Doris Eugenio reads aloud to her yoga class of five women seated around a room at Montefiore Medical Center in Norwood. As soft music plays in the background, she tells them to listen to their bodies and think happy thoughts.

“The thought for today is ‘laugh more,’” Eugenio says. “Find something about yourself to laugh at each day.”

Sounds like the beginning of any yoga class anywhere, but this is not your typical yoga session at the local Y. These women are living with cancer, and are part of a medical study offered through the Complimentary Medicine Program at Albert Einstein Cancer Center. Through yoga-based rehabilitation, researchers are working to see if mind-body therapy can help those suffering from breast, lung, colon and rectal cancers.

So far, the results have been nothing but positive.

For an hour and a half each Friday, study participants take part in the yoga class. Over the past year, they have become more than just fit and flexible – they have become each other’s support system.

Eugenio has taught this group of women for two months now, instructing them in seated-chair yoga and some standing poses. She said the class emphasis is on calming and relaxing the patients through deep breathing and meditation.

“There is a level of appreciation and encouragement in this class that I really feel nice about,” Eugenio says. “They have a strong community here that gives a lot of support. This is a way for patients to meet face-to-face.”

Alyson Moadel, Ph.D., from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, developed the program in 2001 with Dr. Chirag Shah, an oncology fellow, after receiving a grant from the National Cancer Institute.

Moadel, a psychologist who specializes in helping cancer patients cope with the physical and mental aftermath of the disease and treatment, was interested in seeing how yoga could benefit the minds and bodies of patients. To date, the program has served over 300 cancer patients, many of whom choose to continue the class after their participation in the 12-week study.

“This is not only a research program, but it is a service for them,” Moadel says. “My hope is that this program will run indefinitely, because I want it to be a part of the treatment the patients can receive.”

Patients are studied over a period of six months through a series of interviews. Questions are based on quality-of-life surveys and then analyzed through statistics.

“For breast cancer, our results came in over a few years,” Moadel says, noting that 128 patients participated in that survey. “This class has proven to help preserve their quality of life.” Results for lung and colorectal cancer are currently being compiled, but so far, patients say the class is enjoyable and helps them to feel better, she says.

Ida Rosenblatt has been coming to the yoga class for more than a year.

“It’s beneficial for me,” Rosenblatt said while preparing for a recent class. “We are all in the same boat here. More or less we’ve all had the same surgeries so we compare notes and see how we can help each other.”

Priscilla Perez participated in the study last year and continues coming to classes, she says, because it helps her remain active and strong. “Today, if I didn’t have yoga to come to, I would be moping,” she says. “This energizes me. I know whatever it does for me is for the best.”    

Ed. Note: Cancer patients interested in participating in the yoga program should call (718) 430-2380.