis_D]

Detachment? Dispassion? Freedom?
Or something else entirely?

Vairāgya Roundtable. It’s emergent understanding — alive and dynamic, in dialogue.

👉 Watch the full video https://t.co/LB3wCj4t6B

#Yoga #Vairagya #ZinalCongress #YogaPhilosophy #AbhyasaVairagya

[Dimitrios Danilidis @Danilidis_D]

#Zinal2026 theme: “Emotions in Yoga: Bhāva and Rasa”! Born from a year-long process where EUY federations submit ideas. After rich debates and two voting rounds at the Bratislava General Assembly, this theme, proposed by the Ukrainian Federation of Yoga, chosen. Announced at #Zinal2025’s closing in Switzerland! #Yoga #EUYCongress

[Dimitrios Danilidis @Danilidis_D]

Roundtables at #Zinal2025: A fresh format at EUY Congress! Moving beyond teacher-to-student talks, we created space for open teacher dialogues. Started bilingual, now split into French & English sessions, it’s a cherished tradition. #Yoga #EUYCongress