In the study, 39 patients were randomized either to yoga or to a wait-list. There was an even distribution of cancer stage across the participants, and 15 patients in each group were not currently receiving treatment for their lymphoma.

Patients randomized to the yoga group were asked to attend seven weekly yoga sessions at M. D. Anderson, which were led by co-author Alejandro Chaoul-Reich, a doctoral student in religious studies at Rice University and a long-time practitioner of the yoga style. ???Everything we did with the patients was in direct consultation with the Tibetan community and the Tibetan masters who teach these ancient practices,??? Cohen says. ???We remained true to the Tibetan tradition.???

Not all participants attended all of the sessions; in fact, eight patients (42 percent) attended three or fewer, but they were all encouraged to practice the techniques at least once a day during the seven-week study.

In self-reported evaluations, all of the patients in the yoga group said they found the program was useful and more than 50 percent said they practiced some aspect of the program at least twice a week during the follow-up period. While there was a trend toward improvement in such factors as depression, fatigue, anxiety and unwanted thoughts, the difference between the two groups in sleep quality was significant, the researchers found.

The study was funded by a grant from the Bruce S. Gelb Foundation. Co-authors also include Carla Warneke and Alma Rodriguez, from M. D. Anderson Cancer Center; and Rachel Fouladi, Ph.D., from Simon Fraser University.