Walt Disney World cast members celebrate International Yoga Day with yoga at Cinderella Castle
By Terri Peters
More than 1,000 Walt Disney World employees set up their yoga mats outside Cinderella Castle last week to strike a pose for International Yoga Day.
The area surrounding the iconic Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World (WDW) is typically filled with tourists, strollers and other evidence of the site’s popularity with park-goers, but on Friday, June 21, International Yoga Day, the paved streets surrounding the castle were covered with yoga mats as WDW cast members participated in sunrise yoga in a fairy-tale setting.
The special event brought throngs of WDW employees into the park before the sun was up, setting up yoga mats and stretching their bodies while Magic Kingdom Park was still dark. But, as the sun began to lighten the sky, instructors led more than 1,000 cast members through a series of yoga poses designed to help them focus on health and wellness in honor of International Yoga Day.
WDW cast members were led through a sunrise yoga class in celebration of International Yoga Day. Photo credit: Terri Peters
Prior to the class starting, Maribeth Bisienere, senior vice president of animals, science and environment at WDW, greeted the crowd, emphasizing WDW’s commitment to employee wellness.
“Is there anything better than this?” Bisienere, who is also the wellness champion for WDW’s Be Well employee wellness program asked the yogis. “This is pretty great.”
“We hope that we’ll offer even more events like this in the future,” Bisienere continued. “You being here is really important … our cast member wellness is extremely important.”
Caption: From the paved streets surrounding the castle the grassy hub areas outside of Main Street U.S.A., WDW cast members filled the streets to strike a yoga pose. Photo Credit: Terri Peters
Later, Bisienere encouraged employees to spread their passions for wellness with their co-workers.
“Help us to encourage (other cast members) to live the best life they can by being the healthiest cast member that they can be as well,” she said.
2019 is the fourth year WDW has held the magical yoga session on International Yoga Day. And, WDW was not alone in their yoga practice: Cast members at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA, Disneyland Paris in France, Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disney Resort also took to their yoga mats in front of their iconic castles to celebrate.
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For more about International Yoga Day at Disney Parks, visit the Disney Parks Blog.