Join Tari Prinster, founder of yoga4cancer, for a short class to help manage Cancer Related Fatigue. This class has benefits for everyone, but is developed with cancer patients in mind.
What Is Cancer-Related Fatigue?
Cancer Related Fatigue (CRF) is a debilitating and common side effect for cancer patients and survivors. It is a direct result of cancer treatments. Cancer Related Fatigue is more severe than normal ‘fatigue’. It makes daily functioning challenging and significantly impacts quality of life. Almost all cancer patients or survivors face it at some point – for some it is persistent for years.
Why Movement Works Better Than Rest
Research consistently shows that activity and movement are more effective at managing CRF than the common instinct to rest. A systematic review and meta-analysis of 18 studies found that yoga meaningfully improves cancer-related fatigue, sleep quality, anxiety, depression, and overall quality of life in breast cancer patients (PMC 10766251). A separate network meta-analysis comparing exercise modalities identified yoga as the most effective form of exercise therapy for relieving CRF in breast cancer patients, ahead of combined aerobic and resistance training (PubMed 37204936).
The most recent evidence comes from the YOCAS Phase III randomized controlled trial, presented at the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting. Across 410 cancer survivors, a structured yoga program produced significant reductions in fatigue alongside improvements in anxiety, mood disturbance, and insomnia — all from a single practice, with no medication involved. Read our full breakdown of the trial here.
This is why oncology yoga is built around structured movement rather than stillness: the goal is to work with the body’s need for activity, not against it.
Why Movement Works Better Than Rest
Yoga combines physical movement with breathwork and meditation, which allows it to address both the physical and cognitive sides of cancer-related fatigue at once. In this short class, you’ll experience and learn how movement coordinated with the breath can help manage fatigue safely.
It is recommended that cancer patients and survivors get at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise — such as an active yoga practice — each week. Oncology Yoga is designed to support the physical, mental, and emotional needs of cancer patients and survivors in meeting these guidelines, and in building a greater quality of life during and after treatment.
Oncology Yoga Beginner’s Series
This class and the others provided in the Oncology Yoga Beginners Series are taught by certified yoga4cancer professionals. Our goal with Yoga Alliance is to provide the motivation and means to achieve the movement recommendations for cancer recovery and survivorship and to manage the many side effects that cancer survivors might face.
