Could a weekly video call and a yoga mat at home help quiet the relentless fatigue and pain of fibromyalgia? A new randomized controlled trial from Türkiye suggests it can. Researchers found that an eight-week program of mindfulness-based yoga delivered entirely by telerehabilitation eased fatigue, anxiety and central sensitization in women with fibromyalgia more than conventional physiotherapy did — without a single in-person visit.
What Happened
The study, published on June 21, 2026 in the journal Healthcare (DOI: 10.3390/healthcare14121792) by Ebru Durusoy and colleagues at Hacettepe University and partner institutions in Türkiye, enrolled 64 women who had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia under the 2016 American College of Rheumatology criteria. Participants were randomly split into two groups of 32.
The mindfulness-based yoga (MBY) group followed an eight-week program run completely online. Each week they joined one 75-minute live, guided group session over video call, led by a physiotherapist who also held a mindful-yoga instructor certification. On two other days each week, they practiced at home for roughly 45 minutes using audio and video recordings the therapist prepared. The routine blended gentle, low-intensity hatha yoga postures with mindfulness practices such as body-scan meditation and breath awareness, and participants were encouraged to use props like bolsters and blankets and to modify anything that did not feel comfortable.
The comparison group received standard care: structured education about fibromyalgia, a two-week course of conventional physiotherapy (hot packs, therapeutic ultrasound and TENS), and a recommended walking program three days a week. Both groups were supported with regular check-in phone calls and messages to keep adherence up.
After eight weeks, the online-yoga group showed significantly greater improvements than the control group in several areas: fatigue (a large within-group effect, Cohen’s d = 0.86, p < 0.001), anxiety (p = 0.007), central sensitization — the nervous-system “volume knob” that amplifies pain (p = 0.009), overall biopsychosocial status (p = 0.041), fibromyalgia symptom severity (p = 0.042), and rumination about pain (p = 0.016). No adverse effects were reported.
One important caveat keeps the findings honest: on the study’s primary measure — the total score of the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire — the difference between groups was not statistically significant (p = 0.074). Both groups improved, and the yoga group improved more on paper (from 84.7 to 49.2, versus 101.5 to 84.9 in the control group), but the trial was likely too small to prove that gap was real. Depression, sleep quality and fear of movement also did not differ significantly between groups.
Why It Matters
Fibromyalgia affects an estimated 2–4% of adults, most of them women, and there is still no cure. Guidelines increasingly emphasize movement and mind-body approaches, but pain, fatigue and “fibro fog” can make leaving the house for a class feel impossible — and many people simply don’t live near a qualified instructor.
That is what makes the delivery method the real headline here. Everything happened at home, over a phone or laptop. The results echo a broader body of evidence that yoga can ease fibromyalgia symptoms about as well as conventional exercise, and they extend it by showing the benefits hold up when the practice is taught remotely. For a condition where accessibility is often the barrier to treatment, a telehealth format that improves fatigue and anxiety is meaningful news.
It fits a pattern researchers keep observing: gentle, breath-led movement seems to calm an over-sensitized nervous system. Similar mechanisms showed up when yogic breathing cut chronic migraine days in a separate trial — another chronic-pain condition tied to nervous-system sensitization.
What This Means For You
If you live with fibromyalgia, the takeaway is not “push through a vigorous flow.” The routine that helped in this study was deliberately gentle, slow and supported. You can borrow its spirit at home with a handful of low-demand poses and a few minutes of breathing. Move within a comfortable range, use props generously, and stop anything that increases pain.
- Child’s Pose (Balasana): A resting fold that gently stretches the back and hips and signals the body to downshift. Rest your forehead on a block or stacked hands.
- Cat-Cow (Marjaryasana-Bitilasana): Slow, breath-paced spinal waves on hands and knees to loosen a stiff back without strain.
- Sphinx Pose (Salamba Bhujangasana): A mild, propped backbend that opens the chest while keeping the low back supported.
- Legs-Up-the-Wall (Viparita Karani): A deeply restorative inversion that eases tired legs and activates the “rest and digest” response.
- Corpse Pose (Savasana) with a body scan: Lie supported under a blanket and mentally scan from toes to head — the same mindfulness anchor used in the trial.
Pair the poses with breathwork, which was central to the study’s approach. Even a few minutes of slow diaphragmatic breathing or alternate-nostril breathing (Nadi Shodhana) can help settle the nervous system before or after your poses. Aim for short, frequent sessions rather than one long, ambitious one, and treat this as a complement to — not a replacement for — care from your medical team.
Key Takeaways
- An eight-week, fully online mindfulness-based yoga program helped 32 women with fibromyalgia more than standard physiotherapy on fatigue, anxiety, central sensitization and symptom severity.
- The program used one weekly 75-minute live video session plus two home-practice days, with gentle hatha yoga and mindfulness.
- The primary outcome (overall fibromyalgia impact) did not differ significantly between groups, and the study was small, single-center and unblinded — so treat the results as promising, not definitive.
- No adverse effects were reported, and the telehealth format makes the approach unusually accessible.
- At home, favor gentle, propped poses and slow breathing, and coordinate with your healthcare provider.
Source: Durusoy E, et al. “Investigation of the Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Yoga Training in Individuals with Fibromyalgia: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” Healthcare, 2026;14(12):1792.
