At major cancer centers across the country, patients are putting themselves in a better “position” to cope with their cancer.

Some of the biggest names in cancer care — M.D. Anderson, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, and Dana Farber among them — now offer their patients classes in yoga.

In the past, physicians may have written off the complementary therapy as merely a trendy yuppie pastime. But today, researchers — mainly psychologists — are asking questions about the benefits of yoga in a variety of conditions, including cancer, asthma, sleep disorders, depression, and attention disorders.