Lac-Mégantic yoga day 1st major downtown event since train disaster

Yoga Mégantic, the first major event in the downtown core since the July 6, 2013 disaster, brought together more than 450 yogis to Veteran's Park.

More than 450 participants at Yoga Mégantic, Lac-Mégantic's first yoga day

Melissa Fundira · CBC News · Posted: Sep 03, 2016 11:50 PM EDT | Last Updated: September 4, 2016

The all-day event promoted wellness and spirituality for all ages. (CBC)

Three years after the Lac-Mégantic train disaster levelled the city's core, residents reclaimed the downtown area for a day of outdoor yoga.

Yoga Mégantic was the first major downtown event since the July 6, 2013, train derailment that claimed 47 lives.

The all-day event, organized by yogis and friends Sonia Dumont and Sylvie Bilodeau, brought together more than 450 people to Veteran's Park.

"[Those] two wonderful women decided to organize a happy event around yoga to bring the people of Mégantic together," Lyne St-Roch, a big-name yoga instructor who owns studios in Montreal and Magog, said.

Organizers wanted to put together a 'happy event' in the town of 6,000 where two out of three residents still show signs of moderate to severe post-traumatic stress. (CBC)

St-Roch said the event was also meant to encourage visitors to come back to Lac-Mégantic.

Yoga Mégantic, which promoted wellness and spirituality for people of all ages, felt much needed in the town of 6,000, where two out of three residents still show signs of moderate to severe post-traumatic stress, according to a recent study.