People who regularly practice yoga have a better chance of fighting cancer, according to new research.
Scientists in the US say that the stress management technique can help to lower anxiety levels, which in turn allow patients to sleep better.
They also found that cancer sufferers who did yoga were less likely to develop depression as a result of fatigue – something often associated with the disease because of a lack of sleep resulting from physical pain and discomfort during the night.
The study involved 410 cancer patients, who had all undergone at least one type of treatment in the last two years.
Participants had an average age of 54, 96 per cent of them were women and 75 per cent of them had breast cancer. All were suffering from sleeping problems.
The group were split into two groups, with one of them participating in a four-week yoga programme – which involved two sessions lasting 75 minutes each week.
At the end of the study, it had been found that those who had been taking part in the yoga classes experienced a significant improvement in their sleep.