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• Posted May 26, 2026

Yoga Eases Insomnia And Anxiety In Cancer Survivors, Study Finds

Sleepless nights, anxiety, mood swings and fatigue are all potential issues for cancer survivors. Now, research finds the ancient art of yoga may ease all of these troubles.

The finding "offers survivors, who are likely already managing multiple medications, a non-pharmaceutical solution for reducing four different side effects at once," said Dr. Fumiko Chino, an expert in survivorship at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). 

Chino, who reviewed the findings, is also a cancer researcher and associate professor in breast radiation oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Almost all (95%) cancer survivors experience poor sleep, and more than half suffer from mood disturbances, anxiety or fatigue, according to an ASCO news release.

Could yoga help?

To find out, a team led by Yuri Choi, a research assistant professor at New York's University of Rochester Medical Center, tested out the Yoga for Cancer Survivors (YOCAS) intervention. 

In YOCAS, people use 18 gentle poses from hatha and restorative yoga along with breathing exercises, and mindfulness, over a period of four weeks. In hatha and restorative yoga, movements are slow and gentle and props are often used.

The intervention is given by an instructor in 75-minute sessions twice a week, with home-based yoga also performed at least 30 minutes per week.  

A total of 206 people got standard survivorship care plus the YOCAS intervention, while another 204 only received standard survivorship care (maintenance therapy, follow-up visits and monitoring for side effects).

Participants were typically white women with an average age of 54. In the new study, people in the YOCAS program averaged about three sessions per week of hatha or restorative yoga weekly, for an average of 180 minutes per week. 

Standard tests were used to measure people's rates of mood disturbances and insomnia. 

The study found a "moderate-to-large" effect of yoga in reducing mood issues and a "small-to-medium" effect on anxiety scores, Choi's team reported. There was also a medium-to-large effect in reducing fatigue. 

"Structured yoga may help relieve some of the most consistently reported and hard-to-treat issues in cancer survivorship, leading to decreased insomnia," ASCO expert Chino said.

As study leader Choi noted, right now "there is no single gold standard behavioral treatment available to survivors for treating overall mood disturbance, anxiety, fatigue and insomnia."

However, "by demonstrating that YOCAS intervention improves all four of these cancer-related side effects and showing how improvements in overall mood disturbance, anxiety and fatigue influence yoga’s effect on insomnia, this trial helps to fill that gap," she said.

The study is slated to be presented at ASCO's annual meeting in Chicago, which runs from Friday through Tuesday.

Because this study is being presented at a medical meeting, its findings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

The study was funded by the U.S. National Cancer Institute. 

More information

There's more on yoga's effects on mental health at Harvard Health.

SOURCE: American Society of Clinical Oncology, news release, May 21, 2026