Holly Minckler, Class of '25

Healing in a Single Breath: Holly Minckler’s Exploration into Breathwork in Chronic Care

For Holly Minckler, healing begins with something we often take for granted: the breath. An Edmonton native and 2025 MSc graduate in Medicine at the University of Alberta, Holly’s graduate research explored how intentional breathing practices, known as breathwork, can support people living with chronic mental and physical health conditions.

Supervised by Dr. Puneeta Tandon, Holly’s thesis, The Use of Breathwork as an Adjunctive Therapy for Individuals with Chronic Health Conditions, examined breathwork as a practical, accessible tool to complement conventional medical care. Her work focused on how guided breathing interventions can help individuals manage symptoms such as anxiety, fatigue, reflux, and the everyday stressors that often accompany chronic illness.

A Simple Tool with Powerful Impact

What surprised Holly most was just how versatile and empowering breathwork can be. Across a range of chronic conditions, she found that breathwork offered meaningful improvements in both physical and mental well-being. Perhaps most striking was its simplicity: breathwork can be practiced anywhere, anytime, and without specialized equipment.

For many individuals living with chronic illness, this ease translated into something deeper: a restored sense of control. “Breathwork can help regulate both the mental and physical state,” Holly observed, offering people a way to actively participate in their own care. Participants often described the holistic benefits as filling a gap left by conventional chronic disease management, which doesn’t always address the full lived experience of illness.

Researching the ‘Whole Person’

One of the key takeaways from Holly’s research was the importance of studying holistic, mind–body practices as part of modern health care. Her work highlights the value of approaches that treat the whole person, not just isolated symptoms. By bringing breathwork into academic and clinical conversation, Holly’s research contributes to a growing recognition that well-being is shaped by physical, emotional, and psychological factors working together.

Holly had the opportunity to share her findings at the Physician Learning Program Summit: Advancing Practice Through the Power of Partnership in Edmonton, where her work sparked conversations about integrating complementary therapies into patient-centred care.

From Graduate Research to Medical School

Holly’s academic journey is just beginning. In 2025, she entered the University of Alberta’s medical school, class of 2029. As an aspiring physician, she sees her graduate research as foundational to how she will practice medicine.

“I’m grateful to have studied approaches originating outside of Western medicine,” she says, noting how the experience broadened her understanding of health and healing. Looking ahead, Holly hopes to continue conducting patient-oriented research throughout her medical training, with the goal of improving care in ways that are both evidence-based and deeply human.

Life Beyond the Lab

Outside of her studies, Holly finds joy in baking, staying active, and catching up with friends. She also credits her husky, Bronco, as an essential source of companionship and balance. Together, these moments ground her work and reflect the same values that underpin her research: presence, connection, and care.

As she moves forward in her medical career, Holly Minckler brings with her a simple but powerful insight: sometimes, the most meaningful steps toward healing begin with a single, intentional breath.