Oncology Yoga Project

Oncology Yoga Project is a research and clinical implementation platform of the Rawlins Carter Institute, an initiative of the Lyddall Foundation. We advance rigorous research, standards, and international collaboration around yoga in oncology and supportive care.

Advancing the field of yoga research in cancer care

Yoga is increasingly used across cancer care, but the evidence base is often limited by inconsistent intervention reporting, variable methodologies, and uneven implementation.

Oncology Yoga Project works to strengthen the field through:

  • clinical and translational research

  • research standards and reporting frameworks

  • international scientific collaboration

  • implementation in oncology and supportive care

  • education and dissemination

  • culturally informed scholarship on yoga traditions

International Consortium for Yoga Research

Convened by the Rawlins Carter Institute

The International Consortium for Yoga Research brings together researchers, clinicians, methodologists, scholars, and institutions from around the world to advance the quality, transparency, and relevance of yoga research. The Consortium supports collaborative research, consensus-building, methodological standards, multicenter initiatives, and translation into clinical and public-health settings. Aligned with ASCO/SIO and NCCN clinical practice guidelines for supportive care during and after cancer treatment. [Learn about the Consortium]

Research & Standards: Building a stronger evidence base

Our work focuses on improving how yoga interventions are designed, described, studied, and implemented.

Areas of focus include:

  • Oncology and supportive care
    Symptom management, survivorship, rehabilitation, quality of life, and supportive cancer care.

  • Research methodology
    Intervention characterization, reporting standards, dose, frequency, intensity, fidelity, and reproducibility.

  • Implementation science
    Moving evidence into real-world cancer centers and healthcare systems.

  • Global research collaboration
    Connecting investigators and institutions across countries and disciplines.

YOGA-RT: Advancing standards for reporting yoga research

YOGA-RT is an evidence-informed framework designed to improve the completeness and transparency of reporting yoga and yoga therapy interventions in clinical research. By improving how interventions are characterized and reported, YOGA-RT aims to strengthen reproducibility, evidence synthesis, implementation, and translation into healthcare. [Explore YOGA-RT]

Why Oncology Yoga

Cancer care increasingly recognizes the importance of supportive interventions that address symptoms, function, quality of life, and survivorship. Our aim is not simply to ask whether yoga works. We ask:

  • What kind of yoga?

  • For whom?

  • At what dose?

  • In what clinical setting?

  • With what outcomes?

  • How can it be implemented safely and reproducibly?

Those are the questions required to move the field forward.

The institutional home

Rawlins Carter Institute

The Rawlins Carter Institute is the research and convening arm of the Lyddall Foundation. The Institute advances interdisciplinary work across oncology, supportive care, public health, yoga research, and related fields, and serves as the institutional home of the International Consortium for Yoga Research. [Visit RawlinsCarter.org]

Lyddall Foundation

The Lyddall Foundation is an independent nonprofit supporting research, scholarship, collaboration, and public engagement across health, culture, and public life. [Visit Lyddall.org]