Kids Learn Yoga as Coping Strategy from Cancer Survivor

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A Birmingham woman who survived two bouts of a rare form of bone cancer as a child that sidelined her from school sports has opened a yoga studio that caters to kids that teaches some of same strategies she used to cope with her disease.

Born Yoga founder Ashley Goldberg was 7 when doctors found osteosarcoma in her left femur. Five years later, the cancer returned to her rib cage. Yoga became her salvation, Goldberg, now 31, told The Birmingham Eccentric/Hometownlife.com.

“I learned about breathing exercises and that played a really important part in helping me get through chemo and the surgeries and everything,” Goldberg said. “The whole experience has had a profound effect on me. It shaped my life and how I view the world today.”

Goldberg, a former preschool teacher with a master’s degree in clinical psychology, teaches students that yoga isn’t just about striking a pose or controlling breathing, but living in the moment and knowing themselves and how their actions affect others — lessons they can apply in real life.

“I tell my students they can take everything they’re learning on the mat and apply it to the real world when they get stressed or angry,” Goldberg told The Eccentric. “All you have to do is stop and breathe.”

Born Yoga, located at 2121 Cole St., caters to pregnant moms, young families and children ages 3-14. The studio has also been featured in segments on WXYZ-TV and WJBK-TV.

» Photo via bornyogastudio.com