Global yoga leaders assemble to nurture peace, share teachings and strengthen community through disciplined yogic practice
By the Editors
All Photos: courtesy of Yoga Vidya Ashram
From april 25 to 27, 2025, the european and World Yoga Congress took place at the Yoga Vidya Ashram in Bad Meinberg, Germany. The event was organized by the Portuguese Yoga Confederation under the guidance of Guruji Amrta Suryananda in collaboration with Yoga Vidya—Europe’s largest training organization for yoga teachers. This international congress brought together practitioners, teachers and representatives from over twenty countries to share knowledge, explore spiritual practice, and promote unity through yoga.
The Yoga Vidya Ashram provided an ideal location for the event, with its extensive campus offering multiple seminar rooms, meditation halls, full restaurant facilities and comfortable accommodations in a serene country setting. Founded by Sukadev Volker Bretz, Yoga Vidya is rooted in the Sivananda tradition and focuses on a holistic, spiritually grounded approach to yoga. The ashram regularly hosts large-scale events and trainings and has become a hub for traditional yoga in Europe.
The congress featured a wide range of classes, workshops and lectures covering topics such as asana, pranayama, mantra, meditation and Vedantic philosophy. Instructors and speakers from various lineages and countries offered presentations in several languages, with live translations allowing for broad accessibility. Sessions included practical instruction, philosophical discussion and opportunities for shared reflection on the role of yoga in modern life. The program also provided time for informal interaction among participants, encouraging connection across traditions and cultures.
A central theme of the event was how yoga can contribute to peace—both personal and global. Organizers emphasized yoga’s potential to bring clarity, resilience and a deeper sense of purpose. While rooted in traditional teachings, many sessions addressed contemporary concerns such as stress, health and community building. Several presentations highlighted yoga’s role in education, social service and mental well-being.
Portuguese Yoga Confederation founder Guruji Amrta Suryananda—who started the European Yoga Confederation and has been actively encouraging collaboration across the continent—stressed the importance of protecting yoga’s essence: “Many places I visited were calling it ‘yoga,’ but they weren’t practicing real, inner yoga. That’s why this kind of gathering is important—so that we can keep yoga as yoga.”
He recalled the founding of the Confederation: “I gathered the rare teachers who had studied in India and practiced authentic yoga. We came together with one condition: we only speak about yoga and we only practice yoga—nothing else.” He also emphasized that “places like this—as in this congress—must be preserved. They are rare, and they allow the real spirit of yoga to live and be shared.”
Among the many international teachers was Shiva Priya, a yoga instructor originally from Lahore, Pakistan, raised in Germany, and now teaching in Karachi. Reflecting on the spirit of the event, she said: “When the yogis and masters get together, great energy comes—what we call Shakti, Mahashakti—full of compassion, love and peace. The meaning of this conference is to spread yoga, unity and companionship, and to remind us that we are all one. First, we are one with our own Self, and then we are united with the whole Earth and Universe.”
Shambhavi, a European yoga practitioner with a background in linguistics commented on yoga’s staggered evolution in Europe: “Everything grows, and sometimes matures, only to lose that maturity again—not by returning to childlike innocence, but by becoming like a confused young adult. But eventually, it finds its way back to the path.” She added, “A multi-language approach can be a good tool. It can help yoga grow, not just in popularity, but in depth of consciousness.”
The congress also served as a platform for international cooperation among yoga organizations. Congress leaders had a chance to discuss quality standards for yoga-teacher training, with a view toward maintaining authenticity while meeting the needs of a growing and diverse student population. The group’s core has long supported structured, spiritually oriented yoga education and continue to promote programs that uphold its traditional practices over modernized approaches.
Yoga Vidya, as host and co-organizer, provided logistical and spiritual support throughout the event. They coordinated accommodations, meals, translation services and event facilitation for the large and diverse group of attendees. Vegetarian meals were served, and the ashram’s peaceful environment supported inward reflection and focused learning. The success of the congress reaffirmed the importance of international gatherings for the yoga community.