Practising yoga may improve chances of quitting tobacco by 50%: Aiims study

Practising yoga may significantly improve a tobacco user's chances of quitting while also reducing anxiety, depression, and other psychological factors linked to addiction, according to a study by researchers at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.
The systematic review and meta-analysis, conducted by researchers from the Centre for Integrative Medicine and Research and the Centre for Community Medicine, was published in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research.
The paper was made available online on November 15, 2025.
The study found that tobacco users practising yoga had about 50 per cent higher odds of achieving short-term abstinence compared to those in control groups receiving standard interventions or other non-yoga approaches.
"The findings of the review suggest that yoga can serve as a moderately effective (approximately 50%) intervention for tobacco cessation," the authors wrote.
The review was authored by doctors Shruti Singh, Dhanlika Dhanlika,