Ashley Stachon's Breast Cancer Journey: Finding Healing Beyond Survival

At 43, I heard the words no one expects to hear: you have breast cancer. My diagnosis of triple-positive breast cancer changed everything. Within months, I went from being a healthy, active mother of a 4 and 6 years old, and yoga teacher to navigating a mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation, and targeted treatments. All while trying to find my way through fear, uncertainty, and the exhaustion of treatment.

I have been a nervous system–based yoga instructor since 2012, and yoga has always been a foundation for how I understand the connection between the body, mind, and healing. But during cancer and survivorship, that relationship became something much deeper. Yoga became a pathway back to my breath, my nervous system, my strength, and my sense of self.

Cancer didn’t just change my body; it changed my relationship with my body. I had to learn how to listen again, trust again, and honor the invisible layers of healing that continue long after treatment ends.

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My healing journey led me to become an oncology yoga teacher trained in the

Yoga4Cancer methodologies, where I now support others navigating cancer treatment, recovery, and survivorship. I teach in San Rafael, California at Metta Yoga Studio, creating a space where movement, compassion, and connection support the healing process.

This journey also inspired me to create But You Are So Healthy, a business dedicated to helping people move from survival mode into embodied healing through yoga, somatic movement, nervous system regulation, and whole-person wellness practices.

I’m learning that survivorship is not about returning to who I was before cancer. It’s about honoring who I am becoming, stronger, more present, and more deeply connected to myself and the life I get to live.

You can find me teaching yoga at Metta Yoga Studio in San Rafael, California, or follow my continued healing and wellness journey through But You Are So Healthy on my website and Substack of the same name.

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